The first was the final workshop of the Central and Eastern European Integrated Drought Management Programme (IDMP) project, funded by Global Water Partnership (GWP). The second reviewed the activities of the Drought Management Centre for South-Eastern Europe (DMCSEE), which is based at the Environmental Agency in Slovenia.
The Central and Eastern European IDMP project received assistance through the IDMP Technical Support Unit based at WMO Headquarters. The project covered various aspects of drought management such as water, agriculture, forestry and meteorology. It examined how to increase soil-water holding capacity in agriculture, assessed drought impact on forest ecosystems, developed natural small-water retention measures, developed a decision support system on the Drought Risk Management Scheme for the region, documented remote sensing agricultural drought monitoring methods and upgraded agricultural drought monitoring and forecasting methodologies.
The second workshop discussed the strengthening of the operational role of the DMSCEE in the region and how to obtain more data and contributions from the 13 participating countries. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and WMO established the DMSCEE in 2006.
Together, the participants in the two workshops developed project proposals for further drought activities in the region. WMO will assist in liaising among DMCSEE members and in finding potential donor support for the project proposals.
