Natural Resource Management:

During the last three decades, several initiatives have been launched to improve the management of natural resources in the NWFP. This includes massive forest tree planting, mostly on privately owned mountain land; improvement of rain-fed agriculture; an increase in the efficiency of irrigated agriculture; improvement in the marketing of fruits and vegetables; and re- organization of the livestock and Dairy Development Department. But more needs to be done to conserve and sustainably develop the natural resources of the NWFP.

Forests

Although massive programmes of afforestation have been launched in the moist mountain tracts during the past two decades, adequate attention has not been paid to the depletion of natural forests, which appears to have considerably accelerated since the late 1970s. Poverty and vested political and business interests are identified as the main reasons for this depletion. The rehabilitation of the natural vegetation of the southern parts of the NWFP, which is being overused to meet local needs for domestic fuel and grazing, also has received little attention.

The Sarhad Provincial Conservation Strategy's forestry sector strategy available as a separate background study stresses rehabilitation of the environment and improvement of the socio-economic conditions of mountain farmers.

Removing the poverty of the mountain farmers is being approached by launching participatory integrated projects encompassing forestry, agriculture, livestock and grazing lands and the conservation of biodiversity. These measures will be continued and expanded.

To counter the main problem of political interference in the functioning of the Department of Forests, Fisheries and Wildlife, a high-powered non-political Forestry Com- mission will be created to continuously monitor the forestry situation in the NWFP. An additional mechanism will be to pro- mote the joint management by government and local communities-of all categories of forests and to increase the account- ability of the forest administration.

A management review of the Department will be carried out to improve its effectiveness and efficiency. In addition forest management plans will be enhanced, legislation improved and forest education updated.

Agriculture & Animal Husbandry

As the producer of food and the determinant of the disposable income of some two- thirds of the province's population, agriculture is extremely important to the rehabilitation of the human environment in the NWFP. At the same time, livestock extends the carrying capacity of the province for human life, particularly in areas not suit- able for sustainable crop production. It is therefore essential to keep increasing the productivity and profitability of agriculture while ensuring the maintenance and improvement of its physical resources and of the human environment.

Agricultural productivity does not depend on physical endowments alone. It is also influenced greatly by the quality of the human resources engaged in agriculture, by the competence of public institutions serving the sector, by the economic and policy environment, and by the state of the physical and marketing infrastructure.

The strategy for agriculture includes several measures to vitalize the sector: the Department of Food, Agriculture, livestock and Co- operatives will be recognized to make it more effective and efficient; a massive programme of pre-service and in-service training for the staff of the agriculture and livestock sectors, will be instituted; the agricultural marketing infrastructure will be streamlined; the small farmers' access to credit will be improved; the expropriation of good quality agricultural land to urban and other uses will be prevented; the enforcement of regulatory mechanisms for the use of agricultural pesticides will be improved and integrated pest management will be introduced; and amelioration of soil-related problems, improving crop breeding, improving the productivity of livestock and conserving agricultural biodiversity will be carried out.

Water & Irrigation

Rainfall in the NWFP is insufficient and poorly distributed through the year. Irrigation is therefore essential but only about 46% of the cultivated area of the NWFP is irrigated and there is a limit to which this can be increased.
The SPCS stresses the need to pursue the ongoing programme of designing and implementing new irrigation projects, improving irrigation infrastructure, reducing water losses in conveyance channels and in field operations, and streamlining the structure and functioning of the Irrigation Department to improve its effectiveness and efficiency.

Soil Conservation

About 15% of the NWFP's cultivated land suffers from moderate water erosion and about 4% from slight erosion. Worse, soil erosion in the mountains not only decreases agricultural, forest, and rangeland productivity, it also exacerbates local flood hazards due to a reduction in the water storage capacity of mountain soils.

No effective arrangements exist in the NWFP for soil conservation. What is needed is soil conservation and rangeland improvement measures, and the inclusion of grazing management in all integrated natural resource projects and programmes.

Other Natural Resources

Fisheries, energy and mineral resources are equally important for the province. These sector strategies have still to be developed.

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