On February 28th, 2016, LRI organized the first community roundtable as a first step in the twinning process between Hasroun and Bcharre. The roundtable was attended by 22 men and 6 women from both Hasroun and Bcharre communities. Both heads of municipalities participated actively in the roundtable as well as representatives of the Friends of the Cedar Forests Committee in Bcharre. The concepts of the biocorridor linkages in the North region and the twinning between previous LRI partner communities and new ones were introduced and participants worked together on developing a five-year action plan for participatory reforestation in their town.
As a follow-up to the strategic planning training that the USAID-funded Lebanon Reforestation Initiative is providing to the local Corridor Planning Committee (CPC) of the North Social and Environmental Corridor SEC), a proposal writing training was delivered to CPC members. This training will help CPC members develop proposals and request funding for activities set in their action plan. Proposals can be prepared collectively among towns, which would solidify the proposal as well as create linkages among adjacent diverse communities.
The proposal writing training took place at the USAID-support Arz Ehmej ecotouristic lodge on Friday September 23rd. Ten participants from nine towns, namely Yammouneh, Maqne, Jaj, Tannourine, Hasroun, Bqerqacha, Lehfed, Ehmej, Chatine, participated to the training. The training covered the topics of project summary, background, objectives and results and included interactive exercises to help participants identify the needs, beneficiaries, and objectives and outcomes. The process of deciding on ideas and writing proposals will start right after the training and will be closed monitored by LRI. Resulting proposals will be either supported directly by LRI or presented through LRI’s private sector engagement component to local and international companies interested in supporting local initiatives.
