Tunis, September 12, 2025
As part of the development process of the project “Enhancing the resilience of alfa grass ecosystems and local communities to the impacts of climate change in Central-West Tunisia”, to be submitted to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), a working meeting was held on 12 September 2025 at the headquarters of the Directorate General of Forests (DGF) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources, and Fisheries of Tunisia.
Chaired by the Director General of Forests, the meeting brought together the project’s key partners, including representatives from the DGF, the Forest Exploitation Agency (REF), the National Institute for Research in Rural Engineering, Water and Forests (INRGREF), the Forest Districts under the Regional Commissariats for Agricultural Development (CRDA) of Kasserine, Sidi Bouzid, and Kairouan, WWF North Africa, the NGO APEL, as well as a delegation from the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS), acting as the project’s Implementing Entity.
The main objective of the meeting was to present the first version of the project concept note. This exchange allowed stakeholders to review the document, provide constructive recommendations, and enrich the proposal. The discussions aimed to ensure that the project meets the expectations of all key actors and is aligned with the challenges in the project’s intervention areas.
The meeting also provided an opportunity for OSS to present the next operational steps following the concept note’s approval, including a detailed roadmap for the development of the full project document and its requirements.
This meeting marked the starting point of a demanding consolidation phase that will continue in the coming months.
hrough this initiative, the partners collectively reaffirmed their strong commitment to actively pursue the project development process. This joint effort seeks to strengthen the resilience of steppe alfa ecosystems and support vulnerable local communities, whose livelihoods largely depend on the vital ecosystem services they provide, in the face of the growing impacts of climate change.