Conservation of Biodiversity & sustainable irrigated agriculture through participatory management of watersheds and groundwater resources. (PAK/97/14)

Project Details & Results

To promote wise use of water resources and adopt watershed management techniques to recharge the groud water resources.
Project goals or objectives (including GEF problem-area addressed by projects) are to demonstrate potentially successful strategies for organizing village level
Communities; Federate the village level communities into an area organization to address
and prioritize complex issues related to combating desertification;
Acquisition of information of groundwater resources and efficient utilization
of irrigation water and development of interventions through active
participation of communities and local experts; and Provide technical and credit support to the interested individuals and communities for introduction of interventions related to sustainable agriculture and combating desertification.

Activities to be carried out under project include Social mobilization and organization of local communities; Federation of local communities into an area organization;
Identification of problems related to sustainable agriculture and combat
desertification using community dialogues, participatory appraisals, and
technical diagnostic surveys; Design of interventions related to sustainable agriculture and combat desertification to suit the individual and community needs;


The proposed project would lead towards changes in attitudes of the communities
in understanding of desertification problems and change their existing fanning practices
through translating and/or integrating conservation into production or income
generation. Reduction in pumping and increased groundwater recharge would result to
impacts leading towards sustainable groundwater utilization.

Notable Community Participation
The project involves farmers in on farm water conservation in a globally threatened wetland site.

Capacity - Building Component
The project will develop water user associations in the project area to streamline underground water harvesting and will mobilize communities to increase forest cover to enhance water absorption capacity of the watershed.

Emphasis on Sustainable Livelihoods
The project impacts the conservation of water in a rainfed valley, that is the source of livelihood for small farmers.

Promoting Public Awareness of Global Environment
The project is stituated near the wetlands which inhabit a threatened species of the waterfowl "White headed Duck". The project is also working closely with WWF-Pakistan to create awareness for protecting the wetlands as habitat of an endangered species of waterfowl and are motivating people not to pump water out of the lake and refrain from hunting.

Project Results
SVDP has provided an amount of Rs. 1,170,000 to 77 farmers as credit for improving irrigation efficiency either by constructing concrete channels or by laying pipes for carrying water to distant plots. In total 17,930 Rft of water souses were lined and 17,390 Rft of PVC pipes were laid to improve the irrigation efficiency. By doing so the water losses during flow in the unpaved channels are reduced by 20%. According to the farmers’ estimate that with new methods of irrigation they can use the water that they earlier used to irrigate 5 acres for irrigating 6 acres of land and it saves them two liters of diesel also.

SVDP has also helped communities of Ogali and Uchhali to improve the water ponds near these villages for rainwater harvesting. In total three ponds have been revamped to increase the storage capacity of these ponds.

SVDP has provided credit facility in 6 villages of the valley but have extended their awareness campaign in 30 villages of Soon Valley for protection of forests and improvement of watershed. There are two major threats to watershed in the area: i) Illegal cutting of the forest for selling and ii) over exploitation of rangeland for grazing livestock. As a short term measure SVDP mobilized district government to impose section 144 on cutting of trees in the valley as well as mobilized local communities to form forest protection committees. SVDP also carried out plantation of local tree species but the success rate was only 55%. To overcome the non-availability of planting stock NGO has mobilized a farmer to establish a nursery of pine saplings which will be able to provide planting stock in 2002 planting season. Due to lack of capacity in the organization to manage rangelands on scientific basis SVDP has not been able to address the issue of over exploitation of rangeland. Community awareness and imposition of section 144 has reduced illegal cutting of forests in the valley that is verified by the reduction in number of wood depots from 5 to 2 in the area.

In order to promote organic farming SVDP has motivated farmers to use the agricultural residue with farmyard manure to make compost instead of throwing it away. Five farmers have established composting pits for converting their organic matter into compost.