SNV Balkans has signed a €3.6 million contract with Sida, the Swedish international development co-operation agency, to develop a sustainable forestry programme. The three year programme builds on earlier investments in forestry to promote decentralised decision making and planning in forest and pasture land. Last year SNV Balkans also negotiated with Sida a €4million co-financed programme in Kosovo to support decentralised management in forest areas. SNV Programme Leader Alastair Anton said that this was an exciting extension of SNV Balkans’ ongoing partnership with SIDA. ‘Our relationship with SIDA has grown as we have worked together to improve the livelihoods and income of forestry communities in the Balkans. This programme will build on the solid work of the past six years, further strengthening the relationship between local government and forest communities, with a direct and measureable impact on the lives of some of the poorest people in the region.’ The Albanian programme will strengthen the capacity of local forest and pasture user associations and local government units, strengthening linkages between stakeholders for sustainable communal forestry and pasture management. As well as supporting national level processes, the programme will focus on the regions of Kukes, Diber, and Korca, strengthening existing networks and organisations, with engagement of Local Government Units to meet their new responsibilities. Project activities will progressively move into Elbasan, Shkoder and Gjirokaster, The programme involves 4,500 SNV advisory days in four thematic areas. 1. Improving decentralised management & better securing property rights for forest & pasture users in target Communes within 6 regions; Improving the capacity of local government units to manage communal forest and pastures within newly transferred responsibilities. This would include support to strategic policy and planning processes; review of revenue collection; as well as securing property rights for rural forest families respecting traditional use rights; 2. Improving income generating strategies and opportunities for forest and pasture dependent rural households; Mainstreaming multi-objective forest management approaches and ensuring their understanding and acceptability to stakeholders, forest policy makers and regulators in particular. Promoting better organisation within and between producers and collectors of forest products and providing better links to markets in order to maximise income generation in support of rural livelihoods. A particular focus will be to strengthen women’s economic participation in value chain development. 3. Strengthening the institutional, policy & legal framework for communal forestry; Further strengthening multi-stakeholder processes on advocacy; knowledge brokering, and influencing national policy and legal processes; better definition of stakeholder roles and responsibilities; Strengthening the accountability, transparency of operation, responsiveness and communication within and between these groups, including focus on gender equality of opportunity. 4. Improving the management of the Nation’s communal forest and pasture areas through enhanced capacity and responsiveness of Local Government Units in support of local sustainable development: It is widely acknowledged that support is necessary to strengthen the capacity of Local Government Units to fully realise their new responsibilities in the management of communal forests and pastures, following the recent formal transfer of these areas. This Result will raise awareness of Local Government Units of new arrangements defined in the Council of Ministers Decision no.22 dated 09 January 2008 and support annual forums to share learning and experiences as well as disseminate the learning and approaches piloted from the target Communes.