To strengthen Pakistan’s policies and legal frameworks in support of FLR and sustainable land management, TRI Pakistan has facilitated the development of forest management and landscape restoration frameworks for Chilgoza Forest Ecosystems in the four districts of Sherani, Chitral, South West, and Gilgit Baltisan with technical input and hosting and engaging in the consultation of stakeholders. While the Chilgoza Forest Multi-Function Management Plan for the Sherani District has been finalized and a draft for the South West Multi-Function Management Plan has been drafted, the plans for Chitral and Gilgit Baltisan are still under development. The plans are drafted by the respective district’s forest departments and work to address economic concerns, biodiversity conservation, and the key drivers of degradation. The plans are also built on the findings of the participatory ROAM assessments TRI Pakistan conducted, which included key stakeholders from all four project districts and identified restoration opportunities and priority interventions such as more efficient cooking stoves. Ultimately, these plans facilitate the implementation of FLR and sustainable land management at the local level as they are made with input from local stakeholders and outline management measures designed with their communities’ priorities in mind.
In order to develop these policies in a way that best addresses the needs of the four districts, TRI Pakistan’s ROAM assessments were vital. As a way to ensure hotspots are given priority, properly conducting the assessments was also critical. Pakistan trained forty-four professionals and key stakeholders from all districts on the ROAM methodology to ensure the process was inclusive as possible and effective in identifying priorities to be addressed in the management plans.
From the development of the four districts’ Chilgoza Forest Multi-Functional Management Plans, TRI Pakistan learned multiple lessons on how forest management should be approached at the local level and how differences in local communities affect the prioritized goals and measures. Beginning with the ROAM assessments, TRI Pakistan was able to see where the districts differed in their prioritized restoration areas, which interventions they pursued, and the overall goals and economic needs of local community groups. From these assessment findings, the respective forest departments, in elaborating the plans, also showed the team how their district context affected the way they approached FLR and sustainable land management. Understanding how the different local communities approach forest management further helped TRI Pakistan facilitate the government’s transition in considering local and private sector perspectives in the implementation of national forest and climate policies.