Sarhad Provincial Conservation Strategy - IUCN

■ engenderment of an ethic of well-being and
integrity; and
■ a definition of sustainability.
At the present time the Department of
Environmental Planning and Management at the
University of Peshawar, in partnership with the
Government PP&H Department and the Forest
Management Centre, among others (such as PE&D
Department), is developing a mandate to lead a
major land use planning process. This is an effective
approach, given the technology, expertise, and personnel
involved, because it reduces the likelihood
that a single lead agency, with a specific mandate,
would emphasize the principal resource for which
they are responsible. Specific land use plans must
stress the need for balanced consideration of all
resource needs and uses. This is particularly true for
resources without obvious economic return, such as
recreational uses and wilderness or amenity values.
Some land use allocation and management is relatively
straightforward. For example, private agricultural
land requires little or no Government intervention
unless there are obvious, voluntary improvements that
can be made with respect to crop productivity or animal
husbandry. In forested areas, however, particularly
reserved or protected forests, a range of activities
takes place. Some fuelwood collection occurs, some
livestock grazing, some recreation, some wildlife management
and so on. Each of these activities is managed
by a different department, and in some cases
there are donor-assisted development activities under
way. Of the latter, only the most recent generation are
being undertaken in an integrated fashion.
Two major problems continue to plague efforts to
integrate environmental management activities, particularly
in the multiple use areas. The first of these
is institutional: there is little history of Government
departments either being expected or wishing to
work together. There is, in effect, no mandate to do
so. So a mandate should be created and this can
be included in the NWFP Environment Act.
Secondly, it would be naive to assume that such a
system can be implemented comprehensively and
simultaneously throughout the province. So pilot
projects must be undertaken in land use planning
and integrated resource management.
Integrated resource management must not be seen
solely as a Government activity. Rather, in a manner
similar to the district-level planning teams and round
tables recommended elsewhere in this SPCS, it would
be useful to form a partnership with private landholders
or resource users in an area. The District
Development Advisory Committee mandates can be
expanded to cover land use planning or integrated
resource management. This would be a useful mechanism
for ensuring that the appropriate interests are
involved and have an opportunity to affect the outcome.
Such a mechanism can be given legal cover
under the partnership provisions of the new provincial
environmental legislation. Membership would be
expanded to include non-Government members as
well as Government employees.
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G O V E R N A N C E & C A P A C I T Y D E V E L O P M E N T 6
E N V I R O N M E N TAL IMPA C T
ASSESSMENT PROCESSES
When Government or private industry want to build
projects such as dams, highways, or factories, there
may be negative effects on the environment. A set
of questions needs to be asked about these effects.
The answers constitute an impact assessment. The
following questions are typical in an Environmental
Impact Assessment:
■ how much land will be required?
■ what effect will the projects have on the land?
■ are there viable alternative sites or better project
d e s i g n s ?
■ will there be air pollution?
■ will there be water pollution?
■ will flora and fauna be affected?
■ will local people be affected?
Answers to these questions must be weighed
against the economic and other benefits of the projects
to help in decisions about their acceptability.
Although the Federal environmental legislation
calls for an EIA prior to any major development activity,
there is little public knowledge of this requirement,
and they are rarely completed. Even if one is
done and reviewed, there are no requirements that
the results must have an impact on the final design of
a project. The environmental effects are evaluated,
SARHAD PROVINCIAL CONSERVATION STRATEGY 59