COMMUNITY CONSERVATION
Rural communities usually know and understand their surroundings
far better than outsiders can, and often use natural resources
in traditional ways that do little damage to the environment.
They are therefore ideally placed to help plan and carry out conservation
projects.
WWF works closely with local communities all over the Asia/Pacific
region, involving villagers in forest management in Annapurna,
Nepal, helping Solomon islanders "legalize" their previously
unrecorded rights to use land and resources, and promoting eco-development
around protected areas such as India's Ranthambhore National Park.
And in an innovative project in the Suleiman mountains of Pakistan,
WWF staff work alongside tribal groups to save chilgoza pine forests.
"If those forests had gone, I wouldn't have found two new
crabs and a bat everyone thought was extinct."
S Duangkhae,Thailand
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