Livelihood Resilience in Upper Catchments of Dry Areas in Karkheh River Basin (CPWF- PN24)

Integrated watershed management should be pursued for people's livelihoods and for the ecosystem. It can be achieved when all stakeholders agree on a joint vision and action plan. Scientists should support the process with information about the limits of exploitation of ecosystems, efficient and sustainable methods to use natural resources, mechanisms for cooperation, and provide indicators of progress. Agricultural development is a component of integrated watershed management. Important handicaps are the small size of farms and the fragmentation of the land holdings. Land consolidation has been limited due to farmer's traditions, religious inheritance rulings and inadequate capacity of authorities. A participatory approach to land consolidation is needed to gain acceptance by farmers and to remove obstacles. Management of rangelands and forests should be based on their carrying capacities so that land degradation is prevented, biological diversity is preserved and vital natural resources are saved. Current practices are quite different: trees are cut to feed leaves to livestock and to obtain wood to make charcoal, leading to fragmented forests and open areas, while a significant number of forage, tree and shrub species are already very rare. Erosion and deposition both cause major problems and need to be reduced. The Karkheh dam reservoir is already in a critical condition due to the influx of sediments from degraded upstream areas. The main causes of erosion are road construction that leaves soil exposed, up and down ploughing of narrow strips of farm land, and overgrazing of rangelands. Extraction of construction material from the river bed has disturbed the geomorphology of the river and destroyed its ecological system. Plans need to be developed and implemented for the conservation of upstream waterways and the main river, and accompanied by adequate regulations. Active involvement of the main stakeholders, including local communities, is needed to ensure success. Public awareness plays an important role for implementation. Supplementary irrigation is crucial for agricultural development. But there is little surface water storage, the volume of groundwater is limited, and much arable land lies on slopes. Fortunately options may exist to expand supplementary irrigation. These include: (i) pumping water from the Honam spring and transporting it along gentle sloped open channels, (ii) constructing of underground dams in ephemeral rivers to store sub-surface water, (iii) a small dam is being constructed in an ephemeral river upstream of the Sarab Firouzabad' qanats in the Mereck area and some of the stored water can be used, and (iv) artificial recharge stations can increase underground storage at suitable locations in the Mereck plain. Stimulation of agricultural development needs a more integrated approach to innovations and technologies. It is essential that farm productivity and income increase through new and resource efficient crop management techniques and tools, as well as post harvesting processes. Methods and materials should be adapted to local conditions through active participation by local communities, with particular attention to environmental friendliness, sustainability and resilience to climate change. Regular participatory evaluation of the process of development of integrated watershed management enables ...