A sustainable development agenda for Balochistan launched

Islamabad, November 24, 2000 (IUCN) - "For the people of Balochistan, November 24, 2000, is a memorable day, as the BCS is being formally launched today for desirable changes on the socio-economic as well as environmental fronts. It is now for us to join hands and implement this strategy with sincerity," said the Governor of Balochistan, Justice (Retd) Amir-ul-Mulk Mengal in ceremony in Islamabad yesterday.

The BCS aims to devise ways and means to weave environment and natural resource management into development planning and to recommend an institutional framework that will bring ownership, sustainability and efficiency in management of these vital endowments in the province.

The strategy represents many firsts for Balochistan: an extensive consultation process where a team of people went out to nine districts and held separate meetings for men and women. This went hand in hand with a number of interest group meetings where people from the government, NGOs and the private sector sat together to discuss the problems of 13 different sectors, be it education or industry. In addition, more than 10 sector papers were commissioned on a variety of subjects. The learning from all these processes was fed into the Strategy, and the emerging recommendations will help improve development work in Balochistan.

The BCS is not a prescriptive study: instead it suggests what should be done to protect the natural resource base of Balochistan - its water, land, forests, minerals and wild animals - whilst utilising them for social and economic development purposes.

The Strategy prioritises the issues affecting the province and suggests that action be taken in 14 different areas:

1. Raising public awareness;
2. Improving governance and effectiveness of institutions;
3. Institutionalising environmental education;
4. Arresting depletion and pollution of groundwater and increasing irrigation efficiency;
5. Making agriculture sustainable;
6. Managing rangelands and enhancing productivity of livestock;
7. Developing coastal and marine resources sustainably;
8. Sustainable planning and management of urban areas;
9. Creating and sustaining environment-friendly development;
10. Conserving, rehabilitating, developing and using forests sustainably;
11. Conserving and using biodiversity and wetlands wisely;
12. Conserving cultural heritage and developing tourism;
13. Collecting authentic data and managing information; and
14. Alleviating poverty.