The project is a producCaspian Forests-Mazandaran(Lat/Long36.703072-53.539124)
tion of two awareness raising/promotion of good practices films on successful global and national SGP ?demonstrated cases in integrated management of natural resources of forest ecosystem to depict the success of public ?participation for conserving natural resources. One film will be for awareness raising purposes with duration of 45 minutes ?and the other will be for promotion and extension of best practices in integrated management with duration of 30 minutes. A ?third film of 3 to 5 minutes will also be produced as a demo.
The film scenario will be based on the research to be ?conducted on the significance of the Caspian Forests and the successful cases of community involvement in integrated forest ?management. The different shooting locations in Mazandaran and Golestan Provinces will be determined through field visits to ?ongoing projects and meetings with provincial official experts from the Forest and Rangeland Organization.
This project ?is in response to:
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o rapid deterioration of Caspian Forests
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o inadequate amount of communication among stakeholders
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o exclusion of local community settlers in vulnerable forest ecosystems,
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o lack of documented successful global and local good practices of integrated forest management with increased role of ?local communities and
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o lack of confidence in the potentials of the civil society organizations
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Once the films are ready a wide range of audiences will be selected for screening and initiating dialogue among key stakeholders. ?The audience of both the films will be the general public through film festivals, environmental seminars and national television ?channel for awareness raising purposes. Screening through national television channels will raise general public awareness towards ?the situation and condition of Caspian Forests and is useful in gaining support for public participation projects.
The project ?team will ensure the second film which is for promotion and extension of best practices purposes will address the following ?audiences in specific by organizing screening and discussion sessions with them as well as distribution of the film:
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o Government officials involved in environmental forest management issues (50 copies to the Forest and Rangeland ?Organization)
These educational/ awareness films will motivate the decision makers to learn more about the difficulties and promote ?dialogue among stakeholders on preventing damages to renewable natural resources. The documented national and ?international successful models on integrated management with increased role of local communities will impact on policies ?and plans.
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o Forest dwellers and nearby habitants of the Caspian Forest Region.
Screening this film in the forest villages will ?encourage the villagers in participatory work with governmental and non-governmental organizations and will aim to ?promote dialogue to resolve any distrust between authorities and the public.
?a) Screening for the forest villagers in different areas will create unity between them and they will learn about their ?common problems, issues and their successes.
b) The audience will realize the seriousness of the deterioration of the ?Caspian Forests and potential solutions.
c) To promote participatory work, methods of organizing local community ?and dialogue the film will be screened for the locals in the presence of governmental and non-governmental ?organizations. This will encourage them to cooperate more with the forest dwellers and civil society organizations and ?ultimately will make grounds for awareness raising and empowerment of local community for participating in ?conservation and better usage.
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o Local High Schools of the project site (10 copies to the schools in the district near the project locations)
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o Higher educational centers and academia (2 copies to the Faculty of Environment and the Faculty of Natural Resources with ?two sessions)
The project will also screen the film in the local schools as well as higher educational centers, which will ?result in the awareness raising of this generation about the geographical situation, lifestyle and part of the difficulties these ?communities are facing.
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o NGO members in the Caspian Region through 2 Regional Networks of Environmental NGOS (2 copies for the ?Networks)
Non-governmental organizations will benefit from these experiences by using the good practices in their ?own future activities. Also the screening will depict the potential of NGOs and their role in resolving problems through ?their participation with the locals for governmental organizations and local community.
Other than the above the films ?will also be screened once for the Iranian Guild of Documentary Film makers as well as 2 national and 1 international ?festivals. Finally the project team will also provide a ?beginner?s training? to other interested SGP grantees on film making ?for promotion and extension purposes which could be used in other SGP projects.
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