The infosession was meant to introduce municipalities in Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv and Zakarpattia Oblasts, which have nature reserve sites on their territory, to extra opportunities and good practices for partnerships to develop their areas.
“U-LEAD has been working with municipalities for about 10 years to increase the capacity of local self-government. One of the most effective tools for regional development is attracting additional resources and forging partnerships. That is why holding an informational session on nature conservation and sustainable development opportunities for target municipalities is so important. It helps municipalities see the bigger picture when it comes to using nature reserves,” said Olha Todorova, a Policy Advisor for Local Finance at U-LEAD with Europe.
Representatives of the Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS Ukraine) discussed their collaboration with local municipalities, including a mini-grant competition that has been ongoing since 2022.
As noted by Kateryna Sakhnevych, the Municipality Development Coordinator at FZS Ukraine, initiatives implemented jointly with local authorities include promoting and supporting eco-tourism (building eco-cabins), encouraging sustainable municipal development (waste sorting, installing solar gazebos), as well as research and eco-educational activities. These are also successful cases of creating advisory coordination councils at national natural parks, which have proven to be an effective format for cooperation between nature reserve institutions, municipalities and other stakeholders to solve common problems and plan the development of these areas.
“By setting up these coordination councils, we’re making sure national nature parks are transparent and that everyone involved — municipalities, businesses and locals — are on the same page and working together,” said Kateryna Sakhnevych.
An example of fruitful cooperation within the coordination councils at Ukraine’s nature parks, according to Kateryna Sakhnevych, is the creation of maps of tourist destinations for several nature reserve areas, namely Borzhava Valley and Uzhanska Verkhovyna. These maps are currently being developed for Vyzhnytskyi National Nature Park in Bukovyna region and Skolivski Beskydy National Nature Park in Lviv Oblast. In these instances, municipalities that are home to the nature parks receive assistance in developing tourist routes, creating partial route signage and managing tourist flows in compliance with restrictions in protected areas.
Another important example of successful coordinating councils is bringing municipalities together to create modern eco-camps for children. A similar initiative has been launched for Cheremoskyi and Verkhovynskyi National Nature Parks in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, as well as an eco-educational space for Skolivski Beskydy and Boikivshchyna National Nature Parks in Lviv Oblast. In these cooperation examples, local municipalities agreed to provide meals for the children and some medical support in exchange for high-quality and engaging eco-educational and recreational programmes for local children.
Practices like these, as stated by Olha Todorova, a Policy Advisor for Local Finance at U-LEAD with Europe, underscore the importance of partnerships in regional development.
“Partnerships between local self-government bodies, nature parks and nature conservation organisations foster a favourable environment for innovative, environmentally responsible projects in nature conservation areas. The synergy of combined efforts paves the way for sustainable tourism and eco-friendly entrepreneurship in places with seemingly many functional limitations,” said Olha Todorova.
Mini-grant competition 2026
This year, the Frankfurt Zoological Society has also announced a new Mini-Grant Programme for Local Municipalities. The programme aims at supporting projects in the following areas: biodiversity conservation; eco-education activities; reducing pollution; developing eco-tourism and other types of environmentally friendly tourism activities; climate change mitigation; eco-friendly business initiatives; support for sustainable municipal development guided by environmental principles.
Programme coverage: municipalities with nature reserve areas in Lviv, Zakarpattia and Ivano-Frankivsk Oblasts
Participants in the programme may include local self-government and administrative bodies, municipal institutions, civil society organisations (public organisations, associations, foundations, unions, etc.), educational institutions, museums, cultural centres, libraries, individual entrepreneurs/private businesses and religious organisations.
Find out more about the competition on the website of the Frankfurt Zoological Society at https://ukraine.fzs.org/start_programy-minigrantiv/
The winners of the mini-grant project will be announced by 20 January 2025 at the latest.
