Tharparkar is a fragile arid and semiarid ecosystem which is subjected to desertification due to frequent droughts, pressure on natural vegetative cover due to exploitation by human and livestock (for fodder, timber, firewood, gum resin, medicinal herbs extraction etc.) and limited water resources. Desertification threatened livelihood of about 1.3 million inhabitants and 5 million livestock.

The major causes of desertification are felling of trees and removal of vegetative cover in the result of deforestation and overgrazing. Destruction of Camiphora mukal (gum yielding shrub), by tukka (chemical cut) method, is a major cause of desertification in Tharparkar, particularly in Nagarparkar area which is rich in this shrub.

The project aims at reducing pressure on land and forest resources which is caused by illegal tree chopping, and destruction of natural plantations of guglan (Camiphora mukal) for gum resin extraction
The project addresses GEF operational programme 15 of sustainable land management.

The project will restore the natural balance of the local ecology by removing or minimizing threats created by deforestation and bush destruction and will serve the global environmental causes of reducing global warming, protection of biodiversity and combating desertification.
Project objectives:

1. Motivate, organize and enable local community organizations for sustainable land management (SLM)
2. Immediate halt of deforestation and organized destruction of guglan (Camiphora mukal) shrub cover through local action
3. Rangeland health assessment and rehabilitation
4. Reintroduce and strengthen traditional rangeland management system through consensus and participation
5. Create livelihood opportunities for indigenous people through sustainable harvesting of gugral (gum from guglan shrub)
6. Cooperate with forest department and local government to protect forest and rangeland


Activities to be carried out under project:

1. Community mobilization and organization of village ?Community Green Groups (CGGs)?
2. Training to Community Green Groups (CGGs) in rangeland health assessment, sustainable rangeland management, rangeland rehabilitation techniques such as seed broadcasting, rotational grazing, large scale cultivation of guglan and medicinal herbs for sustainable harvesting
3. Organized campaign and local watch and check system to halt commercial tree chopping and chemical destruction of guglan plants
4. Development of cooperation mechanism between Community Green Groups (CGGs) and local government and Forest Department to halt deforestation by vested interest
5. Develop and reinforce traditional local system of subsistent timber harvesting and control illegal tree chopping and guglan extraction with the support of Forest Department and local administration
6. Rangeland rehabilitation by seed broadcasting, hydrology/ moisture management,
7. Wide scale re-vegetation and cultivation of guglan shrub and Phog (Calligonum polygonoides) by massive re-vegetation and plantation by involving poor indigenous Kolhi people