Project objectives: 1. To establish an Community Based Umbrella Training Station conserving the Biodiversity through training of the projects managed by the community

1.1 To establish natural rain water harvesting depression (Tarai) at Training station, because there is the need of such water conserving body.
1.2 To establish local backyard poultry farm and make a supply mechanism to extend the local backyard poultry units to female farmers.
1.3 To harvest rain water for eco- agriculture practices and promoting drip irrigation.

Project objectives: 2. To conduct survey and document plants/hurbs/shurbs, wild- life, wild-food, and animal density in four clusters of one union council in first three months of the project implementation.
2.1 CONDUCT SURVEY ON ENDANGERED SPECIES OF PLANTS, HERBS, WILD LIFE (ANIMALS AND BIRD) AND SHRUBS AND TO FIND OUT CAUSES AND ACTIONS FOR THEIR CONSERVATION OR REHABILITATION.

Project objectives: 3. To implement the models of household farming through conservation of rainwater in 20 villages of Union council Jhirmirio in two years.
3.1 Promote pitcher and drip irrigation systems
3.2 Promote 20 farmers farms through conservation of rainwater harvesting.
3.4 Construct 100 rainwater harvesting tanks at household level and 20 farmers? tank at farm fields.
3.5 Project inception workshop
3.6 Training of local councillor on eco-agriculture practices.
3.7 Community conferences on biodiversity issues


Project objectives: 4. To motivate and get registered CBOs/VDOs as CCBs and facilitate them in getting funds from the local government in 20 villages.
4.1 Formation of CCBs
4.2 Registration with Community Development Department
4.3 Obtaining funds from local Government

Project objectives: 5. Motivate and facilitate the CBOs/VDOs for the conservation and protection of their Gauchers in 20 villages.
5.1 Formation of wild life and tree protection committees.
5.2 Conservation of local species of plants and animals of the area.
5.3 Adopt the practice of animal flushing
5.3 Promotion and projection of the theme Gaucher protection at local council through informative sessions
Justification for Support - Linkages with GEF Themes and Operational Programmes

Globally, species are becoming extinct at an accelerating rate and biodiversity is being lost as human activities disrupt fragile ecosystems. The loss of global biodiversity means lost sources of new foods and medicines, and lost productivity and adaptability of ecosystems. The main threat to Tharparkar?s biodiversity is unsustainable development. Within Tharparkar urban development, habitat degradation and the unsustainable management of renewable resources threaten habitat and species. Protecting one species at a time is providing a limited strategy. The only realistic solution is an integrated one that protects biodiversity while addressing the underlying determinants of its loss. Biodiversity in Thar refers to the change that has happened in the natural resources including wild life and variations of all life in Thar. The diversity in natural resources did not sustain due to varied condition, some people have witnessed traits that help them to memorize the changes and reductions in the population of flora and fauna.
The trends of uprooting shrubs, cutting trees for fuel wood and overgrazing due to over stocking and population pressures are increasing. If this continues the already exhausted range lands will not be in a position to support the existing level of livestock population of Thar. As a result of continuous and uninterrupted degradation of natural resources, the population will have little choice but to migrate to the urban centers for their livelihood. This trend is already gaining ground rapidly.
The future of the Thari community depends on present and future stewardship of available resources. Growing populations have stretched the capacities to limits. TRDP, thus, aims to motivate the communities for better care of the desert natural resources to combat drought and food insecurity situation, improve animal husbandry and promote rainwater harvesting. Based on this theme one of the major thrusts of the TRDP has been for sustainable land use. The problem is being addressed by TRDP with the involvement of the community and aims to reduce the land degradation trends, control desertification for increased regeneration of forest/ranges and improve tree cover and natural vegetation. TRDP believes this all very well fits in the overall GEF Country Programme Strategy for GEF Pakistan.

Context/Baseline

Thardeep?s Project on Natural Resources Management (NRM) and Promoting Eco-Agriculture Practices in four clusters in one Union Council of Tahsil Diplo in Tharparkar aims to re-introduce the indigenous eco-agriculture practices and improve livestock management practices by using strategies which are rarely in practice now and less focused upon. The project will also consolidate the institutional base in four clusters in one union council in order to measure the tangible impact in Two years period.
The project is the continuation of the extended and improved version of the activities that had been carried to improve eco-agriculture and natural resource management practices in District Tharparkar in partnership with UNDP GEF. In the last phase of project implementation, TRDP was endeavoring to consolidate the consequences of recurring droughts in Tharparkar in general and prevention of losses specifically while involving communities to realize the facts. The context and the level of awareness in the community regarding the theme have generally improved, however, very little has been achieved on the subject of eco-agriculture, bio-diversity, conservation, uncultivated food crops, improved seed multiplication practices, and protecting local breeds of livestock from getting mix. Priorities of the people have changed and converged on seeking minimum subsistence for survival. The climatic changes that were witnessed in the past project phases have reinforced the shift in the project priorities from training and awareness to selective strategies to monitor the tangible impact four years down the line. Therefore, the activities outlined in the submitted proposal directly focus the shift and are acquainted with holistic changes.
Agriculture:

Agriculture in the programme areas is almost rain-fed; however there are some natural rain water reservoirs and dug wells available round the year in a limited quantity. There are wide fluctuations in the amount of rain fall every year. Rainfall occurs between July and September and in normal years varies between 0 mm to 300 mm. sowing is done immediately after the first rains. The main crop is Bajra (millet), Guwar, Mung, Moth and Tir and it matures in seventy to 90 days. However, more than one, preferably three, showers is required to produce a good crop.
Millions of acres of uncultivated land remain due to inadequate or no irrigation facility. Mostly agriculture is on rain fed irrigation, accessible good roads and market is available. The farmers in the Thar area are hard working and willing to adopt new technologies and practices to enhance productivity. Farmers even have their own source of water but they could not cultivate their entire land due to non availability of appropriate water application technology. This results in long stretches of uncultivated land both during pre and post monsoon periods. Farmers with diesel pump sets flood irrigate their fields with whatever water they can draw from their wells. Mostly these wells are 30-60 feet deep and have 10-20 feet water column. Since the soil in the area is highly sandy with little humus in it, the water retention capacity of soil is low. This type of soil needs much more water than what a normal soil will need even with flood irrigation. Farmers use a 10-15 HP pump ? which is too heavy for the purpose. These pumps not only consume more diesels but also empty the wells fast. Farmers spend Rs 2,000-4,000 on diesel per month for irrigating 1-2 acre plot. Thus, water conservation through drip irrigation technology is suitable and sustainable for the farmers.

Forest/Pasture land:

The land of Tharparkar includes, private, common grazing land (Goucher), cultivable waste land (including forest), and non-cultivable government land. Of this land, 50% is owned by private farmers. The rest of the 50% land is divided between grazing and government cultivable waste. After the rains the Thar valley supports extensive grass growth which provides high value feed to livestock. In drought years however sheep and cattle are forced to migrate due to lack of vegetation.

Water Sources:
All water sources in the Thar valley- dug wells and small storages of natural rain water reservoirs- are charged by the rains. The low and erratic availability of rainwater and groundwater is definitively the main agro ecological constraints for the development.

The people of Thar have relied on the aquifers of ground water recharging from monsoon rain intermittent with periods of drought. The donkey, camel power, rubber inner tube fashioned buckets, dug wells (Verries) have been evolved as the indigenous state of art to sustain and rationalize the over exploited and scarce aquifers. There have also been innovations for small scale water resource development in the form of rain fall harvesting and runoff control. However, following physical facts always result in the acute shortage of water irrespective of the choice of the source.
1) Precipitation is critically limited and occurs almost exclusively during the monsoon months of June to September with high intensity and low frequency.
2) Potential evaporation rates exceed precipitation (the mean annual potential evaporation is about five times the mean annual precipitation) and open bodies of water experience high losses due to evaporation.
3) Low ground water recharge rates are affected due to irregular precipitation, long periods of drought, low percolation rates (0.024 percent of rain fall) and non availability of stream flows.
Faced with these realities the following strategic options are considered while tackling the issue of water management in Thar.
1. Development of under utilized water resources for use as domestic and water supplies on the small scale.
2. Enhancements of the ground water recharge potential from runoff so as to improve the opportunities for ground water development.
3. Improvement of indigenous methods and appropriate technologies at household level.

Land management system and its related issue:
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The villagers seem to be satisfied with the present system where the Gaucher or Govt land is used by designated villages but were oblivious to any land redistribution laws. The community in most of the villages showed willingness to participate in the protection programme through organizing themselves to save their Gauchers. Establishing strong and active Village Organizations to take the task was also suggested.

Present regeneration level of forest and its related issues:

The range and degradation of land in Thar is the most visible component of the accelerated desertification. At current accelerating rates of plant extraction for forage, fuel, and hedge making most of the rangelands have been degraded to their lowest level. The rangeland in Thar supports about 6 million of livestock and this will be reduced to a few hundred thousands in the next decade if lack of forestation and population control continue. Poverty and mass migration will thus result and the adverse impact on biodiversity will be inevitable. The present level of regeneration, however, does not counter the degradation. The village communities have been striving to replenish the gap of tree culture, but lack the technical support in proper manner. The related issue to this problem is only technical knowledge and support to them. Also, there is a lack of qualified manpower and capital in the range policy.

Number and type of livestock dependant on the forest land for grazing:
Goats are preferred because selling goats is more profitable. The ratio of livestock to human population is 1:4 and 250 animal populations per acre of grazing land available. According to the latest census (1998), total livestock in Thar District is 6.3 million heads. This includes buffaloes, cows, goats, sheep, cattle, camel and others respectively. Total number of live stock particularly in Jhirmirio Union Council is 70,308 in which 28025 goats, 14039 sheep, 15241 cows 7031 camels, 5425 donkeys 520 buffaloes and only 27 horses.

Grazing patterns and its related issues:
There is no standardized grazing pattern in Thar. During good monsoons, varieties of seasonal grasses appear on the soil and offer nutritious grazing to the livestock. However, it varies from area to area and depends upon the intensity and frequency of the rain. The grazing is being done on a free for all bases. Controlled grazing exists only when the private farms are cultivated so as to protect crops. As soon as the crops are harvested the animals are allowed to graze free in all types of the lands.

Indication of Desertification:

Trees such as Kandi (Prosopis cineraria), Rohiro (Tecoma undulata), Ber (Ziziphus mauritna) that normally grow in good soil conditions have almost disappeared. Trees and shrubs that have replaced them are the Ak (Calotropis procera) and Khip (Aristida fumiculata). Both are multiplying rapidly and are indicative of degraded range lands. The Phog (Alligonum polygonoides) and Thohar (Euphorbia cauducifolia) are an important soil stabilizers. In areas where these trees have become scarce, soil erosion is taking place. Because of selective grazing, it seems that only shrubs and trees that are unpalatable to the animal population are likely to survive. Unfortunately these plants are not good soil stabilizers. This is obvious from the fact that the roots of almost all large trees are visible and the trunk proper begins a good one to two feet above the present earth level.

Long term repercussion of Desertification:

As a result of desertification the land will not be able to meet the demands of the animal population even in good years. As a result the people of the area will have to depend increasingly on the barrage areas and the towns in Sindh for jobs, and a remittance economy will emerge in the area.

Methodology for Conservation of Flora and Fauna:
There is a practice for conservation of flora and fauna in the area in the shape of informal traditions. By mobilizing this wisdom, the Wildlife Protection Committees will be formed which will manage the whole protection process for the conservation of flora and fauna of the area
Runn of Kutch

The north boundary of the union council Jhirmirrio linked with Runn of Kutch which is part of great Thar desert and comprises of stabilized sand dunes, with broad inter-dunal valleys of alluvial soil, connected across the frontier of India, which includes permanent saline marshes, coastal brackish lagoons, tidal mudflats, and estuarine habitats. There are 10 salt mines in the Jhirmirio union council they are Rohal, Konrilio, Gangalas, Paneli and Naroro etc. There is island named Chhar bet which is 15 km away from this union council. The area of that island Chhar bet is 50% in Pakistan and 50% in India. The site supports many locally and globally threatened species, including the Great Indian Bustard (choriotis nigriceps), Houbara Bustard (Chlamydotis undulate), Sarus crane (Grus antigone), and hyena (Hyeena hyaena) and other species like vulture, peacock, blue peafowl (Paro cristatus) Black francolin (francolinus), Striped monitor lizard (Varanus flavescens), Indian spiny tailed lizared (Uromastix hardwicki) supports more than 1% of the bio geographical population of flamingos.

Project Objective and Proposed Activity

An activities plan has been spread over Two years starting from March 2006 to March 2008. Only one Tahsil with its two rural union councils have been selected for the implementation of the proposed activities. It is envisaged that in one year time 02 union councils would be created as model for the rest of Thar to replicate. The selected 02 union councils show four clusters. The clusters profile is mix, ranging from good plain and productive lands for cultivation and potential for seed production through mix-cropping practices, Land holding in this area is small and people do focus on agriculture, but water use practices have been one of the constraint, therefore, the project will focus small land holding and avialibity of the perch water will be used in drip irrigation to bring the livelihood in the eco-agriculture too.
The size and population in proposed villages of all four clusters are large; there is diversity and commonness too. The area is diverse because all types of tribes live in the same villages and practice differently. There is only one thing common: they share same common resources and experiences. Hence, TRDP sees much challenge and tangible output in the villages after three years.

Project Strategy

Thardeep has envisaged the following holistic strategy to introduce new techniques of improving eco-agriculture and biodiversity talking NRM improvements in four clusters in four union councils;

v Facilitating all the similar interest groups from different villages of the particular interest/activity at village level called Village Development organizations (VDOs), or what ever the context should be. The said VDOs would undertake the planning for the whole village about the subject they belong to for example, seed production associations, etc and inform VDO and TRDP about this. The VDOs would explore resources for materializing the plans and seek support to initiate and sustain the projects. From the very beginning the structure would become a partner of TRDP along with having other collaborations. For TRDP, it would be a part of an umbrella organization ?Technical support strategy? that entails Thardeep in the role of ?intermediary organization? creating opportunities and linking grassroots organization among them.
v For the purpose, Thardeep would support in promoting Human Resource Cadre equipped with technical and managerial expertise. The initiative would be compounded with developing link with particular line departments that directly benefit the interest of the association. The preferences would be in the areas directly related with problems of subject. The entire project would be undertaken in a way that can create and protect entitlements by securing and mobilizing the Natural Resources.
v In the submitted proposal, TRDP intends to involve women at par. Subsequent to training the women activists will train the rest of community through community conferences, women community organizations at (VDOs) and seminars at village level with line department and local council. Also, project would focus on formation of tree protection committee?s on Village common land protection and production, in 40 selected villages. These committees would act as base for surrounding community and would be central part of the project.
v Village Development Organizations as the grassroots structures of Village conduct meetings and savings regularly and are equipped with trained human cadre. In 40 villages of the proposed project area the institutional base would be created. These grassroots organizations would be collaborating, and seeking support from all the other stakeholders in the area during the process of the implementation. These stakeholders include community of the area, department of agriculture extension, social forestry, rangeland management, animal husbandry, agriculture research, and arid zones research wing of PARC. All these partners would be brought in the loop and support would be extended, based on the available capacity in them. For instance, the experts from the Agriculture University Tando Jam, and line departments would be taken as the core group supporting in the proposed project activities.
v The Nazims, councilors, and CCBs would also be involved in the process of implementation of the activities. The monthly meeting with all the stakeholders would be the base of experience sharing and strategizing the activities for scale. For implementation, the formation of common interest groups such as association of nursery growers, association of tree culture and protection and association of orchards and ber grafted fields.
v The VDOs would be created and trained on the basis of future sustainability of the project interventions. TRDP would exit from the direct implementing the activities once the institutional framework at grassroots is established and people are trained enough to take all activities on their own down the three years period. TRDP would also focus to have linkage built between community and service providers on permanent basis.
The international learning and experience from the GEF / UNDP would be taken from time to time as the guiding principles and successful stories and strategies would be translated in the local context to converge the outcome with global development goals. Also, NGO coordination council of Thar would be convinced to bring other NGOs working in Thar and trained them on the concepts for adoption



Anticipated Results

1. A Community Based Umbrella Training Station conserving the Biodiversity and training outlet is established
2. Survey and document of plants/hurbs/shurbs, wild- life, wild-food, and animal density in four clusters of one union council is produced and improvement plan is based on the findings.
3. The models of household farming through conservation of rainwater in 20 villages of Union council implemented.
4. 20 CBOs/VDOs as CCBs registered and facilitated in getting funds from the local government.
5. Community is managing and conserving and protecting Gauchers in 20 villages.