Integrated management of land and water resources for strengthening climate resilience in flood affected areas of Balochistan, Pakistan

Pakistan faces recurrent climate-induced disasters like floods, with Balochistan Province among the most vulnerable regions due to prevailing poverty, weak governance, and fragile dryland ecosystems. Recurrent flashfloods intensify land degradation, damage already dilapidated flood management infrastructure, and further undermine local livelihoods. Addressing these challenges requires urgent and integrated approach to enhance climate resilience and restore degraded landscapes.
This project’s objective is to strengthen resilience to climate change in the flood-prone SIBI and Kachhi districts in Balochistan. To do so, it will try to address the key challenges, such as It aims to create enabling environment, such as strengthening institutional/local capacities, improving the planning and policy framework to respond to climate change induced land degradation from natural disasters (i.e. floods and drought) and improving water and soil management and improved agricultural and pastoral practices to test approaches to promote productivity and enhance local livelihoods. These objectives will be pursued through three interlinked project components: (1) creating an enabling environment by improving policy and regulatory frameworks; (2) piloting climate-resilient sustainable management of land and water resources at critical sites both upstream and downstream areas of Narri and Bolan river basins to restore degraded land and support climate-smart livelihoods; and (3) promoting knowledge management and gender-inclusive monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) to build climate resilience.
The project aims to address key drivers and barriers such as weak governance, policies and regulatory frameworks, lack of proven climate-resilient SLM models, and limited knowledge and awareness about climate-resilient SLM practices and importance of gender-inclusive M&E. These outcomes will also generate substantial global environmental benefits such as restored degraded lands (~8,000 ha), enhanced ecosystem services, improved soil carbon storage, enhanced carbon sequestration (~239,257 mt CO2e over 20-year period), greater resilience to climate change induced natural disasters, improved SLM practices (6,000 ha), improved water management (~5,000 ha) and alternate livelihood opportunities, and restoring population of globally important floral, avian, mammalian, and reptilian species. It would directly benefit 3,000 farmers and pastoralists. Engagement of community-based organizations, NGOs, and line departments in on-the-ground project interventions will ensure sustainability of the project outcomes, guiding public sector and donor investments towards a gender-inclusive and climate-resilient future.