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The National Programme on the restoration and
expansion of forests in the Azerbaijani Republic
(2003–2008), among others, considered forest
restoration as part of broader climate change
impacts which “increase the rate of pests and
diseases, and reduce fertility and quality of seeds”
(MoENR 2003).
According to the ENPI FLEG programme,
since the approval of the “National Programme
on restoration and expansion of forests in the
Azerbaijani Republic” anumber of forest restoration
actions have been carried out on more than 71,634
hectares of forest land, and a large number of trees
were planted (ENPI FLEG 2015).
Azerbaijan
CASE STUDY
under the limited budgets of municipalities. Local
authorities consider urgent social or economic needs as
higher priorities (e.g. social assistance, infrastructural
projects, rehabilitation of schools, hospitals and roads,
etc.) than climate change strategies, programmes and
plans (including ones for mountain regions). This
prevents local authorities from formal adoption and
further implementation actions.
This situation has been improved by recent
awareness-raising campaigns, but the problem is
still acute. Public awareness can significantly change
existing practice and create incentives for approval
of local climate actions, even with existing limited
budgets. This is true for Georgia, where, in a number
of municipalities, adaptation related infrastructure
projects, such as construction of dams or measures
aimed at protecting against sea storms or river
flooding, are implemented and financed or co-
financed through local budgets.
However, within an existing institutional context
characterised by limited municipal budgets and
a lack of public awareness, regional/municipal/
local climate action plans and guiding documents
developed by different non-governmental actors
remain ineffective and non-feasible tools from an
implementational viewpoint.
Another option for implementation of climate
strategies is donor funding. A common approach for
donor-funded elaboration of local/municipal action
sees “visibility” being combined with “feasibility”.
In addition to a research and planning component,
donor-supported projects, usually incorporate pilot
activities, which can be considered as an initial
implementation of the action plans/strategies or, in
other words, “seed money”.
It is noteworthy, that in the planning of climate
change projects, non-governmental and international
organizations often refer to the National
Communications to the UNFCCC or policy documents.
There is also variety in the status of strategies
which are approved by national governments (see
Azerbaijan case study). Such strategies and action
plans or programmes usually have monitoring
and financial mechanisms, as well as responsible
government agencies, which are supposed to ensure
the progress of their implementation.
Hirkan national park, Lankaran, Azerbaijan