Sustainable Land Management for Combating Desertification (Phase I)

The overall objective of the proposed full-scale Global Environment Facility (GEF) project is to combat desertification and deforestation in Pakistan by strengthening institutional capacity and creating an enabling environment for sustainable land use management as well as through implementation of integrated and sustainable land use management interventions on the ground, seeking restoration of degraded ecosystems. The proposed project will be developed within the context of sustainable development and poverty alleviation in the country with the involvement of key-stakeholders—relevant government departments, local communities, non-governmental organizations, private sector, and bi-lateral and multi-lateral agencies. The land degradation and sustainable land management (SLM) issues can only be addressed through mainstreaming and harmonizing SLM within the national development priorities and integration of desertification and deforestation prevention and control measures into national development programmes. This requires participatory and cross-sectoral approaches for creating an enabling environment and undertaking on-the-ground investments for SLM and conservation of natural resources that take into account the ecological, economic, and social dimensions, while addressing land degradation and desertification issues.