Thatta, a coastal district of Pakistan, is highly challenged by poverty and environmental degradation. The 1.1 million people of the district are highly dependent on its biodiversity and environment for their subsistence livelihoods. Thatta is one of the 10 districts selected by UNDP-GEF as focus districts for the period 2005-2008 (UNDP/GEF Country Program Strategy).

Two types of forest are found in district Thatta covering an overall area of 422 thousand hectares, 1) the riverine forest (along the banks of Indus) and 2) the mangrove forests.

The area has a serious threat of deforestation due to human activity. 90 % of the 1.1 million people use wood as fuel. BACIP-BEIP through its innovative approach was successful in introducing energy efficient solutions that reduce the consumption of fuel wood by 40% and contribute to the generation of income and savings in disposable income of the local communities. There is great potential that the scale up of BACIP-BEIP will put a marked impact on the conservation of biodiversity of the area.

The area has received less or no attention by development agencies and the government in the past. There is a need for innovative project interventions to reduce the deforestation impacting the livelihood sources for the people of the area through active community participation. This can be achieved through the involvement of local people through local CSOs through an entrepreneurial approach integrating local knowledge and practices with scientific approaches resulting into efficient use of natural resources.

The project activities will be carried out in 20 villages of the two Taluqas (Ghora Bari and Keti Bundar) along the bank of river Indus and the coast of Thatta (map attached as appendix 6) impacting both the Riverine forest and Mangrove forest.

The total area of the two Taluqa is 1789 sq km with a population of 131,182 people. Almost 95% of the population of the two Taluqas is dependent on the natural forest for fuel wood and timber requirements. Study showed that on average one family consumes about 4 tones of fuel wood per year in this area. AKPBSP has selected both of these Taluqas as their focus Taluqas for the next three years. Through BACIP-BEIP conservation approaches were introduced in 3 villages of the two Taluqas and currently through a UNDP-PTF funding about 10 villages are covered in Keti Bundar Taluqa (Details attached as Appendix-7). Under a PPAF funding AKPBSP is implementing 7 Integrated Area Upgrading Projects in Keti Bundar and Ghora Bari Taluqas.

According to the Sindh forest department a reduction of 29 % in the riverine forest and 33% reduction in the irrigated forest area was observed during 1997 and 2003 in the area. This ratio has increased over the period.

The riverine forest consists of four chief sorts of trees, namely Babul; Kandi, Lai and Jhao. Babul is the most vulnerable specie as it yields excellent timber used extensively for wheels, agriculture implements, and building purposes, fuel and in manufacturing coal.

The Indus Delta along the Sindh coast with its mangrove forests, swamps and wetlands provides habitant for wildlife of terrestrial and marine origin. Over time only three types of mangrove specie have survived today. Presently 120,000 people are dependent on the mangrove forest for livelihood including 70% fishermen, 10% livestock owners and 20% woodcutters.

The areas livelihood bases and eco-system is under extreme pressure due to rapid deforestation, due to four main reasons, a) lack of fresh water, b) use of forest trees as timber for construction and fuel wood, c) discharge of untreated sewage into the sea, and d) over grazing (especially camels).

AKPBSP through the scale up of BACIP-BEIP in joint collaboration with UNDP/GEF/SGP will embark on a strategic initiative to develop capacities at the local level for the mass replication of the energy efficient products and approaches. It is intended that through capacity building of 6 CSOs (transfer of knowledge, skill and technology and access to finance) replication of the BACIP-BEIP products will be realized in 20 villages.

With the initiatives in the new areas AKPBSP will keep a close liaison with its previous partner villages to map the indented and unintended long-term results and further learning.



4.0 Project Objective and Proposed Activity (not more than 600 words)

Objective:
To build the capacity of 6 Local CSOs of Thatta to address energy and environment issues in two Taluqas of Thatta through the adoption, promotion, generation and replication of BACIP-BEIP energy efficient products and approaches.

Activities
Generally the project will select 6 CSOs and build their capacity through technical and managerial input to develop proposals and implement the BACIP-BEIP experiences in the district of Thatta. The project will implement the BACIP-BEIP experience in 20 villages of the two Taluqas (Keti Bundar and Ghora Bari) through direct intervention. Specifically the following activities will be conducted.

Activity 1: Identification and selection of 6 CSOs
6 CSOs will be selected based on their interest, organizational capacity, previous experience in the community and credibility. However clearly defined criteria will be developed for the selection of these CSOs.

Activity 2: Sensitization Workshops
Awareness workshops will be organized for the CSOs to sensitize them on the environmental and conservation issues faced by the district and their local and global impacts. Leading environmentalists, experts from civil society, govt and privates sector organizations will deliver lectures and conduct workshops.

These awareness sessions will follow the introduction of simple solutions and approaches introduced by BACIP-BEIP for energy conservation.

Through BACIP-BEIP energy efficient products were installed in 20 villages of Thatta in 2004. Members of the 6 CSOs will be taken to these villages where the energy efficient products are installed in the village houses. The Members will observe and discuss the benefits and impacts of the products with the users.

Activity 3: Entrepreneurship
All 6 CSOs will nominate entrepreneurs and craftspeople from their project areas that will be provided trainings on the manufacturing and supply of BACIP-BEIP products. 5 such sessions will be organized training at least 10 people. These trained entrepreneurs will be introduced in the communities as designated entrepreneurs for the manufacturing and supply of BACIP-BEIP products. Project engineers will regularly check the quality of the products manufactured by the designated entrepreneurs.

Partner CSOs will collect demand from the local communities and ensure the timely supply of BACIP products through the project designated entrepreneurs. They will motivate and educate their target communities for the adoption of the energy efficient products.

Activity 4: Women?s Participation in the project
Being primary users of most of the housing improvement products women are the primary stakeholders of the project. The project will select at least one women organizations amongst the 6 CSOs as project partners. Amongst the 10 trained entrepreneurs at least 3 should be female. Health and hygiene education sessions will be conducted for groups of female.

Activity 5: Demand generation and Marketing
Demand will be created through publicity at three levels