Junicoast

Action E.1: Project coordination and management

The project management team in collaboration with the other associated beneficiaries, and input from various stakeholders, has carried out a number of activities to ensure the effective implementation of the project.

Activities performed

• Translation of the proposal from English to Greek.
• Partnership agreement developed and signed.
• Kick-off meeting at MAICh premises on the 22nd of January 2009 (MAICh, NKUA and Forest Directorate of Chania).
• Meeting with Forest Directorate of Lasithi on the 18th of February 2009.
• Frequent contacts with associate beneficiaries and daily project meetings at MAICh.
• Preparation and organization of the second project meeting (11.03.2010) and production of the minutes of the meeting,
• Meetings with Forest Directorate of Lasithi (MAICh) on 02.07.2010 and with the NKUA on 12.07.2010,
• Field visits and on site discussions with the Forest Directorate of Chania (Kedrodasos, 07.07.2010, Falasarna, 13.07.2010 and Gavdos 27.09.2010)
• Completion/collection of the time sheets and the monitoring of the project finances through the project cost centre
• Visit by Ms. Hlektra Remoundou (MAICh) to the Forest Directorate of Rhodes Island in the South Aegean on the 13th of January 2011 in order to inform various stakeholders in the area about the progress of the project. Moreover, on the 14th of January, Ms. Remoundou conducted a field visit to the habitat 2250* in Rhodes together with members of the Forest Directorate of Rhodes.
• Meeting between the coordinating beneficiary and representatives of the municipality of Gavdos took place at the premises of MAICh on the 1st of April 2011 and on the 15th of December 2011 in order to discuss the progress of the project and specific concrete conservation actions that will be implemented on the 3 sites (Sarakiniko, Agios Ioannis and Lavrakas) of Gavdos.
• Meeting between the coordinating beneficiary and the Forest Directorate of Lasithi took place in Agios Nikolaos on the 4th of May 2011 in order to discuss and schedule the implementation of the concrete conservation actions in Chrysi.
• Preparation and organization of the 3rd project meeting (25.10.2012) and production of the minutes of the meeting,
• Preparation and organization of the 4th project meeting (27.08.2013) and production of the minutes of the meeting

Moreover, the external monitoring team of the project represented by Ms. Georgia Valaoras conducted its four (4) annual monitoring missions respectively on the 3rd of July 2009 (Gavdos), on the 28th of January 2010 (Falasarna), on the 31 of May 2011 (Chrysi) and on the 07, 08 and 09 of June 2012 (Kedrodasos). Updates on the technical and financial progress of the project and field visits to the priority habitat 2250* in Gavdos, Falasarna, Chrysi and Kedrodasos were carried out.
The LIFE Nature Unit represented by Ms. Muriel Drukman (technical officer), Mr. Pappas Konstantinos (financial officer) and Ms. Georgia Valaoras (external monitoring team) conducted the technical and financial auditing of the Junicoast project on the 11th of September 2012 at the premises of the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (MAICh). Field visits to the priority habitat 2250* (3 in total, Sarakiniko, Agios Ioannis and Lavrakas) on Gavdos Island were carried out on the 12-15 of September 2012. Upon the request of the representatives of the LIFE Nature Unit, a brief report on the “adjustments to the implementation terms of some technical issues” has been submitted to the LIFE Nature Unit in Brussels on 20.09.2012.
The inception, the 1st progress, the mid-term, the 2nd progress and the final technical and financial reports with their annexes have been submitted the LIFE Nature Unit respectively on 30.09.2009, 31.01.2011, 30.01.2012, 31.12.2012 and 30.11.2013
Moreover, updates on the project progress, have been submitted to the external monitoring team on a monthly basis.
Finally, the project manager and the coordination team of MAICh are in continuous communication with the associated beneficiaries, the external consultants and local stakeholders of the project in order to ensure the appropriate evolution of the project and the achievement of the deliverables and results on time as required by the common provisions.

Action E.2: Monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of the project

Activities performed

• State of the art on monitoring and evaluation of effectiveness,
• Preparation of monitoring actions based on defined indicators of action A.7,
• Preparation of visitor surveys questionnaires’ for Kedrodasos and Gavdos,
• On site visitor surveys (July-August 2013, 320 questionnaires in total) in Kedrodasos (80 questionnaires) and Gavdos (240 questionnaires),
• Questionnaires data entry and analysis,
• Comparison between baseline data (summer 2009) and data from the second cycle of monitoring (summer 2013),
• Write up and submission of a monitoring report on the effectiveness evaluation of the dissemination actions D-E.2.1.

Main outputs:
Comparison between baseline data (summer 2009) and data from the second cycle of monitoring (summer 2013) showed a significant increase in the visitors’ level of awareness particularly in relation to their perception on the protection status of habitat 2250* and the reasons why the habitat is protected. Moreover, the visitors’ awareness about the habitat main anthropogenic and natural threats has increased significantly between to 2009 and 2013.

Action E.3: Scientific Committee

Activities performed

• Establishment of the scientific committee,
• Preparation and organization of the 1st scientific committee meeting held on 26th and 27th of February 2009 in MAICh,
• Field visit to Kedrodasos and on-site discussions on various aspects of the project (27th of February 2009),
• Minutes of the 1st scientific committee meeting have been produced,
• Preparation and organization of the 2nd scientific committee meeting held on the 21st of October 2010 in MAICh ,
• Minutes of the 2nd scientific committee meeting,
• Preparation and organization of the 3rd scientific committee meeting held on the 25th and 26th of October 2012 in MAICh,
• Field visit to Kedrodasos and on-site discussions on the implementation of the concrete conservation and dissemination actions (26th of October 2012),
• Minutes of the 3rd scientific committee meeting,
• Preparation and organization of the 4th scientific committee meeting held in parallel with the final event of the project on the 27th of August 2013 in MAICh,
• Minutes of the 4th scientific committee meeting are included in the minutes of the final event,
• Regular informal communication with committee members, for consultation on various scientific issues.

Main outputs:
Scientific committee of the project has been established, four (4) scientific committee meetings have been organized and minutes for each specific meeting have been produced.

Action E.4: Networking with other similar LIFE projects

Activities performed

• Official contacts with a similar LIFE+ Nature project (PROVIDUNE, Italy LIFE07NAT/IT/000519),
• Exchange of know-how and dissemination materials with similar Spanish LIFE projects on coastal dunes with Juniperus spp. (DUNA www.lifeduna.com, ENEBRO www.lifeenebro.com),
• Preparation of the Joint meeting between JUNICOAST-Greece and PROVIDUNE-Italy,
• Visit to the PROVIDUNE project in Sardinia-Italy (26-29/6-2012) in order to exchange knowledge, best practices and discuss various concrete conservation actions being implemented by both projects in Greece and Italy,
• Submission of an article for the LIFE Newsletter about the joint meeting between PROVIDUNE and JUNICOAST that took place in Cagliari on 27-28 June 2012,
• Official contacts with a similar LIFE project (JUNIPERCY, Cyprus LIFE10NAT/CY/000717),
• Participation of the coordinating and associated beneficiaries of the Cypriot JUNIPERCY project in the 3rd scientific committee meeting of JUNICOAST,
• Visit to the Cypriot JUNIPERCY project in Nicosia-Cyprus on 20-23 of November 2012 in order to exchange knowledge, best practices and discuss various concrete conservation actions being implemented by both projects in Greece and Cyprus,
• Write-up and submission of the report on networking with other similar LIFE projects D-E.4.1,
• Write-up and submission of the report on the success and failures of previous experiences in Europe D-E.4.2.

Main outputs:
Know how among various European stakeholders working on coastal dunes and/or Juniperus species was exchanged. Results from the networking meetings showed and confirmed that similar anthropogenic pressures are threatening coastal dunes in Greece and Italy and that the genus Juniperus, in general, is threatened by its low regeneration potential which is due to several natural factors such as slow growth, low seed viability and/or difficulty in germinating as well as the imbalance between the female/male ratio in the natural stands.
Successes and failures of previous experiences in Europe (see D-E.4.2) showed that a number of weaknesses and constraints in dune conservation and management remain. These relate mainly to planning and governance systems, a fact also confirmed on the Greek level (see D-A.9.2, report on Governance structure).

Action E.5: Stakeholder Committee

Activities performed

• Preparation and organization of the 1st stakeholder committee meeting held on the 25th of February 2009 in MAICh (see annex 7.3 of the inception report submitted on the 30.09.2009),
• Establishment of the stakeholder committee.
• Preparation and organization of the 2nd stakeholder committee meeting held on the 22nd of October 2010 at MAICh (see annex 7.4 of the 1st progress report submitted on the 31.01.2011),
• Preparation and organization of the 3rd stakeholder committee meeting held on the 29th of March 2013 at the offices of the FDC,
• Preparation and organization of the 4th stakeholder committee meeting held in parallel with the final event of the project on the 27th of August 2013 in MAICh,
• Regular informal discussions with representatives of relevant municipalities (Gavdos, Ierapetra, Kissamos, Kantanou-Selinou, Naxos),
• Regular informal communications with various stakeholders on issues related to the on-site implementation of various concrete conservation actions.

Main outputs:
Stakeholders committee of the project has been established and four (4) stakeholders’ committee meetings have been organized.

Action E.6: External auditing

Activities performed

• Identification of the auditing company and the financial auditor,
• Implementation of the external financial auditing,
• Write-up and submission of the auditing report by the financial auditor