让伊朗旱地恢复生机.docVIP

让伊朗旱地恢复生机 　　The pilot site for Tehrans component of the Carbon Sequestration project， which is implemented through UNDPs partnership with the Government of Iran. （Photo： Pasha Tabrizian/UNDP Iran） 　　Zari Sa’adati， a 35-year-old woman living in Eastern Iran， used to fear she could not support her family in the barren environment of Hossein Abad valley. 　　“My family was about to migrate to the city nearby in search of a living，” she says. 　　Degraded by over-grazing， wood-cutting for fuel， and severe erosive winds， the dry and dusty rangelands near the Afghan border made it almost impossible for inhabitants to pull together a meager living. 　　“When I first visited the Hossein Abad valley， I could not imagine that people could live there. Sheep and goats were trying to get something from a dry and dusty land，” said Prahbu Budhathoki， a technical advisor for UNDP. “People were completely covered with clothes to protect themselves from sistani wind and scorching heat. There was life， but living conditions were simply not right.” 　　Today， a specialized Iranian government agency， supported and partly funded by UNDP and the Global Environment Facility （GEF）， is rehabilitating the hostile land. Patches of land have been seeded with plants selected for their capacity to slow the advance of the desert and reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses in dry land areas by sequestrating carbon in plants and soil. 　　The project also aims to empower local communities by providing small loans in a region neglected by mainstream banks. 　　“It was essential to involve communities to give them a sense of ownership and make them feel they could take their destiny into their own hands，” says Budhathoki. 　　Village Development Groups were specifically mobilized for the project. They manage several micro-financing funds set up with money from the project and community members’ savings. Villagers can borrow funds to use as starter money for income-generating activities like purchasing