WP7: Dissemination and policies


The overall objective of WP7 is to develop better communication of technical and innovative ideas, better access to materials and technical assistance through development of capacity building workshops, suitable manuals and guidelines and recommendations based on modelling and decision support tools for strategy planning at international, regional and local level. The the results have been disseminated at five levels:
1) International organizations and conventions in which the partners of the project have produced policy recommendations. Examples are contributions to the biodiversity Atlas of West Africa for Benin and Burkina Faso, the Catalogue des plantes vasculaires du Burkina Faso, the National Strategy and Action Plan for promotion of Non Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) priority of Benin, the national report on the implementation of the convention on biological diversity in Benin. Results have been shared with relevant international institutions such as FAO, IUCN, GEF and GBIF, United States Agency For International Development, Wetlands International, Bioversity International, World Agroforestry Centre, World Commission on Protected Areas, Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, International Mechanism of scientific expertise on biodiversity. On regional level example is the midterm assessment of progress towards the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020.
2) Natural resource managers and politicians. Here the partners have provided materials on the practical aspects of strategies for mitigation of desertification land degradation and recommendations for tree restoration measures and ecosystem service preservation-oriented management methods to training institutions, NGOs, extension organizations, land use departments of local government, politicians, ministries, land use departments and institutions in charge of environmental policies.
3) Local communities with whom UNDESERT partners have collaborated closely and provided technical information to. This includes local NGOs, local training institutions, local decision makers, local associations and local communities in general. Support materials, such as fact sheets and posters, have been used during fieldwork, training workshops and meetings with local communities, associations, NGOs, local and regional authorities.
4) Scientific community, where the partners of the project have disseminated the results of the project through publication of 58 scientific papers for research journals, besides of participation in international conferences and workshops. Still more scientific publications will come out within the next year.
5) A project homepage, www.undesert.neri.dk, provide news and information about the project, ensuring effective dissemination of information within the network of partners and beyond. Establishment and maintenance of the web site have been carried out in English by Partner 1 and 2. The homepage will be maintained after the project by partner 2. A short film of some of the applied aspects (the Arlomom tree planting project) has been placed on the homepage and on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0gpzL61ZBc










Undesert

works to create an improved understanding of the effects of desertification and degradation processes in West Africa and to develop and implement best practices, such as carbon forestry, in close collaboration between scientists and local communities.

Financed by EU-FP7.