Pearl River Watershed Rehabilitation Project
The objectives of the Pearl River Watershed Rehabilitation Project are to improve farmer's livelihoods and protect the environment in poor and highly degraded watersheds of the Pearl River Basins by promoting an integrated and replicable model of sustainable rural development. Through a participatory design process activities will be packaged into an integrated set of interventions for individual subwatersheds. These activities are categorized into three components. The first component, entitled soil and water conservation, consists of predominantly physical investments for soil and water conservation primarily of public interest including minimum capital farmland, sediment retention structures, afforestation and vegetative cover, and village infrastructure. The second component, entitled livelihood improvement, consists of predominantly physical investments designed to improve the income of farmers including: terracing of slope land, horticulture and fruit and nut trees, grasslands, livestock development, irrigation and drainage and renewable energy supply. The third component, entitled project management and support services, will ensure the participatory design process with inclusion of vulnerable groups, the quality implementation of activities under the first two components, the right institutional setting for sustainable operation and maintenance of project activities, the mitigation of environmental and social risks, and strong project management including monitoring and evaluation.