Projects

M19.3 – MAGF Transnational Project

Project Title: The importance of forests and woodland within climate change context.
Project Duration: 23 Months
Total Project Cost: (EUR) €127,453
Co-Financing from project to applicant: €101,962.40
Total amount requested under this application: €25,490.60

Project Summary

The project is a transnational project between the Majjistral LAG, GAL Microregiunea Somes Codru (Romania) and Prespa LAG (Macedonia). This project will focus on the below six actions:

  • Action 1- Visit to schools providing information on climate change and the environment.
  • Action 2 – Tree planting activity.
  • Action 3 – Exchange of know-how on tree planting within the Majjistral territory.
  • Action 4 – Development of environmental protocol.
  • Action 5 – Production of a short documentary of the activities held in Actions 1-3.
  • Action 6 – Sharing of best practices to promote local entrepreneurship.

These actions will be implemented in each territory simultaneously aside from Action 2 which will only be implemented in Romania and Northern Macedonia and not in Malta. Action 3 will only be implemented in Malta and not in Romania and Northern Macedonia. The actions will allow for the project to fulfil its main aim which is to raise awareness about the environment and climate change and also promote local agricultural produce and entrepreneurship. This aim will be targeted through the following objectives which will be fulfilled in each of the partner countries:

  • To engage in 2 forest/woodland planting activities.
  • To develop 1 environmental protocol.
  • To visit schools and nurseries to provide information about climate change and the environment.
  • To produce one short documentary showcasing the school visits and tree planting activities.
  • To exchange practices in promoting local entrepreneurship.
  • To improve know-how within the Majjistral territory about the environment and climate change through 4 environmental workshop seminars.

Results

This transnational cooperation will enable for both the protection of the environment and climate and also the promotion of entrepreneurship. The promotion of entrepreneurship will be achieved through Action 6 of the project where agricultural producers will be involved and be able to exchange practices with other agricultural producers from each of the partners. Through this action the project will also be supporting local initiatives such as the “Festa Frawli” and “Festa Gheneb” in Malta. Through Actions 1, 2 and 3 the collaboration will primarily be during the tree planting activity were representatives from each of the partners will be present for all tree planting activities and provide their assistance. These representatives will also be present during the visits to schools where they will provide information on the measures undertaken in each of their territories to protect the environment and climate.

The project will meet the cross-cutting objectives identified in the guidelines through the actions which it will implement. With regard to the environment and climate objectives these will be met through Action 1 and 3 indirectly. Action 1 will enable the fulfilment of the environment and climate objectives in an indirect manner as it will primarily focus on the teaching of children about the protection and safeguarding of the environment and combating climate change. Through Action 3 the project will impact the environment and climate in an indirect manner as it will lead to improved know-how of the local community in how the environment can be maintained and how tree planting activities in Malta can be improved. The cross-cutting objective on Innovation will be targeted through Action 6. This action will enable agri-producers to gain knowledge about the different innovative practices implemented in each of the territories when it comes to the promotion of entrepreneurship in each of these industries.

This action will also enable for the fulfillment of focus area 6B: “Promoting social inclusion, poverty reduction and economic development in rural areas”. Through the promotion of these local feasts and agri-products, it is envisaged that agri-producers will be able to sell more of their products resulting in the economic improvement of their businesses and economic development of these rural areas.

The project will also contribute to the two needs identified in the RDP these being Maltese Quality Produce and Wider rural economy & quality of life. With regard to the contribution to Maltese quality produce this will be targeted through action 6 as noted above where the promotion of this produce will lead to the economic improvement of agri-producers within these territories and also the quality of their produce. Through the protection of the environment and climate of the territory the project will be contributing to the betterment of the wider rural economy and quality of life of the citizens within these territories.

Key Project Plan

As noted previously the aim of this project is to raise awareness about the environment and climate change and also promote local agricultural produce and entrepreneurship. This aim will be achieved through the following objectives:

  • To engage in 2 forest/woodland planting activities.
  • To develop 1 environmental protocol.
  • To visit schools and nurseries to provide information about climate change and the environment.
  • The production of one short documentary showcasing the school visits and tree planting activities.
  • To exchange practices in promoting local entrepreneurship.
  • To improve know – how within the majjistral territory about the environment and climate change through 4 environmental workshops.

The majority of these objectives will be implemented by each of the project partners primarily as they are based on the fulfillment of the six actions of the project which are all transnational in nature. These six action are:

Action 1 – Visit to schools providing information on climate change and the environment.

The first action will focus on visits to schools within each of the three territories to provide the children within these communities with information about the importance of the local environment. During these visits, representative from local environment NGOs will also be present to provide children with important information about climate change and the environment. For this action a colouring book will be developed which will include within it information about trees, the environment and climate change. This action will allow for the contribution to two of the cross-cutting ojectives proposed in the guidelines, these being those of the environment and climate. This will be done in an indirect manner primarily as it will focus on the teaching of young people about the importance of taking care of the environment and climate change.

Action 2 – Tree planting activity.

This activity will focus on the planting of trees in Romania and Northern Macedonia. Planting will be done with the help of young volunteers which will be encouraged to attend during the school and nursery visits. For this activity representatives from the Majjistral territory will be present. Within this action a further sub-activity is planned. This will be the production of a commemorative art based on the tree planting site. Here an artist will develop some form of artwork based on the tree planting site and this will act as a form of commemoration of the site. Prior to the start of this action each LAG will sub-contract the services of an environmental consultant who will draft a report about the local environment of each of the sites where the tree planting activity will take place. This report will describe the kind of plants which would best suit the site and what kind of alien species would need to be removed to improve the site. Although the tree planting activity will not be held in Malta the gastronomic event, commemorative artwork and an environmental report on the Majjistral territory will be held in Malta.

Action 3 – Exchange of know-how on tree planting within the Majjistral territory.

This activity will only be implemented in the Majjistral territory. During the tree planting activity in Romania and Northern Macedonia representatives from the Majjistral territory will be able to get more information about the methods utilised in these countries to take care of the environment and combat climate change. This information will then be provided to the public within the Majjistral territory through a number of workshop seminars which will be held in different locations within the territory. The workshops will be based on the following subject matter:

  1. The causes of climate change and its effect on mankind.
  2. Woodland and afforestation as a way to combat climate change.
  3. Local regulations and obligations related to planting, pruning and similar interventions. (For this activity a representative from the Environment and Resource Authority will be present).
  4. xplanation of the process of plantations, including the different trees and shrubs according to different climates and soils.
  5. The biology of the tree, a simplified explanation of the process of photosynthesis and water uptake through capillary action.
  6. Explanation of different methods of carbon sequestration in urban areas, with examples like vertical green walls and roof gardens.
  7. Basic nutritional requirements of plants, including deficiency symptoms.

Action 4 – Development of environmental protocol.

Once the tree planting activity has taken place, each LAG will contribute towards developing a unique environmental protocol based on the environmental reports. The environmental protocol will enable for the sustainability of the sites as it will establish proper guidelines on how sites should be prepared prior to interventions as well as maintained and protected after the project has been completed.

Action 5 – Production of a short documentary.

During the implementation of Actions, different parts of the implemented activities will be recorded through audio visual services. These visual recordings will focus on the different environmental aspects of the project primarily the visits of schools which will be on the teaching about the environmental protection and the tree planting activity. Once all these visual recordings have been developed they will be edited and collated to form a short documentary about the environment and what is being done to help the environment through this project.

Action 6 – Sharing of best practices to promote local entrepreneurship.

This action will comprise of three activities all of which are transnational in nature. These three activities will involve the exchange of best practices when it comes to the promotion of entrepreneurship within each of the territories which the partners operate in. These activities will be the:

  • Exchange of practices at “Festa Frawli”: This activity will take place in Malta during the annual Festa Frawli which is organised in April every year. During this activity representatives from the agriculture industry from each of the other territories will visit Malta and attend this feast to see how agricultural produce and entrepreneurship is promoted in Malta and provide expertise on how this can be improved.
  • Exchange of best practices at the Northern Macedonian Apple feast: Similarly to the event in Malta agricultural producers in Malta and Romania will attend the Macedonian apple feast to see how that particular sector of agricultural entrepreneurship is promoted and obtain experiences and information.
  • Exchange of best practices with Romanian producers on the set up of the quality mark. Once again agricultural producers from both Malta and North Macedonia will travel Romania to see how Romanian honey producers have established their quality mark which has enabled them to grow their product quite significantly over the years. This is of particular interest to the Maltese producers with the honey industry, largely located within the Majjistral territory, being one which has potential to grow on the island. Producers from GAL Microregiunea Somes Codru will also travel to Majjistral territory during a gastronomic event where food produced from local produce will be promoted.

This action is of particular importance for this project as through it the project will meet one of the elements which are highlighted by the Majjistral Local Development Strategy (LDS) for transnational cooperation projects. In pg 94 of the LDS it is noted that transnational and inter-territorial projects implemented under measure 19.3 will need to target “the development of linkages and sharing experiences in order to promote entrepreneurship and business innovation”. Through the visits to each of the territories and their agricultural producers the project will be not only promoting the agricultural products produced but also the different methods utilised by each of the territories to promote their products. This will lead to not only the exchange of best practices but also collaboration on how each can improve in their promotion of these products.