DATES: April 2010 - April 2013
PARTNERS: Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
This three-year program improves the livelihoods of the rural poor in northeastern and central Afghanistan by building Afghanistan’s capacity to sustainably manage its natural resources, while also improving governance by strengthening linkages between local communities and regional and national government bodies.  The program focuses on two geographic areas, Band-e-Amir National Park and the Hazarajat Plateau of Bamyan province, and the Wakhan Corridor of Badakhshan province.  It also includes a national capacity building component involving the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock (MAIL) and the National Environment Protection Authority (NEPA).  The program is seeking to achieve its overall objectives through work in five thematic areas:  (1) securing sustainable employment for local communities; (2) building stronger community governance so that citizens can better manage natural resources and profit from them; (3) building technical capacity for natural resource management; (4) working in support of laws and policies that ensure effective natural resource management and equitable revenue sharing from natural resource development; and, (5) reducing conflict and disease transmission between wildlife, domestic animals, and people.  As stated by Mohammad Wafa, a ranger in the Wakhan Corridor, “This project was not only important for us rangers and our community, we hope it will show the world that Afghanistan is truly rebuilding.” [[nid:49921]]