Public Awarennes Strategy

and Action Plan (SAP)

Working document

March 2010


Table of Content

1 Introduction 3

1.1 Forest Overview – Albania 3

1.2 Introduction on Communal Forestry in Albania 5

1.3 Purpose of the strategy 7

1.4 Approach 8

2 Objectives of the strategy 9

2.1 General Objectives 9

2.2 Specific objectives 9

3 Communication tools 10

3.1 Logo and slogan 10

3.2 Communication means 10

3.3 Target groups 10

4 Stakeholders analysis, their role and responsibilities on NRD and CFPM 11

4.1 National level 11

4.2 Regional Level 14

4.3 Local Level 16

5 Gaps and Opportunities 20

5.1 SWOT analysis 20

6 Action Plan 22

6.1 Planning activities 22

Communication means 23

6.2 Actions description 24

Leaflets and folders (A.1.1 and A.1.2) 24

Brochures (A.1.3) 26

Newsletters (A1.4) 28

Info and Communication workshops (A.2.1) 29

Promotion of special important days 31

Training / info event for journalists 36

Awareness event for journalists 37

Printed materials for journalists (press-packs) 37

Wall calendars and posters (P.3.1) 38

Pens and pencils (P.3.2) 38

7 Fundraising opportunities 39

7.1 Public sector sources of funds 39

Securing funds from NRDP 39

Funding from national bodies 39

EU grant scheme funding 40

Funding from other donor organizations 40

7.2 Private sector sources of funds 41

7.3 Budgets 42

8 Annexes 48

8.1 Awareness Campaign Manual 48

1  Introduction

1.1  Forest Overview – Albania

Forests cover more than 50% of the country’s area. Agriculture, including the forest and pasture, is a priority, as declared by the Programme of the Albanian Government for the period 2005-2009. The policy of forestry, according to the National Plan for the Implementation of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (2007 – 2012), aims at the sustainable and multi-functional development of the forestry and pastures. The plan will preserve and protect bio-diversity, productivity, renovation ability, and potential to fulfill the ecologic, economic and social functions at the local, national, and global level, without causing damage to the other ecosystems. This policy supports the extension of new forestry areas, the rehabilitation of burnt and degraded surfaces, the construction and maintenance of water systems in pastures, erosion control by constructing water works, the improvement of timber and non-timber forestry products management, which will result in income generation[1].

Agriculture and forestry are two important components of land use development in rural areas and closely linked with each other during history. In Albania the villagers manage both agriculture and forestry; typically in diverse agro-forestry systems. Within the agro-forestry systems, agricultural crops, trees and livestock are managed on the same land. Within a watershed, villagers usually use the upper side for forestry (wood and protection from erosion,) and pasture, and the lower side is for agricultural crops.

Agricultural and forestry were major branches of the national economy in Albania. In 1992 this sector used to contribute 42.5% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Recent developments have changed the composition of the GDP, where agricultural provides 20.7 % of the GDP (2005). The decline in agriculture’s share in the GDP does not mean that agriculture production declined; on the contrary, production rises by 4% each year. The forestry production is not shown as a separate item, but it is well known that agriculture and forestry support approximately half the population, mainly in small subsistence farms

In mountainous zones the forest serves as a source of fuel wood (collected by villagers), but also in urban areas wood is used for heating and cooking. The production of forage and grazing for the livestock is also important.

In some areas, the forestry is the only employment possibility and so one of the main factors for the reduction of poverty and migration. Along with fuel wood and timber, forest areas are used for grazing the livestock and providing fodder. This contributes significantly to the rural families’ income[2]. Though it is an important potential for providing income for the rural population, overgrazing has had a negative effect on the sustainability of natural resources in some areas, and, if it continues, a further decrease in income is expected for the population of these areas.

Forests are distributed over most of the country, especially on hilly and mountainous areas. The country’s relief is mainly hilly-mountainous, mainly of magmatic and sedimentary formations; with steep slopes, partly unstable, with the mean height of 708m above sea level (which is over two times higher than the mean level of Europe). As a Mediterranean country, Albania is included in the Mediterranean Climatic Zone, with relatively short, and very humid winter, and long, hot and very dry summer.

Albania is a country with abundant forests. All forests (public and private), the so-called Forest Fund of Albania, are grouped into 36 administrative units districts. There are 1,498,957 ha of forest area in Albania (Forests, Shrubs, and Open Forests and/or Shrub land[3]), divided as follows:

Forest[4] 1,498,957 ha

High Forest 294,957 ha (19.68%)

From which: -Coniferous 84,461 ha

-Broadleaves 210,496 ha

Coppice forest 405,016 ha (27.02%)

Shrubs 241,724 ha (16.13%)

Open Forest[5] 557,260 ha (37.17%)

During the centralized economy system forests and pastures were proclaimed property of the state through the law on agrarian reform of 29.8.1945. The administration of the forests and pastures in the vicinity of the villages was initially carried out by the people’s councils of the localities by their drafted the plans according to the needs of the families of every village for fuel wood and wood for construction, but those remained always plans, because the villagers were cutting as much and wherever they liked. The agriculture cooperatives exploited every year on average, around 65,000 m3 constructing material and around 1 million m3 fuel wood. At that time, it was admitted by the government itself, that there were no statistics for the amount of the wood logged by the villagers for fuel wood or other products, and this situation still continues today.

Since the first years of transition, the governments initiated some reforms for the decentralization and the privatization of the economy. The law No. 7223, date 23.10.1992 “On the forests and the police of the forest service”, gives the definitions of the communal, state and private forests and open the way for the decentralization of public forests management.

1.2  Introduction on Communal Forestry in Albania

Community forestry was initially defined, by FAO, as “any situation which intimately involves local people in a forestry activity. It embraces a spectrum of situations ranging from woodlots in areas which are short of wood and other forest products for local needs, through the growing of trees at the farm level to provide cash crops and the processing of forest products at the household, artisan or small industry level to generate income, to the activities of forest dwelling communities” (FAO 1978)[6]. Thus, community forestry was perceived as encompassing activities by individual households, women and men farmers and other people, as well as those involving a community as a whole. Such activities commonly enter widely into rural life and have always done so.

Community forestry was seen to comprise three main elements. These were:

1.  the provision of “fuel and other goods essential to meeting basic needs at the rural household and community level”,

2.  the provision of “food and the environmental stability necessary for continued food production” and

3.  the generation of “income and employment in the rural community” (FAO 1978).

It was stressed that community forestry must be an integral part of rural development and the “basic precept ... (that) the central purpose of rural development is to help the poor become self-reliant ... Forestry for community development must therefore be forestry for the people and involving the people. It must be forestry which starts at the 'grass roots'” (FAO 1978). From its inception, therefore, community forestry was seen as being, by definition, participatory and directed towards rural needs - in particular the needs of the rural poor, both women and men.

In the framework of policies for decentralization of the natural resources management and the legalization of the long existing informality in the possession of forests and pastures close to villages, and the EU integration, the process of forest and pastures transfer under the ownership or use of communes or municipalities has become a problem for the central government and the local government units, users (villages, agricultural families) and the associations throughout the country. The legal and sub-legal acts enacted after the ’90, such as the law on forests, the law on pastures and meadows, regulation No. 308 date 26.01.1996 “On the transfer of the communal forests and pastures under use and administration”, the law on local government (2000), on the public property and on their transfer (2001), etc., have made possible the transfer of forests and pastures under communal use. In cooperation with GDFP, the local government units and the forestry service in the districts, the transfer started since 1996, with the technical and financial support of the World Bank Forestry Project (WB/FP), of the Albania Private Forestry Development Programme (APFDP) financed by the USAID, and continue to support this process: the Natural Resources Development Project, SNV (the Dutch Organization for Development) and other international organizations. In the Directorate of Forest and Pasture Policies of the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Water Administration (MEFWA), is already functioning a sector of Communal Forests.

During the process of transfer, a good experience has been gained, given that many agricultural families are aware of the transfer process, although not entirely; the users are engaged in the protection and the management of their forests and pastures and everywhere one can see improved forests by the families that posses them; the management plans have begun to be implemented by the associations, financed by the Forestry Project of the WB, NRDP and SNV; the attitude of the local government units and the forestry service employees has begun to change towards the communal forests and pastures. In the line of the forestry service, for the monitoring of the transfer and management of the communal forests and pastures, MEFWA has been assigned as the responsible authority; in the districts are Directorates of Forest Service. In the line of the local government, in a number of communes there are appointed communal foresters. Also, communal foresters are appointed in some CFPUA-s.

The transfer of state forests in use to Local Government units-LGU (communal/villages) was one of the most important reforms within forestry. The philosophy behind transferring state forests to the communes is recognition of the local population’s needs for forests products and services and their rights to use them. In addition, the transfer is made to the communes, which then conclude agreements with the village or individual (family) users. The transfer process started in 1996 when the Albanian government and the World Bank agreed to implement the Forestry project. The communal forests management (CFM) by rural communities was one of the main components of this project.

The main principles implemented for the sustainable management of the communal forests were as follows:

·  Focusing on people, and not on trees;

·  Forest management is done by insiders, and not outsiders;

·  Active participation of community members during the process of preparation and implementation of the management plan.

·  Conceding competencies and responsibilities to rural communities;

·  Capacity building and strengthening of rural communities on sustainable forest management (SFM), training, etc.

The implementation of CFM was based on the participatory management of communal forests by rural communities organized in the Forest Users Association and Village & Commune Forest Commissions, as well as through the development of methodology to ensure the participation of the villagers and the resolution of conflicts at a local level.

The experience shows that the management of forests by the local people is successful for some reasons:

1.  Economic reasons – the expenses for the governance form the village are smaller than those of the state and possibilities for protection are greater, because all villagers are interested in protecting them;

2.  Social reasons – villagers have been traditionally possessors of forests adjacent to their villages that now are formally transferred in ownership/use, while during the centralized economy often these forests were cut for mining poles or for bread kilns of agricultural cooperatives, without asking them;

3.  Environmental reasons – when villagers are convinced that the forest belongs to them and this is confirmed through documents, they become more sensible for the protection of forests and other natural resources, for having even direct profits.

New developments have occurred since September 2007. The Albanian Government decided to speed up the transfer process of public properties to Local Government Units (LGUs), especially for the state owned forests. This process is quite completed in formal way in 315 LGUs (communes and municipalities) with the transfer in their property of more than 900,000 ha of state owned forest and pastures, without the communities’ participation.

1.3  Purpose of the strategy

This strategy has been prepared as a basis and an operational tool for planning and implementation of activities that will improve the awareness situation and lead to a better perception of the population to natural resources.

Public awareness, public participation in decision making, environmental education and communication are all important elements in the effort to support an effective and efficient natural resource management in Albania ion the light of new developments on forestry sector.

This document also assists all stakeholders, in the process of setting/ accomplishing communication, public awareness & public participation objectives and related activities summarizing main recommendations of relevant strategies to be used, proposing a preliminary implementation framework to be discussed with the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Water Administration (MoEFWA) other key actors of the sector.

1.4  Approach

The approach taken in the preparation of this PASAP was to review the various governmental and non-governmental activities related to public awareness and to identify:

§  Critical gaps in Public Awareness (PA), Public Information and Public Participation that the project could address;