Participating local partner institutions
Exploratory connections were made with the UNCCD focal point, the Mação City Council, the Aflomação - Associação Florestal do Concelho de Mação (Forest Association of Mação Municipality) and the CCDR-C - Comissão de Coordenação de Desenvolvimento Regional do Centro (Commission for the Coordination of Regional Development in Central Portugal), which is the Governmental Environmental and Planning Agency for the entire region and has important responsibilities for combating desertification. Several research and development projects were successful in the past in the study area at involving local and national partners and several development projects financed by the Portuguese Government, the European Union and other international fund-awarding bodies are currently in progress, proving the willingness of all key actors and stakeholders to reverse the environmental and socio-economic situation. These circumstances ensure that the DESIRE approach will provide overall guidance and be able to assess the degree of success of ongoing degradation mitigation projects.
