Minister Shukova today opened the first meeting of the Steering Committee of the project “Promoting Sustainable Land Management (SLM) Through Strengthening Legal and Institutional Framework, Capacity Building and Restoration of Most Vulnerable Mountain Landscapes”.
The project is financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and implemented by the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning with the support of the UN Environment Program (UNEP).
The main goal of the project, as Minister Shukova mentioned, is to reduce the impacts of land degradation and the pressures on natural resources in the most vulnerable mountain areas in North Macedonia. Within the framework of the project, support is expected in the development of the first national law and strategy for soil protection, as well as capacity building at the national and local level for sustainable management of land and forests, which will contribute to achieving the goals of neutrality of degradation of land.
In the following period, the planned action for afforestation of pilot locations in arid and semi-arid areas of the country will begin.
The project is implemented in cooperation with key stakeholders from the land sector, including national and local institutions, the academic community, PE National Forests, citizens’ associations, the business sector and other stakeholders.