As I have told on every occasion, the implementation team of the FISH for LIFE project held, between March 2018 and February 2022, several meetings with decision-makers from the project area. Thus, meetings were held with representatives of the town halls of the localities that have lands included in the Natura 2000 Gilort River site, local and central authorities (Gorj County Council, Târgu Jiu National Roads Society, CFR Craiova, ANPM, local police), susceptible land owners to host ecological reconstruction activities (both bank consolidation works and reforestation), administrators of water bodies (ABA Jiu, SGA Gorj), representatives of fishermen from the Gilort area.

The purpose of these meetings was to establish a dialogue framework between the actors involved in facilitate ecological reconstruction actions. Among the objectives of the meetings were:

• Identifying the optimal ways of inter-institutional collaboration and drawing up the documentation to obtain the necessary approvals in order to carry out ecological reconstruction works;
• Presentation of ecological reconstruction works provided for in actions C2 – Implementation of habitat reconstruction measures on the Gilort River and C3 – Stabilization of the bed on the Gilort River in key points, and of the general principles of approaching the ecological reconstruction of the Gilort River;
• Current approaches to water management, ways to resolve conflicts generated by economic and nature conservation objectives;
• Presentation of the proposed measures within the C2 and C3 activities in order to obtain the agreement for planting and the regulatory documents for the ecological reconstruction activities;
• Presentation of the operation mode of the passage on the spillway in the town of Târgu Cărbunești;
• Establishing measures to contribute to the successful implementation of planting and ecological reconstruction works.

More than 160 people attended these meetings. They will continue throughout the project, to ensure effective collaboration with the authorities involved and to obtain the support of the local community in the conservation actions.