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III. CASE STUDY OF ENVIRONMENTAL REHABILITATION PROJECT IN MALAKAND DIVISION
OF NORTH-WEST FRONTIER PROVINCE
[ III-A | III-B
| III-C | III-D
| III-E | III-F
| III-G | III-H
| III-I | III-J
| III-K | III-L
| III-M | III-N ]
F. Land-use plans
ERP bases its village land-use plans on a three-part foundation: social integration, natural resource integration and gender integration. The planning process pursues social integration through the total participation and consensus of all village groups including: (a) owners; (b) tenants and landless villagers; and (c) Gujars who are indigenous keepers of livestock and live on the slopes and peaks of hilly areas throughout the Chitral-Dir-Swat-Hazara-Kohistan region. Gender integration into planning activities is supported by links between women groups and male VDCs during different planning stages. Natural resources integration is included in order to avoid conflicting resource uses. Separate areas for grazing and new plantations are planned simultaneously, as the use and protection of resources is interlinked. ERP uses simple planning formats developed by the Social Forestry Project in Malakand Division. Project investment is based on a village land-use plan at the village level, and a more detailed management unit plan is formulated and agreed upon by the community at the hamlet level.
In order to prepare a detailed village land-use plan for the targeted villages a general social mapping survey was carried out, covering the whole of the project area by ERP consultants, applying the PRA technique on general topographic sheets, at a scale of RF 1:50,000. The exercise was useful not only for establishing baseline information but also for making an overall assessment of the existing state of the environment and rationalizing ERP resources allocation and intervention at the start of the project. The focus of the survey was on land ownership and land use by population group and gender. Therefore ERP not only gathers data on existing vegetation and soil and water conditions, it also maps village boundaries, land ownership patterns in communal, private and disputed areas, and the resource areas that are held by the different groups of the population.
The villagers and the Forestry Department formulate a management plan for controlling the use of the village area and improving output of forest produce. The Forestry Department collects basic information through informal discussions, visits and meetings with the different groups of villagers. Joint discussions are held with the villagers and ERP on hillside management and options for improvement. Each village is then divided into two or three management units. A phased plan is prepared for each unit by the people involved in the use of the area. Each management unit is further divided into subunits or blocks for further management purposes at the grass-roots level. A sketch map of every village is prepared, showing present vegetation, ownership pattern, land used by specific groups, and the desired vegetation and division in management units.
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