Note: The stakeholders and their sustainability goals are the same for both the Mação and Góis study sites.

Area and people
Forest zones.

Added value of DESIRE for stakeholders
The dialogue between actor's types which are not habit to speaking together. The exchange of point of view between various type of actors (in that case the municipality and the technicians allowed to find more complete solutions in their problem). The exchange of experiences between two study sites and two different types of stakeholders.

Study site stakeholder workshops
The local stakeholders invited to the workshop were:

• members from the municipality council and parishes;
• technicians from the Forest Technical Office (GTF);
• technicians from the Municipal Civil Protection Agencies;
• Civil Security Authority (GNR-SEPNA)
• farmers;
• forest associations;
• local development associations.

The external stakeholders invited to the workshop were:

• technicians from the AFN – Autoridade Florestal Nacional (National Authority to Forest);
• technicians from the CCDR-C – Comissão de Coordenação de Desenvolvimento Regional da Região Centro (Commission for the Coordination of Regional Development in Central Portugal);
• technicians from DRAP-C – Direcção Regional da Agricultura e Pescas do Centro (Regional Directorate of Agriculture and Fisheries in Central Portugal);
• national representative of the Convention to Combat Desertification;
• researcher.

Limitations for spontaneous implementation of soil and water conservation practices
Problems of ageing of the population in this zone, there is little active person so little means for the municipality.

Stakeholder groups

• AFN - Autoridade Florestal Nacional (National Authority to Forest): This body is part of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries. Its main aims are to define a national forest policy and manage the forestry sector. It is actively involved in DESIRE with local representation, mainly with respect to the prescribed fire activity in Góis municipality and the promotion of Forest Intervention Areas (ZIF). (http://www.afn.min-agricultura.pt/portal (link expired))
• UNCCD National Focal point: The NAP (National Action Programme) to Combat Desertification has been applied since 1999, with 5 Pilot Areas. Mação municipality is one of these Pilot Areas. A close working relation has been established during past years between members of the Portuguese participants in DESIRE and the Portuguese UNCCD focal point.
• Instituto da Água (Water Institute): This body is responsible for the implementation of the national water policy. (http://www.inag.pt/ (link expired))
• Autoridade Nacional de Protecção Civil (National Authority for Civil Protection): Civil protection is organized at municipal, regional and national levels. In the DESIRE project, civil protection is represented at the local level, where it is incorporated into local government authorities. (www.proteccaocivil.pt/)
• DRAP-C - Direcção Regional de Agricultura e Pescas (Regional Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for the Central Region): This regional body is a branch of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries and supports the agriculture and fisheries sectors at the regional and local level. (http://www.drapc.min-agricultura.pt/)
• CCDR-C - Commission de Coordenação de Desenvolvimento Regional do Centro (Commission for the Coordination of Regional Development in Central Portugal): is the regional government board with responsibilities for the environment and planning, and with responsibilities for the management of EU and government investment in the region. (http://www.ccdrc.pt/)
• Mação local government and municipal services: Mação municipality has ultimate responsibility for the management of the district and its resources, with an active role in the planning and management of the municipality territory. Mação local government has developed remarkable efforts in forest fire prevention, detection and fire-fighting through its Forest Technical Office and Municipal Civil Protection Services. This body has been collaborating on UAVR and ESAC research projects since the 1990s and is actively involved in the DESIRE project. (http://cm-macao.pt)

• Góis local government and municipal services: As with Mação municipality, Góis is responsibility for the management of its territory and resources, with a crucial duty for planning and management activities. It also represents the local interests at higher levels of associations and governmental bodies. Due to the characteristics of the territory, forest municipality services are a majorly important body in the organization and has developed year-round activities to prevent forest fires and to maintain safety of the population and infrastructure. Góis territory and the surrounding areas are being use to test different types of means to prevent forest fires and for a long time they have served as an experimental  environment for research teams. On the behalf of the DESIRE Project, Góis municipality has been collaborating with UAVR and ESAC on the different activities to the achieve the goals of the project.

• Aflomação – Associação Florestal do Concelho de Mação (Forest Association of Mação Municipality): This body was created in 2004 to promote the association between forest owners and to create so-called Forest Intervention Areas.   The involvement of this association in the DESIRE project is very important since it establishes interaction between the municipality and landowners. (http://www.aflomacao.pt/)
• University of Aveiro (UAVR) & ESAC: the relationship between these institutions and the local authorities has been established for more than fifteen years and it has been built on and reinforced since 1992 through several previous common research and development projects. (http://www.ua.pt & http://www.esac.pt)

Sustainability goals

The goals can be used as a starting point for a community to develop their own vision and goals for sustainable forestry. The list of sustainable forest management goals that were developed by other communities and organizations has been useful for this work package.

“Our goal is to sustain and expand a renewable resource that will meet future consumer demand at competitive prices while, at the same time, respecting the diverse demands imposed by society, including the rational protection of sanctuary and habitat.” (Source: http://www.communitiescommittee.org/fsitool/index.html)

The table shows the sustainability goals that were identified for the two study sites.

Source: information from regional and national plans and stakeholder workshops.