WWF launches Nature for People initiative/platform in SEE

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF Adria), an important regional partner of the GIZ Open Regional Fund for South-East Europe – Biodiversity (ORF-BD), has launched a new regional initiative under the title Nature for People, with an aim to provide information and share examples of good practice in order to help improve management of natural resources and living conditions of communities in South-East Europe (SEE).

WWF has also opened a call for submission of applications to participate in the initiative and share one’s experiences and success stories through a new platform Natureforpeople.org.

Nature for People is a large scale initiative, which aims to collect evidence, i.e. positive examples demonstrating nature benefits for people living and working in protected areas, including working in sectors such as tourism, water management, health and recreation, education, marine and fishery, and forestry, for purposes of creating a public knowledge management and awareness raising platform on the topics of nature conservation and biodiversity in SEE.

Sharing of knowledge and experience

Natureforpeople.org will provide support to policymakers and practitioners working in the area of nature conservation and sectors dependent on natural resources, including the ecosystem services.

It will act as public collection and information provision instrument demonstrating the present values of protected areas in the region and by providing examples of practices as to help to the regional governments achieve the Aichi Biodiversity target number 1: “By 2020, at the latest, people are aware of the values of biodiversity and the steps they can take to conserve and use sustainably.”

WWF, by joining forces with its partners, intends to gather examples of good practice for improving management of natural resources while aiming at improved living conditions for communities.

The ORF-BD, together with its partners and key players in the sector of biodiversity in the region is contributing to the WWF initiative by supporting awareness raising on the importance of biodiversity and ecosystem services for development planning and policy making in SEE. The accent is on knowledge, best practices and positive examples sharing.

Call for applications open until mid-2018

All practitioners (representatives of institutions, CSOs, researchers, the private sector, etc.), working in the area of nature conservation and sectors that depend on natural resources in South-East Europe, are invited to submit their applications to participate in the initiative. The call is open until mid-2018.

All those interested should submit their portfolio of experiences and examples demonstrating innovative nature based tourism products and offers focusing on economic benefits for local communities, better living conditions, improved protected areas management and mitigation of threats to nature conservation

The success stories from the region will be shared through the Nature for People platform.

The initiative will provide an opportunity to learn how others tackle similar challenges, replicate their solutions, and realize synergies.