Natural resource management in the mountain regions of Asia : community-led research requirements

Objective

The objective of this Special Support Action is to identify key research requirements for natural resource management to support existing policies for sustainable integrated mountain development in the semi-arid areas of the Karakoram-Hindu Kush-Himalayan (KHKH) region. A key element of the proposal is the incorporation of the concerns and aspirations of local communities into the identification of those research requirements. This will be achieved in two stages. Firstly, to ensure the relevance of any pro posed research to local communities and improve the likelihood of the sustainable implementation of research findings, an assessment of existing local knowledge with the participation of community members, NGOs and grassroots organisations will take place. This will be achieved by the innovative use of participatory video techniques, allowing local people to communicate their views and ideas directly to scientists, senior policy makers and donors. Community groups in India, Pakistan and China will take part in participatory workshops and individuals will be trained to make a participatory video. Each group will decide the most important topics to be incorporated in each film. Secondly, a research workshop will be held, to which representatives of national re search organisations, universities, government departments, development organisations, NGOs and other interested parties will be invited from across the KHKH Region. The aims of the workshop will be to identify and agree the key research issues in natural resource management in the semi-arid areas of the region. Edited versions of the videos will be presented at the workshop to inform the discussion. The workshop will allow for an equitable exchange of views between all the key stakeholders, leading to a s ynthesis of traditional knowledge with scientific knowledge towards an agreement of the major research needs, how these can be achieved and the relative likelihood of their success.

Keywords

• Natural resource management
• mountain ecosystems
• participation

Programme(s)

• FP6-INCO - Specific measures in support of international cooperation: Specific activities covering wider field of research under the Focusing and Integrating Community Research programme 2002-2006.

Topic(s)

• INCO-A.2 - Rational use of natural resources

Call for proposal

FP6-2002-INCO-DEV/SSA-1
See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

Coordinator

Participants (3)