The European Environment Ministers set the ambitious
goal to halt the loss of biodiversity by 2010 at the Kyiv Ministerial Conference
in May 2003. Thus they have reinforced the commitments undertaken at the Gothenburg
Summit of the European Council by EU Member States, and went beyond the target
of the Strategic Plan for the Convention on Biological Diversity and the World
Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg to reach a significant reduction
in the current rate of loss of biological diversity.
Being an ambitious target, there is a need for broad
cooperation and concerted action at all levels from Pan-European to national
and local ones. NGOs should take their share in facilitating, supporting and
monitoring the process and the efforts made by international and governmental
bodies and other stakeholders. CEEweb aims to follow up and enhance the process
in the South-East European region based on a coalition of nature conservation
NGOs.
CEEweb itself has been involved in policy forming
at different levels since its establishment in 1994. Having biodiversity as
the priority area to work on, CEEweb carries out joint projects in the Central
and East European region with its member organizations, participates in relevant
non-governmental fora of the European Union (Habitats Forum, Biodiversity Working
Group of the European Environmental Bureau). On the Pan-European level it entered
the ‘Environment for Europe’ process from its establishment and among others
prepared assessments on the implementation of the Pan-European Biological and
Landscape Diversity Strategy in CEE countries for the Aarhus and Kyiv Meetings.
In addition CEEweb is also involved in global policy forming of the Global Environment
Facility as regional NGO focal point.
The problem
Human activities induce the continuous decline of
biological diversity at an unprecedented rate all over the globe. Although the
problem and its consequences was recognized already decades ago and an abundance
of nature conservation agreements, programmes and plans has appeared since then,
still no concerted action could effectively respond to the global challenge
to the required extent. The problems must be tackled at their root-causes in
an integrated approach, which demands however a wide engagement of stakeholders.
The Strategic Plan to the Convention on Biological
Diversity (and the harmonised Rolling Work Programme of the Pan-European Biological
and Landscape Diversity Strategy) identified among the four priority goals the
increased capacity, which is needed to achieve the objectives of the Convention.
As it was also recognized by COP6 to the Convention
on Biological Diversity: “Biodiversity conservation, sustainable use and equitable
sharing call for social change. Education and public awareness are long-term
investments towards this change. At the same time, biodiversity issues need
to be communicated effectively to ensure the participation of major stakeholders
from different sectors.” Therefore COP6 decided on launching the Global Initiative
on Communication, Education and Public Awareness and adopted its Programme of
Work comprising three elements `Towards a global communication, education and
public awareness network`, ` Exchange of knowledge and expertise ` and `Capacity-building
for communication, education and public awareness`.
Acknowledging the significance of the above issues
in reaching the 2010 target, CEEweb aims to monitor and enhance efforts towards
the 2010 target and promote engagement of stakeholders in the implementation
through capacity building and communication, education and public awareness
activities with the grant of the Swiss Agency of Environment, Forest and Landscape.
Activities
Activities will focus on following areas: capacity
building among NGOs, communication and awareness raising, monitoring national
efforts, identifying capacity needs for NGOs as well as network building for
the implementation of the Kyiv outcomes towards the 2010 target.
NGO taskforce as basis for the activities
1. Selection of national coordinator
In each country a national kick-off meeting will
be held with the participation of 5-8 NGO representatives, already involved
or having the capacity to work on the CBD and PEBLDS process. After presenting
the project and discussing the tasks and responsibilities, the NGOs present
elect amongst themselves a national coordinator, who will direct the design
and implementation of the project on the national level.
At the same time, reconnaissance visits will take
place contact local experts and to present the project to CBD/PEBLDS focal points
in the respective ministries, as well as to the representatives of international
organizations, such as UNDP, UNEP and World Bank.
Qualifications of the national coordinator:
Field level experience of nature/biodiversity conservation policy
Solid knowledge of relevant international and national policies, programs
and
The basic principles that govern them
Good relations with relevant ministries
Strong analytical and writing skills
Good command of English
Demonstrated ability for team work in a leadership capacity
Able to design, organize and facilitate participatory workshops and seminars
Inviting and working together with governmental representatives, decision
makers, independent experts and NGOs
Experience of dealing with policy issues with decision-making levels
2. Setting up the regional NGO taskforce
The NGO taskforce will largely cover the CEE region with the participation
of NGO national coordinators from 7 countries which are not accessing the European
Union in 2004. The objectives of the regional NGO taskforce are to:
Enhance international communication among nature conservation NGOs and other
parties having an interest in the field,
Support the goal of strengthening relevant regional activities, and
Share expertise and experience so that the efforts made towards this goal
yield greater benefit among member organizations and in policy-making
Responsibilities
National Coordinator
The national coordinator will be responsible for
mobilizing and organizing the efforts of different actors (consultants, experts,
key stakeholders) and ensuring correct and timely provision of expected outcomes
as determined by the CEEweb Policy Office. In particular, the coordinator will
undertake the following tasks:
Draw up the work program for implementing the project on the national level,
based on consultations with the Policy Office
Assure the implementation of the national work program within the established
time-frame and budget
Communicate with Policy Office and other national coordinators to propose,
clarify and seek guidance on work in progress
Assign tasks to other selected partners, recruit short term specialists
as the need arises
Arrange effective communication within the group of involved NGOs, other
consultants and stakeholders
Review the role of NGOs in achieving the 2010 target, identify their capacity
needs
Submit the findings of above assessment to the Policy Office, to provide
input for the training material prepared for the national training and capacity
building workshop
Prepare national training and capacity building workshop for selected NGOs
Prepare national roundtable of various stakeholders, including NGOs and
governmental representatives
Conduct assessment of different aspect of efforts on governmental as well
as on NGO level (such as policy development, sectoral integration, partnerships
among stakeholders, providing financial resources, practical projects, etc.)
through:
Personal interviews with officials of governments and international bodies,
as well as with NGOs
Undertaking a survey among governmental bodies and NGOs
Reviewing policy documents and following up policy making processes (participating
in policy making as far as possible)
Cooperation with other NGOs and UN entities (UNDP, UNEP) active in this
particular field
Analyze (synthesize) findings and prepare the necessary documentation (national
report)
Review and finalize all documents for submission to the Policy Office
Policy Office
The Policy Office will be responsible of the overall
coordination and implementation of the project, with support from the national
coordinator and national partners, including the following tasks:
Provide continuous backstopping and guidance on the work in progress
Develop questionnaire, data analysis and reporting procedures, define the
target group of the survey in consultation with the local partners
Set up a mailing list, providing site under the CEEweb homepage to ensure
communication within the regional NGO taskforce
Prepare and print a leaflet on the 2010 target, Kyiv outcomes, CBD, etc.
prior to the national training and capacity building workshops
Develop and distribute the CD ROM including training material on the importance
of biodiversity conservation, on CBD / PEBLDS processes and detailed information
on the Kyiv outcomes, based on the capacity needs identified by the national
coordinator .
Organize international NGO workshop to report back from country experiences,
case studies and good experiences, discussing opportunities for partnerships
Provide for the assessment of relevant processes and efforts at different
levels (global, Pan-European, EU) for the international workshop
Ensure regular information dissemination on the relevant processes, outcomes,
the progress made via distribution lists, the CEEweb newsletter and the CEEweb
website
Prepare a publication on the findings of the national reports in a limited
number of hard copy version and on CD ROMs
Ensure the dissemination of the report and its recommendations in a way
that results in change at policy levels
Organize follow-up meeting to decide on the next steps for the continuation
of the monitoring and capacity-building activities
Ensuring the framework for ongoing cooperation for monitoring progress
in reaching the 2010 target
Outcomes
Strengthened capacity and awareness of NGOs and other key actors for implementing
the Kyiv outcomes in relation to CBD and PEBLDS targets and processes in the
target countries
Enforced NGO network – task force – engaged in dealing with this issue
on the long term perspectives in the CEE/SEE region
Better understanding on the processes and progress towards halting biodiversity
loss among NGOs
Initial dialogue between NGOs and ministerial focal points
Deliverables
Lists of NGOs and their capacities in all the participating
countries which are dealing / potentially dealing with CBD
/ PEBLDS
Leaflet on the 2010 target and related policy forming
processes targeting stakeholders
Survey report on NGOs capacity needs supported by the
round table discussions
Published synthesis report on the findings of the assessments
in 50 hard copy and on in digital form which can serve to
justify future project both on national and on international
level.
