Sarhad Provincial Conservation Strategy - IUCN

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5 . 1
G O A L S , O B J E C T I V E S & P R I N C I P L E S
INTRODUCTION TO THE STRAT E G Y
The Sarhad Provincial Conservation Strategy (SPCS)
1995-98 is a statement of commitment by the
Government and people of the North West Frontier
Province (NWFP) to move towards an effective programme
of sustainable development. It was conceived
as a provincial implementation plan for the National
Conservation Strategy, and it achieves this by adjusting
the national priorities in that report to fit provincial
circumstances and needs.
But as a result of the extensive public consultation,
sectoral meetings, and thematic workshops, the SPCS
1995-98 has become something more—a comprehensive
statement of provincial aspirations. It is a commitment
package that contains major policy statements,
law reform initiatives, structural reforms, and new programmes.
With a heavy emphasis on changing the
way Government does business, the SPCS 1995-98
will open Government up to the people in an unprecedented
manner.
The SPCS 1995-98 is the first generation of a strategy
that, by design, is innovative, experimental, and
time-limited. It will be rewritten in 1998 to coincide
with the Ninth Five-Year Plan, by which time there will
be a better understanding of the efficacy of many of
the processes, systems, and policies involved. It is also
likely that priorities will shift during the period and portions
will become out of date; some will be well implemented,
while others will not be considered viable.
In a sense, then, while the SPCS 1995-98 does
reflect today’s priorities and while it is as complete as
possible, it remains a work in progress. It is a flexible,
evolving plan to achieve sustainability in the NWFP. It
will also be a legal requirement, flowing from the
NWFP Environment Act, that the strategy must exist
and must be reviewed and rewritten every five years.
This will be the mandate of the Planning, Environment,
and Development Department in partnership with the
line departments involved in implementation.
In reviewing the Inception Report (1993), several
areas of initial concern have not emerged as high priorities.
This does not imply they are unimportant, but in
areas such as alternative energy sources and energy
conservation, there are already programmes in place
46 SARHAD PROVINCIAL CONSERVATION STRATEGY
that are working on these issues, and thus there is no
need to make repetitious recommendations. Other
areas, such as water management, are implicitly covered
in the urban and industrial strategies. More
explicit treatment would introduce unnecessary duplication.
Water management, in the sense of river basin
planning, may emerge as a high priority in the next
generation of the SPCS, but it is also implicitly covered
in commitments related to natural resource management
and district conservation strategies. Land use
planning processes will get legal coverage in the new
legislation, and this needs to occur for the district-level
plans to have any effect. Thus, with the thematic
approach that has been used, several topics have
been covered in this multi-faceted manner, and no
need was felt for sector-specific coverage.
The public consultation process described in
Chapter 4 led to different priorities from the original
Inception Report suggestions. The revised priorities
were published in a draft SPCS document on May 1,
1995. This was then reviewed by more than 400
respondents. A series of additional meetings were held
with all relevant government departments as well as
with those Round Table groups that were already functioning.
An extensive internal review was also undertaken
within IUCN Pakistan. This detailed review resulted
in further research in some priority areas, as well as
a restructuring of the document and strengthening of
component strategies, particularly in the areas of rural
development, poverty alleviation, women in development,
and governance. Further analysis of the results of
the consultations also revealed deep regional differences
in development priorities which were given consideration
in the implementation commitments.
The SPCS is being formulated in a way that its
implementation does not depend entirely on donor
funds. Nonetheless, available donor interest and support
would be tapped to augment local resources. To
this end, parallel to the SPCS formulation, discussions
with donors who have indicated support to the core
planning and implementation processes have continu
e d .
The following chapters define the priority areas for
action. These include:
■ Governance and Capacity Development
■ Poverty Alleviation and Population