Download - United Nations in Cambodia

MDG-7: Ensure Environmental SustainabilityMDG target 7.B: Reduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a significantreduction in the rate of lossConstraint:Lack of Effective Practices to Conserve BiodiversityLack of sustainable grazing, energy, tourism and forest regeneration practices to preserve,protect and regenerate forest biodiversityPakistan’s Mainstreaming Biodiversity Conservation into Production Systems in theJuniper Forest Ecosystems aims to promote and introduce sustainable practices to conservebiodiversity in the Juniper Forest Ecosystem and to enhance the ecosystem’s contribution tosustainable development.Components:• Organize communities in formal structures and build their capacity in sustainable naturalresource management• Promote natural and artificial regeneration in the Juniper forests through seeding production inforest plant nurseries• Promote traditional systems of rotational grazing to ensure that grazing lands are not depletedbeyond their carrying capacity• Strengthen the capacities of communities to rehabilitate and improve watersheds• Work with communities to determine ways to remove barriers to sustainable energy use• Demonstrate innovative and sustainable models of tourism and recreationResults:• Establishment of a forest plant nursery of more than 50,000 plants, wherein local shrubs as wellas walnut plants are raised to promote high-value tree crops in the area• Demonstrated Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) practices to ensure waterconservation from source to final use• Comprehensive approach adopted for livestock protection and production to provide localcommunities with sustainable livelihoods• The acute problem of water availability for human and agriculture use is being addressed byreviving the Karez, or underground streams, for the use of communities• Demonstrated integrated natural resource management through community participationKey Elements of Success:• The community was organized in the form of a Community Conservation Organization. Thisorganization helped to adopt sustainable practices in watershed management and livestockrearing that led to the protection of Juniper forests and the preservation of its biodiversity. Closecommunity linkages through social mobilization was the main tool to organize communities andmotivate them to adopt biodiversity-friendly practices.Lessons Learned:• To promote biodiversity conservation and natural resource management, it is important toinvolve local communities before undertaking activities on ground. This not only ensures thesupport of communities, but also helps to tap into indigenous knowledge to achieve the projectgoals and objectives.• To successfully address biodiversity conservation, it is of utmost importance to link the issueswith the creation of sustainable livelihood and protection.• In addressing the conservation issues, a comprehensive approach toward natural resourcemanagement should be taken along with the social element, without losing coherency.Background Information:The Juniper Forest Ecosystem has an extremely important role in maintaining the watershed of thearea. The local population depends on this watershed for its livelihood. The forest provides grazingMDG Good Practices 53