Kurzbeschreibung
(Englisch)
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The People and Resource Dynamics in Mountain Watersheds of the Hindu-Kush Himalayas Project (PARDYP) aims at understanding processes of social and biophysical change and degradation in mountain watersheds as well as the problems faced by both people and environment, and strives to develop options and programs to improve natural resources management (NRM) in the mid hill areas of the Hindu-Kush Himalaya (HKH) and the livelihoods of their population. PARDYP was initiated in 1996 as a research for development project funded by SDC and IDRC, and implemented by the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in response to growing concerns regarding the pressures on the resources and the people in the middle mountains of the HKH. The Project is working in selected watersheds together with research institutions in China, India, Nepal and Pakistan, supported by ICIMOD, the University of British Columbia (UBC) and the University of Berne (UoB).
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Projektziele
(Englisch)
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Expected results
1.Options for improved farming systems productivity (including land and water resources, as well as interactions with forest and livestock) are developed and tested
2.Options to increase productivity of agricultural land (focusing on soil conservation and soil fertility) are tested and disseminated
3.Water management options for more efficient use and equitable access are identified, tested and disseminated
4.Options and approaches to improve sustainable and equitable access to water, land, and forest resources are identified and disseminated
5.Joint planning and monitoring, synthesis, and exchange at regional level is assured
6.On-going activities, that no longer fit the new objective system, are wrapped-up and put to use
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Abstract
(Englisch)
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The HKH region covers 8 countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan. The HKH population and their environment are under severe economic and ecological stress. Soil fertility is declining, land uses are intensifying, forest cover is under threat from multiple uses, and biodiversity is rapidly being depleted. Furthermore, land itself is becoming a most scarce natural resource. Disturbance of watersheds has resulted in increasing scarcity of water during the dry season and life-threatening flooding during the monsoon.
The causes of degradation and depletion are manifold. They are largely related to the unsustainability of present land-use systems in the face of a rapidly growing population without access to sources of income and gainful employment outside the agricultural and natural resources' sector. Marginalized people are not commonly finding a voice, and rural poverty is not being effectively addressed. The failure of centralized and unilateral development approaches, which have neither engaged nor understood community interest and participation, have also contributed to the problems that mountain communities face today. Many of these approaches have also ignored equity and environmental concerns.
To understand the processes of social and biophysical change and degradation in the mountain watersheds, and the problems faced by both people and environment needs long- term, patient study in order to develop approaches and strategies to overcome these stresses and improve the livelihoods of mountain people. Sustainable Mountain Development is complex, and cannot be solved by a single sector approach but requires interdisciplinary action.
Comprehensive baseline knowledge and information concerning people and resource dynamic processes in the HKH region is still incomplete. Research in many fields at many levels - regional, watershed, community, household and on-farm - is still required if the development needs of communities are to be properly understood and met. The People and Resource Dynamics in Mountain Watersheds of the Hindu-Kush Himalayas Project (PARDYP) has contributed to increased understanding of the issues involved in degradation and resource management by communities in the HKH region, and with the help of local people the project teams began introducing measures for improving natural resource management in five middle mountain watersheds.
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Umsetzung und Anwendungen
(Englisch)
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Project monitoring and evaluation will be carried out at different levels, i.e. at project, Sub-Project, and country level. The main criteria for monitoring and evaluation will be given by the indicators and means of verification as provided in the PARDYP logical framework and the Sub-Project planning matrices. In PARDYP, monitoring and evaluation will be performed as far as possible by the owners of the project. A participatory monitoring and evaluation system will allow for evaluation and monitoring by the stakeholders, and will provide useful feedback at country level. The end-of-phase external review could be organized as "circular self-evaluation" assisted by one or two external reviewers.
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