UNDP, in association with the Libyan Environment General Authority (EGA), recently hosted a successful three-day workshop in Tripoli on Protected Area Management (PAM).  Attended by personnel from the government and private sectors, as well as members of the local media, the workshop provided UNDP and EGA with an opportunity to identify, for the first time, all the relevant stakeholders in Libya.

The first such workshop of its kind in the country, the event gave interested parties an opportunity to share the challenges and successes they had all been through.  Through training provided by UNDP’s SURF, it also exposed the attendees to the experiences of Jordan in Protected Area Management, a country similar to northern Libya in terms of both climate and landscape.

The first two days of the workshop were spent in Tripoli in good-natured and heated debate, with short presentations, and question & answer sessions.  The third and final day however was spent in the field.  The participants took a two hour bus drive to Msalata, a Protected Area location in Western Libya, famous for the UNESCO Heritage Leptis Magna ruins, which lies within its confines.

The Msalata Park Authorities were happy to show the participants around the forested and hilly region that lies off Libya’s Mediterranean coast, content in the knowledge that their work is being recognised both locally and abroad.  While still a nascent programme by international standards, the local authorities have high hopes for the future.

An undoubted success, the workshop has increased UNDP’s visibility within the local environmental sector, and generated opportunities for engaging with private enterprises, many of whom expressed an interest in partnering with the Protected Area initiative.

Following up on the workshop, UNDP and EGA have produced a set of recommendations that will be incorporated into a consensual action plan for a comprehensive National Protected Area Management strategy.
For further information on this or any Environement related project, please contact Mr Abdelmenam Mohamed of UNDP