Conservation and Management of Biodiversity in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Narrative description of Project:

The German funded and GIZ-implemented project Conservation and Management of Biodiversity in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (BKP) was conceptualized with the understanding that besides the goods and services, the biodiversity has a major role in the sustainable development of the country in general and local population and environment in particular. The livelihood of women and men among the poor rural population in KP is based on the use of biodiversity in the agriculture and forestry sectors which are already under serious threat not only due to unsustainable practices but also because of the changing climatic conditions. 

The objective of the BKP project is working with public and private actors both at the KP provincial and pilot district levels (Swat and Chitral) to increasingly apply the experiences gained in the pilot measures for the sustainable management and conservation of biodiversity (COSMOB) under the changing climatic conditions in the province. 

The project has three principal thrusts of interventions:

1. At the KP level, the project will provide advice for drafting biodiversity action plan that provides a policy framework for implementation of COSMOB in the province,
2. In the pilot districts, the focus is on the identification/ development and implementation of best practices for the conservation and sustainable management of biodiversity resources, and value chains that help improve livelihoods and standard of livings of the poor population in the area,

   Planning and Development Department in KP is mandated with overall development planning and inter-sectoral coordination in the province. The Environment and Agriculture Departments in KP are partners in BKP being the principal players for COSMOB. In the BKP pilot districts, the district level officers of these two departments, including their subsectors are responsible for all field outreach interventions of BKP, especially for devising the best biodiversity conservation and climate change adaptation practices. The local communities in pilot sites are the primary stakeholders for successful interventions by BKP. The project current phase ends by December 2015.

   The objectives of the VAs was to assess the climate change related vulnerabilities of communities at village level in the selected valleys of Swat & Chitral jointly with BKP field teams of Swat and Chitral. The field teams of BKP at district level were trained (on-the job) and guided how to implement local vulnerability assessments in a participatory manner and identify suitable pilot adaptation measures which can be partly implemented by BKP and its partners.

3. Knowledge generation and awareness raising among stakeholders regarding issues/ best practices related to biodiversity conservation under the changing climatic conditions.