Με επίκεντρο τις εθνικές και ευρωπαϊκές προτεραιότητες της δασικής πολιτικής όπως διαμορφώνονται στο πλαίσιο της Ευρωπαϊκής Πράσινης Συμφωνίας και της Ευρωπαϊκής Στρατηγικής για τη Βιοποικιλότητα σε συνάρτηση με την Εθνική Στρατηγική για τα Δάση, διοργανώθηκε με μεγάλη επιτυχία η διαδικτυακή θεματική ημερίδα με τίτλο «Χρηματοδοτικό Πρόγραμμα LIFE και Δάση: Πραγματικότητα, Προκλήσεις και Ανάγκες στη Δασική Διαχείριση στην Ελλάδα του 21ου αιώνα». Η ημερίδα  συνδιοργανώθηκε από το Πράσινο Ταμείο, την Ελληνική Task Force για το Πρόγραμμα LIFE και το Ελληνικό Κέντρο Βιοτόπων – Υγροτόπων (ΕΚΒΥ). Πραγματοποιήθηκε  την Παρασκευή 27 Νοεμβρίου 2020, με τη συμμετοχή περισσότερων από 300 ατόμων, εκπροσώπων από τη Δασική Υπηρεσία, την περιφερειακή και τοπική αυτοδιοίκηση, περιβαλλοντικών οργανώσεων ειδικών επιστημόνων,  και φοιτητών από όλη τη χώρα.

Στόχος της ημερίδας ήταν η διάχυση και αξιοποίηση των αποτελεσμάτων των έργων LIFE από τους αρμόδιους φορείς της κεντρικής, της περιφερειακής διοίκησης και της αυτοδιοίκησης, αλλά και όλων όσοι εμπλέκονται με τη διαχείριση των δασών και τις υπηρεσίες που παρέχουν. Κατά τη διάρκειά της έγινε αναδρομή στις θεματικές δασικής διαχείρισης και διακυβέρνησης, στις οποίες έχει συνεισφέρει το Πρόγραμμα LIFE στην Ελλάδα από το 1992. Παρουσιάστηκαν επίσης έργα που υλοποιούνται, όπως το έργο ForestLife ή έχουν ολοκληρωθεί στο πλαίσιο του Προγράμματος LIFE και προσεγγίζουν σύγχρονες περιβαλλοντικές προκλήσεις, όπως η κλιματική αλλαγή, οι πυρκαγιές, οι φωτιές, οι πλημμύρες και θέματα διαχείρισης – προστασίας – ανασύστασης, γενετικής παρακολούθησης, αλλά και διακυβέρνησης του τομέα των δασών.

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Organisation of exhibitions. Forest Service archive.

Broadcasting news about science, technology but more about environmental issues and especially for unsustainable practices that presented in recent decades, may have a positive impact on public beliefs. But a series of conditions must also be met.

For USA Seyranian et al. (2015) and for Australia Kolandai-Matchett (2009) showed that the impact of this news on public opinion depends on the type and popularity of the media and the type and details of the media content. Where specific objectives pursued awareness on environmental issues,  a first important step is to is to reach trust and understanding between stakeholders. To this end, it is crucial to select the appropriate communication tools, to develop a common ground and a plain language of communication. For example photographs of people facing sever direct effects of climate change, can create an emotional connection to what may otherwise be viewed as a natural problem (Findlay 2020).These are becoming more and more necessary as the environmental crisis presents increasing complexity and interconnections at every level and aspect. Thus, the media, whether “traditional” or “new”, can contribute positively to public perceptions and ultimately promote environmental policies.

Video presenting reforestation process.

Beyond the selection of the the appropriate tools and strategies, it is essential to bear in mind that environmental issues demand scientific and technical knowledge in order to provide valid and timely information. Furthermore, the appropriate scientific and technical training of journalists facilitates the cooperation with experts in environmental issues, in order to achieve the widest possible information of the public. However, a research carried out in Australia in 2009 by Kolan dai-Matchett showed that only a small number of journalists covering environmental issues have the necessary knowledge and background and this is, perhaps, the main reason why there is a lack of environmental news reports. Focusing on communicating forest research. As regards Greece, Skamnakis and Kostarella (2018) report that the number of environmental issues raised by the media is limited.

If this is the case for journalists and the media, experts also need to make their way, by identifing the most important issues that must reach the general public. Focusing on forest science, the number of journalists and media outlets who invest the time and resources for in-depth research – which is needed to write about complex issues such as science – is decreasing  (IUFRO News, Volume 49, Issue 9, 2020). Communicators can support researchers to break down the complexity of their messages and get their information to their audiences. A recent example of such an effort is a report prepared by the Ministerial Conference for European Forests (Forest Europe), entitled «Adaptation to climate change in sustainable forest management in Europe.” The report clearly depicts the need for a constant flow of information to the public about the impact of climate change on forests, but also stress the need for a broad dissemination about how Europeans foresters react to climate change and how they prepare the forests to prevent future damages. Background social studies may also contribute substantially to an effective communication strategy. For example in Italy Carrus et al. (2020) after conducting a research funded by the Italian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology,  found that the public overestimates the presence of forests, something that may enhance a trend of underestimation of the needs for forest conservation.

References

Carrus, G., A. Panno, J. Aragones, M. Marchetti, R. Motta, G. Tonon and G. Sanesi 2020. Public perceptions of forests across Italy: an exploratory national survey. iForest – Biogeosciences and Forestry 13: 323-328.

Findlay, Alyssa. 2020. Documenting climate change. Nature Climate Change. 10: 882-887.

FOREST EUROPE 2020. Adaptation to Climate Change in Sustainable Forest Management in Europe, Liaison Unit Bratislava, Zvolen, 2020.

IUFRO, 2020. IUFRO News, Volume 49, Issue 9, 2020 (https://www.iufro.org/publications/news/electronic-news/io-news-2009/).

Kolandai-Matchett K. 2009. Improving news media communication of sustainability and the environment: an exploration of approaches. Phd thesis. University of Canterbury.

Seyranian, V., G. M. Sinatra and M. S. Polikoff. 2015. Comparing communication strategies for reducing residential water consumption. Journal of Environmental Psychology. 41:81-90. DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2014.11.009.

Skamnakis, A. and I. Kostarella. 2018. “Environmental journalism and local media” in Georgiakakis, P., et al. Environmental responsibility, prevention and restoration Heraklion, University of Crete Press.

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In order to strengthen the touristic identity Greek protected areas, the Green Fund assigned to GNHM-EKBY the project entitled “Promotion of the protected areas of the country”. Along with its main task, the project seeks to contribute to the mitigation of the effects of tourism and leisure activities, by attracting informed and properly prepared visitors. The main actions of the project are: (a) the evaluation of the level of use of new technologies for the promotion and promotion of protected areas, as well as the services and goods they offer, (b) the conduct of needs research to upgrade the online promotion of protected areas (c) the training of protected areas staff on online promotion of the protected areas, (d) the promotion of the social media presence of the management bodies and (e) the dissemination of information regarding the project’s activities and results.

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CEETO (Central Europe Eco-Tourism), an Interreg Central Europe project, is organising its final (online) conference on Sustainable Tourism  at May 14th 2020. The conference’s programme will cover different examples of visitor monitoring and management measures presented by CEETO project partners, along with an in-depth analysis of CEETO project achievements. These achievments include, inter allia, a Handbook on Successful and Innovative Sustainable Tourism Practices in Europe;     Guidelines for developing a Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas and a Manual of Sustainable Tourism Governance for Protected Areas managers.

CEETO project main objective is to protect and enhance the natural heritage of Protected Areas (PAs) and Natura 2000 Network, by promoting an innovative sustainable tourism planning model, which reduces usage conflicts, sustains social and territorial cohesion, improves the quality of life of local communities and encourages the tourism industry to concretely contribute to nature conservation.

More information about the conference programme and registration.

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Plant health is increasingly under threat. Climate change and other human activities, are altering ecosystems, reducing biodiversity and creating new niches where pests can thrive. At the same time, international travel and trade has tripled in volume in the last decade and can quickly spread pests and diseases around the world causing great damage to native plants and the environment.

Prevention is crucial in order to tackle the impacts of plant pests and diseases and everybody has a role in it:

• Travelers need to avoid taking plants and plant products with them across borders.
• People in the transportation industries need to make sure that ships, airplanes, trucks and trains don’t carry plant pests and diseases into new areas.
• Governments need to increase their support to national and regional plant protection organizations that are the first line of defense.

The national competent authority for plant health is the Directorate of Plant Production Protection. The competent authority for the forest sector is the Directorate of Forest Protection of the Ministry of Environment and Energy.

Further reading:

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) http://www.fao.org/plant-health-2020/home/en/

European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO) http://www.eppo.int

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Forestlife project manager speaks at August 14, 2019 at the main news of ERT1 (Channel 1 of the Greek Public Television) for the impacts of the forest fire of Central Evia which erupted at August 12, 2019. Watch the interview at the 33th minute.

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In the frame of CEETO Interreg Central Europe project (Central Europe Eco Tourism: tools for nature protection), EUROPARC Federation organises a webinar on Sustainable Tourism entitled “Monitoring & Managing visitors in Protected Areas”.

The webinar will take place on March 7th 2019 at 15:00h CET and will give an overview on the best and more cost-effective tools to monitor tourist flows in protected areas.

Tourism has been growing at an unprecedented rate in recent years, and areas of particular natural value are among those that attract a large number of visitors. The aim of the seminar is to empower all those who work in protected areas and provide recreation and tourism services or are responsible for the protection and management of protected areas in order to ensure the socioeconomic benefits of tourism, without compromising the conservation status of natural environment.

The webinar will be in the English language and its duration will be 1 hr and 15 minutes. Participation is free, but registration to the webinar is needed.

For more information please visit the following link:
https://www.interreg-central.eu/Content.Node/Sustainable-Tourism–Monitoring—Managing-visitors-in-Pr.html

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More information (in Greek) for: Participation, Programme

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The needs assessment identified the situation of the Forest Community (FC), as regards their knowledge and skills in undertaking forest management, and as regards available and desired tools and information. This assessment was based on the analysis of 268 questionnaires (forest managers and other stakeholders). Complementary to this quantitative research, to help assess the baseline situation, 43 semi-structured interviews and 14 focus groups have been performed (qualitative research) among the members of the FC. The findings provided input, among others, to the design of the Collaboration Platform for Forests (CPF) and the Communication Strategy which have been also released.

The content development for: a) the CPF, b) the electronic application for smartphones and tablets (e-App) and c) the training seminars, is an on-going activity. The project team constantly gathers, organises and elaborates data (such as policy documents, guidelines, technical reports, scientific publications, geospatial data, maps, photographs, projects etc.). Regarding the production of both the CPF and the e-App (e-book “The Forests of Greece” included), a joint call for tenders is going to be published soon. In what concerns capacity building actions, the organisation of the training seminars on the five project topics is going to start in 2018.

The call for tenders for the monitoring of the project’s socio-economic impact has been published at the project’s website.

Regarding dissemination actions, the project website has been launched at the beginning of the project and has already received more than 24.000 visits from about 9.000 unique visitors. Also, seven newsletters (Gr and En) comprising news of the project and other information material have been sent to some 600 recipients each. The project has its own Facebook page, Twitter and ResearchGate account and the project’s Communication Team is continuously updating and uploading website and social media content. LIFE ForestLife has a steady presence on Mass Media (articles in press and on the web, press releases), it has participated in 15 meetings/events in Greece and abroad, and has exchanged information with relevant projects and organisations in the framework of networking activities. The production of the project printed material by the Directorate General for Forests and Forest Environment is underway.

The project has contributed significantly, through its representatives from both beneficiaries, in the two very important instruments for policy making in the fields of forest conservation and management, namely the Working Groups for the drafting of: a) the National Strategy for Forests and b) the New Standards on drafting Forest Management Plans.

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