The Band-E-Amir National Park represents a key ecosystem in Afghanistan?s mountainous central highlands. It hosts a number of unique flora and fauna species and migratory bird flyways. The snow pack and watersheds of central highlands region where Band-e-Amir is situated is critical to the success or failure of agriculture in the lowlands. However climatic changes, cyclical drought and flooding and over-harvesting of biomass and forest resources, coupled with poverty and ineffective land management policy has ravaged this ecosystem. The degradation of rangelands has been accompanied by conversion of some pasturelands into rain-fed agricultural cultivation. Finally, the communities use firewood extensively for cooking and heating.
The project objective is to mitigate environmental degradation caused by firewood collection in and around the Band E Amir National Park and supplement households? ability to meet basic food security and livelihood needs through kitchen gardening and cooking school package. The project focuses on pastureland and its management and seeks to build better understanding of communities of their unique biosphere and local natural resources.