Interdepartmental Cooperation
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Increase collaborative engagement of multiple governmental bodies
Improving
Iori River Valley
Georgia
Problem: shepherds and farmers currently over-exploit the grasslands in this landscape, which leads to overgrazing, loss of grassland vegetation, desertification and erosion.
Action: SABUKO is working to advocate for and educate stakeholders on more sustainable grazing practices. This includes supporting farmers and shepherds to adopt sustainable grazing regimes with their flocks, as well as working with multiple governmental organisations to eventually require sustainable grazing practices by law.
Indicator: The number of meetings held, and an increase in number of decisions made at those meetings, will track the progress towards the eventual goal of updating legislation to include sustainable grazing requirements.
Natia Javakhishvili from SABUKO presenting the results of conducted studies in July 2021 to stakeholders. Photo: SABUKO
Karl Amirgulashvili from the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia attending the meeting organised by SABUKO in July 2021, where the importance of cross-cooperation between governmental and non-governmental entities was emphasised. Photo: SABUKO
Natia Javakhishvili from SABUKO and representatives of BirdLife International presenting the upcoming studies to stakeholders in March 2019. Photo: SABUKO
Methods
SABUKO has worked hard to develop relationships with relevant stakeholders and decision-makers, including the Agency of Protected Areas, Border Police, Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, the Georgian Parliament, and Ilia State University. SABUKO monitors inter-departmental cooperation between these organisations based on the following metrics, which were recorded in meeting minutes:
- number of inter-agency meetings held
- attendance at those meetings
- number of decisions [actions] made at those meetings
Results
SABUKO is continuously facilitating meetings between stakeholders, cumulating in 120 inter-departmental actions that have been documented since the project launched in 2018. Actions range from topics such as the sustainable use of the Chachuna Managed Reserve site, ensuring that assessment of the Chachuna forest health status and hydrology were carried out, to identifying priority restoration interventions. Other topics include the development of river flood models, economic analyses of potential watering spots for sheep, conducting a marketing survey for sheep products, and improving cooperation between Border Police and the Agency of Protected Areas.
Partners
