NGOs for Nature Conservation
Nature conservation NGOs in the Nordic-Baltic region - working together
International project
Duration: July 2009 - March 2010
Partners
Project Leader: Latvian Fund for Nature (LFN)
Project partners: Estonian Fund for Nature (EE), Swedish Botanical Society (SE), Sustainable Development Initiatives (LIT)
Background
Involvement of general public in biodiversity monitoring provides a significant input in obtaining data on population status of rare and threatened and also alien species in the country, because the number of professionals usually is not sufficient to cover all taxonomical groups or important processes in nature. Moreover, participation in biodiversity monitoring helps to raise awareness among wider public on nature values in the country. Monitoring of threatened biodiversity is the area where nature conservation NGOs can work actively. There is quite a number of nature conservation NGO`s working on national or regional level in Baltic states, and yet, there is a lack of information on their capacities, needs and impact on nature conservation.
Aims
The project will help to develop biodiversity monitoring for general public in the Baltic countries by identifying possible public monitoring co-ordinators and logical steps towards its implementation. Its aim is to strengthen the co-operation among Nordic-Baltic nature conservation and environmental NGOs by working together and summarizing the information on nature conservation NGOs in three Baltic countries and two Swedish provinces (Småand and Västergötland), analysing their effectiveness and identifying their role in public biodiversity monitoring, and sharing the experiences in public monitoring. The project will provide a vision on further co-operation areas among nature conservation and environmental NGOs in the Nordic-Baltic region.
Activities
- Identification of the possible players and preparation of list of contacts of nature conservation NGOs and making it available in the website of project partners.
- Analysis of capacities and needs of nature conservation NGOs and their influences on nature conservation. Identification of international, national and regional players and stakeholders in each participating country.
- Analysis of general public’s participation in biodiversity monitoring in the Nordic-Baltic region and setting up milestones for future developments.
- Publishing of the study “Nature conservation and environmental NGOs in the Nordic-Baltic region. Their role in biodiversity monitoring”.
- Knowledge and information exchange workshop on involvement of general public in biodiversity monitoring experiences in Baltic states and Sweden and role of the role of nature conservation NGOs in the public monitoring. Workshop will be held in Latvia.
- Upon completion of the project plan for further cooperation of the NGOs will be developed.
- Information dissemination activities wil be carried out during the project as well.
