IUCN Pakistan

NASSD Background Papers

During early consultations at the tehsil level, and with key governmental and non-governmental organizations, 16 areas of intervention were identified as being critical for the Northern Areas Strategy for Sustainable Development (NASSD). Parts of the information of the papers were then incorporated into the State of the Environment and Development (SoED) and the main strategy, i.e., NASSD. However, since the Papers contain a wealth of extremely useful information, a decision was taken to produce a series of NASSD Background Papers

1. Gender Environment and Development:

During early consultations at the tehsil level, and with key governmental and non-governmental organizations, 16 areas of intervention were identified as being critical for the Northern Areas Strategy for Sustainable Development (NASSD). To ensure gender equity - i.e. equal access to social amenities, economic opportunities, and decision making, etc. - the situational analysis serves the purpose of taking stock and identifying interventions, which do not compromise the needs of one gender over the other. (Size. 563 KB)

2. Environmental Education:

The Environmental Education Background Paper of NACS provides recommendations for capacity building and facilitates mainstreaming of environmental concerns into the education processes. (Size. 600 KB)

3. Governance:

Governance can be argued to be the state of the relationship between the state and citizens in a polity. The second part of this aspect would be the mechanisms, comprising of rules and principles whose interplay provides the framework for their resolution. The study of both the aspects in the Northern Areas (NA) has been a focus of this assignment. The paper presents the results together with recommendations. (Size. 535 KB)

4. Non Governmental Organizations:

NGOs/CBOs are the third major development sector besides government and private sector. NGOs have been gradually moving from the practice of service delivery to the institutional capacity building programs. This trend gives the idea of self-sustained medium/small NGOs/CBOs having support from government and large development organizations. This would generate more empowerment of the grassroots communities in decision making, implementation, maintenance and monitoring of development activities, which is imperative for sustainable development. The involvement of NGOs/CBOs in the formulation and implementation of the NASSD originates from this underpinning. (Size. 650 KB)

5. Sustainable Tourism and Cultural Heritage:

Tourism sector is one of the major contributors to the economy of the Northern Areas, though no official statistics are available but it is estimated that more than 50% of International tourists arriving in Pakistan visit Northern Areas. The objective of this paper is to identify the issues faced by the sector and suggest practical and impermeable recommendations for resolution of these issues. (Size. 662 KB)

6. Communication:

Communication is one of the key process and cross cutting theme in the project. Since, the NASSD is being developed through a participatory process, many of its major activities like public consultation meetings, IG/RT forums have an inherent communication and advocacy aspect. Besides, in the NASSD communication has been applied as a structured process or an instrument of policy to create awareness and participation at various phases of policy cycles. (Size. 737 KB)

7. Biodiversity:

The background paper provides information on the status and trends in biological resources of NA and highlights issues and problems faced in conservation of these resources. It also looks into current initiatives, identifies key stakeholders, and provides options for future actions for conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity in NA.
(Size. 880 KB)

8. Forestry:

Briefly, the paper has considered and discussed the long-term and Short-term local demands within resource production, Biodiversity, wildlife, habitats and eco-systems, Forest protected areas, Eco-tourism, NTFP - medicinal plants, Community involvement in private forests and protected forests. (Size. 801 KB)

9. Population:

This background paper was commissioned by the Northern Areas Strategy for Sustainable Development to provide an overview of current understandings of linkages between population, poverty and environment in the Northern Areas, with a view to identifying a set of strategic directions for the future. (Size. 750 KB

10. Rangelands and Livestock:

This paper covers rangeland and livestock sector. Rangelands are primary resource base available to rural people and are vital for local economics. Furthermore, they are major and most economical source of forage for livestock, particularly for sheep and goats. The vast majority of households keep livestock for a range of purposes. This paper covers: milk, meat, wool, hair, dung production, as gifts for religious purposes, for traction and as capital investment. (Size. 767 KB)

11. Water:

Taking in to account the importance of water for sustained economic development and environmental management of the Northern Areas, water was identified as one of the priority topics for the preparation of the background paper. It provides a vehicle for exploring key issues in depth along with essential information about the subject, summarizes trends, and offers some of the practical solutions. (Size. 1.15 MB)

12. Private Sector:

The concept behind this background paper is to contribute towards the development of a comprehensive conservation strategy for the sustainable development of Northern Areas (NA) while analysing the private sector in terms of its role and significance in the sustainable development of the region. (Size. 776 KB)

13. Urban Environment:

This paper ‘Urban Environment’ would supply baseline information for state on the environment report as well as would be helpful to formulate strategic guidelines for each sector to incorporate environmental concerns in future development projects (Size. 719 KB)

14. Health and Environment:

‘Environmental health’ would supply baseline information for state on the environment report as well as health of the Northern Areas and would be helpful to formulate strategic guidelines for each sector to incorporate in future development projects. (Size. 978 KB)

15. Energy:

The energy strategy for NA has been confined to deal with the socio-economic aspects, present available source of energy, present power demand and demand forecast up to the next fifteen years, i.e., 2016, identification and implementation of the hydel project at the promising sites. (Size. 765 KB)

16. Agriculture:

This paper suggests that an effort should be made for a sustainable agriculture that is not only proficient but also profitable. Focus on agriculture will be on exploitation of potential for higher yield where it exists in cereal and horticulture crops by encouraging diverse research areas. (Size. 1.12 MB)