Reforestation Strategies Amid Social Instability: Lessons from Afghanistan |
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Authors: | Email author" target="_blank">John?W?GroningerEmail author |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Forestry, Southern Illinois University, Mailcode 4411, Carbondale, 62901-4411, IL, USA |
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Abstract: | Foreign and domestic government agencies and other international organizations pursue reforestation programs in rural upper
watershed areas of Afghanistan over the past decade to alleviate poverty, combat the insurgency and rehabilitate a depleted
forest resource base. Popular programs incorporate cash-for-work to conduct hillside terracing, check dam construction and
tree-planting for nut production, fuel wood, timber, dune stabilization, and erosion abatement. Programmatic approaches have
varied as a function of accessibility, security and local objectives. Uncertain land tenure and use rights, weak local environmental
management capacity, and a focus on agricultural production to meet immediate needs limit interest, nationally and locally.
Unreliable security, a lack of high quality tree planting stock, limited technical knowledge and coordination among government
agencies, and poor security hamper program expansion. Reforestation success would be most likely where these issues are least
acute. The Afghan government should focus on supporting community based natural resource management, developing and disseminating
improved conservation tree nursery strategies, and promoting watershed management schemes that incorporate forestry, range
management and agronomic production. Reforestation practitioners could benefit from the human and material resources now present
as part of the international war effort. Successes and failures encountered in Afghanistan should be considered in order to
address similar problems in insecure regions elsewhere when reforestation may help reverse environmental degradation and contribute
to broader social stabilization efforts. |
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