Sakhalin Watershed Council Network Initiative

About this grant

The project goal is to promote public participation in decisionmaking in order to maximize local benefits from resource exploitation. The Sakhalin Salmon Initiative Center will do this through strengthening the capacity of a network of watershed councils on Sakhalin Island off Russia’s Pacific Coast. These community-based councils will represent the varied interests of a watershed’s resident population, users, and visitors. They will provide input on policy, economic, and restoration activities, encouraging civil society to channel community knowledge to government decisionmakers. In 2009-2010, a total of five such councils were created, and the network established formal agreements with regional and federal agencies to assist in developing antipoaching and other protection policies. The Sakhalin Salmon Initiative Center was established in 2007 following a three-year consultation process among government, scientists, business, and civic organizations and aims to promote sustainable, community-based development in a context of large-scale natural resource exploitation.