PONT strategy promotes transboundary cooperation between government and non-government partners
At the initial start of PONT the five year strategy was elaborated by drawing on the experiences of the PrespaNet partners who have worked in the area for a long time. By working directly with the main NGOs and protected area management bodies the main conservation and capacity development objectives were determined. This resulted in a strategy focusing on the financing of the gaps and building of strong partnerships with stakeholders that have a mandate, vision and the expertise to achieve the conservation results in the Prespa area. The PONT strategy promotes transboundary cooperation between government and non-government partners based on previous experiences.
Classifications
Category
Scale of implementation
Phase of solution
Enabling factors
A comprehensive study gathering lessons learned of what was done in the last 25 years and where the remaining gaps are.
Making use of the NGO network PrespaNet to work on a transboundary level where no formal transboundary institutions are in place yet.
Available funding for both government and non-government partners
Lessons learned
Instead of re-inventing the wheel the previous experiences were gathered by PrespaNet partners who have been working in the geographical area for a long time. This was done under coordination of WWF Greece who knows the area very well and could verify the results. The recommendations for the conservation objectives were verified by the protected area bodies and this formed the basis for the conservation objectives for the PONT five year strategy. With the help of PONT expertise the objectives for organisational development and capacity development were identified and added. This resulted in a participatory developed strategy and conflict assessment study that was accepted by both government and non-government stakeholders within and across state borders. To focus financing on the identified gaps selection of grantees was made based on their mandate, vision, proven track record and expertise to work in the area. This enabled the rapid granting of first grants to NGOs and protected area management bodies and real implementation.