Adaptation measures in forest management under climate change presented at the VII Annual International Conference of REC Caucasus in Tbilisi, Georgia (10-11/11/11)

Three South-Caucasus countries, Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, and their representatives from the spheres of the academia, civil society, governmental agencies, the business sector as well as international organizations convened in Tbilisi, Georgia between the 10^th and 11^th of November, 2011 to the VII Annual International Conference of REC Caucasus on “Climate Change Adaptation – Challenge and Opportunity for the Caucasus”.

Sharing knowledge and experiences of climate change trends, impacts, strategies and response measures in their respective countries, the participants aimed to identify common issues to be addressed at the regional level for more effective response.

Adaptation measures in forest regeneration and forest rehabilitation, wildfire management as well as pest monitoring and control piloted in the South-Eastern Syunik region of Armenia under the UNDP/GEF project “Adaptation to climate change impacts in mountain forest ecosystems of Armenia” were presented by Ms Essi Ulander, UN Volunteer involved in the project. Experience gathered under the project in supporting the legal ban of agricultural waste burning, which is a major cause of forest fires in all three South-Caucasian countries, was of great interest to many parties present at the conference.  Other presentations highlighting adaptation options in forest and landscape management implemented throughout the South-Caucasus region were delivered at the conference e.g. by the GIZ and WWF.

The impacts of climate change on tourism sector were also introduced at the Conference by the Project National Expert Ms. Zhanna Galyan. The Project also funded participation of Ms. Diana Hovhannisyan, the representative of the “Hydromet” SNCO, Ministry of emergency Situations of Armenia, in the Conference.

The conference presentations and theses are available on the REC Caucasus website.