medcoastland thematic network

MEDCOASTLAND THEMATIC NETWORK

EUROPEAN SOIL BUREAU NETWORK

Meeting of the Steering Committee, Plenary and Soil Atlas of Europe editorial board

Ispra, 24-26 November 2004 Dr. Pandi Zdruli

Project manager

Status of the MEDCOASTLAND Project

INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR ADVANCED MEDITERRANEANAGRONOMIC STUDIES (CIHEAM)

MEDITERRANEAN AGRONOMIC INSTITUTE OF BARI , I TALY

MEDCOASTLAND PROJECT



WP1 FORUM

Internet based dissemination and communication,

networking, co-ordination, International Conference

WP2-S. KapurWP Leader

Workshop 1, research review, debate and dissemination on

Eco-system based assessment of soil degradation to improve land users concern and prompt action

WP3-M. Badraoui WP Leader

Workshop 2, research review, debate and dissemination on

Income-product generating soil conservation management

WP4-F.A. KaderWP Leader

Workshop 3, research review, debate and dissemination onParticipatory soil conservation

management

WP5-T. DarwishWP Leader

Workshop 4, research review, debate and dissemination onGuidelines for national and

regional policies and management

WP6-S.SammutWP Leader

Workshop 5, debate and dissemination on

Draft agreement to exchange data and develop regional

long-term co-operation

Input from selected projects

and site visits

Fig. 1 – Structure and links among Work Packages

National, Regional, EU research, studies, projects, policies, strategies, other

WP7Retrieval of information




Algeria

Morocco

Tunisia

Lebanon

Egypt Syria Malta

Palestine

Turkey

Jordan

Spain

FranceItaly

PRPDMPA

PRPDM

PRPDMPA

PRPDMPA

PRPDMPA

PRPDMPA

PRPDMPA

PRPDMPA

PRPR

PDMPA

PRPDMPA

PR

PR

Co-ordinatorIAMB

Network structure. PR = Researcher, PDM = Decision Maker, PA = Association of land / soil users

MEDCOASTLAND PROJECTObjectives

MAJOR GOAL

Mediterranean coordination and dissemination of land conservation management to combat land degradation for the

sustainable use of natural resources in the Mediterranean region with special emphases on coastal areas

To achieve this goal we SHOULD:

•Provide Information Retrieval•Complete the knowledge data base•Participate in workshops•Prepare reports for the proceedings•Participate actively in the project activities (i.e, inputs for the Newsletter, Forum, and outreach activities)



MEDCOASTLAND PROJECT Ispra, (VA) November 2004

Situation at end of 2nd year of the projectWork Package 1 - Internet based communication, dissemination and share of information - FORUM

• The Web page is fully operational;• Knowledge database is available to non-partners;• Since March 2004 around 900 people worldwide

have visited our web page (almost 100 hits per month);

• But the Internet-based FORUM on land degradation remain dormant (maybe competition with e-mail communication????);



Printing Adana Proceedings was a successBUT

Identification of common indicators TO ASSESS LAND

DEGRADATION on the basis of available data and knowledge at local, national and regional

scale IS NOT COMPLETED;

Formulation of an eco-system based assistance methodology

to prompt co-ordinated actions by land users, decision

makers and researchers involved in land management

IS FAR FROM OVER;




Situation at end of 2nd year of the projectWork package 2 – ECO-system based assistance to land users and land

owners Responsible partner P11 (Univ. Çukurova, Turkey, S. Kapur)


Participants of the 1st Workshop held in Adana, June 2003


Situation at end of 2nd year of the projectWork package 3 – Income-Product Generating Soil Conservation Responsible partner P10 (IAV Hassan II, Morocco, M. Badraoui)

• Formulation of a conceptual scheme to assess Income Generating Activities (NOT DONE)

•Determining an income-product generating approach for soil conservation management in relation to economic and production aspects generated by the sustainable land management practices (NOT DONE)

• In Marrakech was raised the question of In Marrakech was raised the question of definition of IGA and was proposed: “definition of IGA and was proposed: “Activities / Activities / interventions / actions aiming at supporting land interventions / actions aiming at supporting land conservation measures (projects) by improving conservation measures (projects) by improving the income of the farmers”the income of the farmers”. IGA relates to . IGA relates to agriculture reform, subsides, and conservation agriculture reform, subsides, and conservation measures. (measures. (A GOOD STRAT THAT WE ARE A GOOD STRAT THAT WE ARE FOLLOWINGFOLLOWING))


Participants of the 2nd workshop held in Marrakech, Morocco 12-16 February 2004


Mediterranean hospitality, Marrakech, Morocco, February 2004


Situation at end of 2nd year of the projectWork package 4 – Participatory soil conservation management

Responsible partner P3 (Alexandria University, F.A. Kader)

• Formulation of participatory schemes suitable to assist in combating land degradation

•Thorough investigation of legislative aspects and their relationship to sustainable use and management of natural resources

• Exploring the links between Participatory Irrigation Management and Participatory Land management

•Public and private partnerships in land management

•Drawing conclusions from indigenous knowledge in land management

• Top down and bottom up approaches complement each other

•Full papers for the workshop are due by the end of 2004


Participants of the 3rd workshop held in Alexandria, Egypt 9-13 October 2004


What’s nextWork Package 5 – Guidelines for national and regional policies for

sustainable land managementResponsible partner P5 (National Council for Scientific Research, Dr. T.

Darwish)

Workshop 4: Beirut, Lebanon 13-17 April 2005 Drafting Appropriate Policies and Guidelines to Support Sustainable Land Management in the

Mediterranean Region”;

Some possible topics for discussion• Reviews of existing Euro-Mediterranean regulatory framework and policies

• Impacts of policies in sustainable land management at regional scale

• The role of participatory and scientific context in policy development

• Guidelines and policies and the wide range of boundary conditions including national and regional dimensions

• The institutional framework and its influence in policy development

• Results and conclusions derived from previous workshops

• Guidelines and indications for the establishment of incentives for land-users (e.g., micro-credit) to enhance soil conservation

• Development of economically sustainable measures that match with environmental quality


• Establishing the role and responsibilities of rural communities, scientists, researchers, policy-makers and decision-makers in soil conservation

• There is not such as “absolute perfect policy” universally suitable for all conditions. Policies and guidelines need to be adapted continuously and locally

• If not implemented, even the best policies have no impact in combating land degradation and promoting sustainable natural resources management

Workshop 4: Beirut, Lebanon 13-17 April 2005 Drafting Appropriate Policies and Guidelines to Support Sustainable Land

Management in the Mediterranean Region”;

Topics (con’t)


Concluding Remarks

• Overall MEDCOASTLAND has been successful;• Thanks to it new ideas have emerged and new

partnerships are becoming possible;• The follow-up of the Network however is still

unclear;• Apart for continued International donor's support we

are exploring local possibilities for financial support;• If funding will not be available to maintain the

Network alive throughout the whole Mediterranean, neighbouring countries are encouraged to create regional networks i.e. for Maghreb or Middle East;

• All of this is needed because combating land degradation is a long struggle and to prevail the support of all the stakeholders is needed. INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR ADVANCED MEDITERRANEANAGRONOMIC STUDIES (CIHEAM)


medcoastland thematic network

Documents

land degradation

land users

mediterranean region

soil conservation management

kapurinternational centre

projectwork package

project activities i

internetbased forum