Swiss reinsurer’s water ReSource award will help thousands in Afghanistan
Last updated 23/03/2009 10:12:30
ReSource award will help thousands in Afghanistan
This year's ReSource Award for sustainable watershed management has been won by an Afghanistan-based project.
The winning project located in Khamard district (Bamiyan province) of central Afghanistan, has very limited land resources for its rural population of almost 18,000 inhabitants, where irrigation has become a necessity.
These resources have come under threat by increasing flooding and the resulting destruction of irrigated land. The purpose of the project is to help improve the livelihoods of the rural population in the Kahmard district by reducing flood damage and increasing long-term land productivity through holistic watershed management.
The project won global reinsurance company Swiss Re's seventh award at a ceremony in Istanbul at this year's World Water Forum which will receive prize money of USD $150,000.
David Bresch, Swiss Re's head sustainability & emerging risk management, said: "The World Water Forum is the most recognised worldwide event on water and a unique platform where the water community and the policy and decision makers from all regions of the world link up, debate and attempt to find solutions to achieve water security".
The project more specifically aims at reducing the threat of devastating flash floods and re-establishing the production potential of three watersheds through a combination of structural measures in the critical water courses, providing quick solutions, and re-vegetation in the watersheds, offering mid- to long-term improvements.
The Swiss NGO Helvetas, supported by the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development, is in the process of launching a community-based watershed management project focusing on both short- and long-term solutions.
Emphasis will be placed on measures for sustainable watershed management to prevent the risk of floods from increasing. If land degradation is allowed to continue, the reservoirs created by the planned dams will soon become silted. Effective management may also help to re-establish productivity on degraded land in the watersheds and thus contribute to solving other major issues in the region.
Helvetas was founded in 1955 as the first private organization for development co-operation in Switzerland. Since 2006, Helvetas has been implementing a long-term sustainable development commission-funded program for improving livelihoods of rural communities in 5 districts of Bamyan, Baghlan and Samangan provinces.