Press Release

National Training

Tirana - 25 April 2019 - Albania has a high biological potential and diversity, but it is suffering huge damages which in many cases are irreversible. The sustainable management of natural resources in Albania has not yet been properly integrated into national and local policies. Involvement of local communities and CSOs in decision making and management of natural resources and protected areas is inadequate. This situation hampers the effective implementation of environmental policy and nature conservation and leads slightly towards unnecessary conflicts and misunderstandings.

Environmental Civil Society Organizations (ECSOs) are now seen as a driving force for transforming the society into a context of sustainable, environmentally friendly development. Some of them have good potentials to develop and protect the interests of society. However, to be truly involved in drafting nature conservation policies, CSOs should further increase their capacities and resources.

In this context, ECSOs should play an active and effective role in the planning and implementation of nature conservation measures and engagement of other stakeholders for coherent decision-making. CSOs should form a compelling message on the importance of nature conservation, sustainable use of natural resources for policy-makers, actors and community. We can all benefit from learning from others' experiences and tools that help us think and act strategically.

The Institute for Nature Conservation in Albania (INCA) in cooperation with the International Union for Nature Conservation (IUCN) havestarted the implementation of the project "Empowering Civil Society Organizations to Promote Nature Conservation in Albania". The project is funded by the European Commission under the "Support to the Capacities of Civil Society Organizations" program.

The target groups in this project include (i) environmental society organizations, (ii) authorities responsible for nature conservation, sustainable use of natural resources and management of protected areas (PA) at all levels of government, (iii) private sector, communities where targeted PAs are located and v) local and national media.

One of the main outputs of the project is the preparation of the manual "Impact on nature conservation policy through effective advocacy and lobbying", aiming to assist the CSOs with some guidance and advice on best practices, to influence decision-making processes, nature and environmental issues, at the national and local level.

The ECSOs involved in this project, along with the ongoing process of enhancing their capacitiesand through the mini-grants programs, will be able to promote nature, strengthening the role of communities and enhancing concrete interaction with them and other stakeholders, undertake initiatives, higher involvement in advocacy, lobbying and better response to biodiversity and nature conservation issues at local and national level, by increasing their pressure and participation in the sustainable governance of natural resources through participation, awareness raising and media information, members of municipal councils, relevant local, regional commissions and the Albanian Parliament. Without coordinated action between all the ECSOs, efforts will not take the necessary effect; therefore their cooperation is decisive. An effective practice for these processes is networking of ECSOs, share information and / or form coalitions. Co-ordinated action and division of labour will help them cover a wide range of activities, such as preparing written statements, meeting with responsible institutions, initiating petitions, organizing media events, gatherings, etc. It is a specific guide which combines communication instruments, advocacy, lobbying, addressing and responding, through awareness raising and education activities, for a wider and more active participation of representatives of local communities, various decision-making forums, to minimize the issues and to promote common resource management and natural landscape. The Manual helps with relevant information and tools to enable the development of a more effective advocacy and lobbying strategy. The tools encourage learning of ENGOs and partners to increase their efforts for advocacy and lobbying in an appropriate environment to increase pressure on decision-makers, including the development and implementation of nature conservation policies, CSOs and experts, who have been successful in advocacy and lobbying.

The meeting, as well as the National Training "Impact on Nature Conservation Policies through Advocacy-Effective Lobbying" aims at increasing the capacity of ECSOs onthe best advocacy practices in the area of nature conservation. The subject of this training will be the introduction of the handbook "Impact on nature conservation policy policies through advocacy effective lobbying" to the ECSOs, the responsible authorities for nature conservation and the management of the protected environmental zones at all levels of government and media. The training will also serve as a communication table with local ENGOs to discuss their networking, advocacy-lobbying design, and enhance role and empowerment of CSOs in implementing of legislation, in the fight against corruption and the minimization of negative impacts on the management of natural resources and protected areas.