Kabul (Afghanistan),
9 August 2010 – Afghanistan's alpine landscape
was the backdrop for a community event organised
by the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) as part of a campaign leading-up
to the International Day of Peace on 21
September 2010.
UNEP's environmental
awareness campaign began in the Central
Highlands province of Bamyan with "Trekking
for Peace". The event brought together
local children, government officials and
UNEP staff for a nature walk in the Shah
Foladi Conservation Area.
The Central Highlands
area also includes Band-e Amir, one of Afghanistan's
most remarkable natural landscapes and the
country's first national park, as well as
the Ajar Valley Wildlife Reserve.
Among its projects in
Afghanistan, UNEP is working with the government,
local communities and international partners
to nominate Shah Foladi as a protected landscape
and establish it as a demonstration site
for conservation education and protected
area management.
Environmental education
is a pillar of UNEP's country programme
in Afghanistan where peace remains fragile.
Today, environmental insecurity
still threatens the long-term well-being
and livelihoods of many Afghans.
Forests now occupy just
two percent of Afghanistan's overall area
and the country's once-plentiful pistachio
forests have almost disappeared in just
three decades. Less than one third of households
have access to safe drinking water.
UNEP's Afghanistan-based
Protected Areas expert, Andrew Scanlon,
said initiatives like the Shah Foladi project
are encouraging better community management
of natural resources, biodiversity conservation
and the sharing of environmental education
programmes for all Afghans.
"By bringing communities
together to consider issues of common interest,
community-based natural resource management
is proving to be a worthwhile post-conflict
reconstruction tool that can restore trust
and collaboration," Mr. Scanlon said.
The theme of Peace Day
this year is youth, peace and development.
In the countdown to Peace Day, UNEP will
lead further events with youth and other
community members to increase awareness
of the significance of the Central Highlands
environment and celebrate renewed hope for
peace.
UNEP has been promoting
and supporting sustainable environmental
management in Afghanistan since 2002, working
closely with national environmental authorities
to make the environment one of the essential
building blocks of peace.
UNEP's activities in
Afghanistan are made possible though the
support and cooperation of a range of donor
governments, civil society and partner institutions,
including the European Union and the Global
Environment Facility (GEF).
Where on earth is biodiversity?
