Key lessons from a community-based forest and rangeland management initiative in Afghanistan

Rahimy, M. A., Yousafzai, A., Uprety H. D., et al.

Key lessons from a community-based forest and rangeland management initiative in Afghanistan

Autores

Rahimy, M. A., Yousafzai, A., Uprety H. D., et al.

Editor

FAO ;

Descripción

It is increasingly recognized that the management of forest and rangeland resources through the involvement of resource users is a sound strategy for the protection, conservation, and sustainable use of those resources in mountainous communities in Afghanistan. Community-based management of natural resources, especially forest and rangeland, is a priority of the Government of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GoIRA). Accordingly, the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL), with donor support, has initiated community-based natural resource management practices throughout the country. This paper highlights the key lessons learnt from successfully implementing community-based forest and rangeland management interventions under a project implemented by the FAO in two provinces (Nangarhar and Parwan), with the support of the Global Environment Facility (GEF). It also draws some lessons from a similar project currently ongoing in five provinces (Badghis, Bamiyan, Gazani, Kunar and Paktiya) with close collaboration of different government agencies. The paper builds on the information gathered from focus group discussions, field observations and historical records. The results indicate that more efforts are needed to make the communities and the government recognize the full potential of and emphasize community-based natural resource management through capacity building, provision of financial support, and clarification of user rights and ownership status. The results also revealed that capacity of government agencies, especially the office bearers, had to be strengthened in order to put the relevant policies and procedures issued by the GoIRA into practice more effectively and efficiently. The most important entry-point initiatives and interventions that showed progress in achieving sustainable natural resource management include: (i) providing alternative energy sources for reducing pressure on forest andrangeland in remote areas for wood fuel; and (ii) promote improved management of natural resources through awareness raising, capacity building, and introduction of new technologies. Keywords: Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM), community, community-based association. ID: 3486395