The project aims to conserve and protect the environment, culture and people?s livelihoods of rural areas in coastal communities that suffer land degradation. The purpose in the present context is to: (a) prevent land degradation on sloping land caused by soil erosion (often resulting from inappropriate burning), (b) increase natural vegetation and biodiversity and (c) enhance the resilience of local livelihoods in a way that serves both environmental and cultural sustainability. These aims can be realised through a coordinated project that focuses on both biodiversity conservation and the enhancement of agro biodiversity and sustainable land use practices, particularly those based on traditional local knowledge. The key strategy is to enclose valley and riparian areas that were the locations of traditional sustainable irrigated vuci or pond fields, and revitalize the vuci to enhance the sustainability of local culture and livelihoods.