Programs
SSI Watershed Council NetworkSakhalin Salmon Initiative
Natural resource management is as much a social exercise as it is the physical transformation of the landscape and its components. Once communities become aware of factors that impair the natural processes and characteristics of their watersheds, they can become the best source of solutions to these problems.
How are councils formed?
Watershed councils are formed by groups of citizens who come together to assess the current conditions in a given watershed, taking into account the historical impacts of watershed restoration and the potential for future actions. These groups of citizens represent various interests, occupations, agencies, as well as local governments and schools. They conduct and discuss assessments of fish, wildlife and vegetation populations, which play important roles in establishing an ecosystem's functional uniqueness. This helps the community identify existing threats and develop projects that address these threats.
These community-based groups also have the capacity to foster educational opportunities for their schools and for the general population. When their work receives broader attention, councils can apply for and receive funding and technical assistance from national and international organizations.
Watershed council field education
What do councils do?
Watershed councils serve to unite people around common issues in their home territories, providing opportunities for learning and participation in the decision-making processes that affect them. These councils encourage conservation of natural resources and express communities' goals for productivity by identifying what is possible and desirable, as well as how this can be achieved.
While watershed councils ostensibly pursue the goal of improving the physical characteristics and functions of watersheds, they also help build long-term, cultural commitment to the land. Such cultural links are very important elements in the process of building a future for communities that is productive in terms of both environmental and economic well-being.
What SSI will do?
n 2008, five municipal watershed councils will be formed on Sakhalin in the regions of Okha, Nogliki, Smirnikh, Aniva and Ugelgorsk. These watershed councils will be overseen by a Sakhalin regional council established through a collaborative effort with the Sakhalin Regional Administration. These councils will begin conducting a variety of regionally-focused projects in 2008.
Download a copy of the 2008 work plan for this and other SSI projects.