The final workshop of the project “Participatory Planning for Sustainable and Integrated Land Use Management in Sistan Region” to develop a mechanism to monitor the status of evaluation indicators during the action plan implementation was held on May 26, 2022, at the Zabol Governor’s Meeting Hall. In this meeting, Neda Asadfalsafizadeh, Sistan project acting manager; Moin Afshar, Deputy Civil Engineer of Zabul Special Governorate; selected District heads and managers of government bodies; Technical experts of Sistan Provincial Project Office; Representatives of the Rahbord Danesh Pouya Consortium; and representatives of local communities from the five districts of Sistan region were present.
While introducing the Sistan project, Falsafizadeh stated that the objectives of this project are integrated management of natural resources and socio-economic development of the Sistan region by emphasizing the support of alternative livelihoods by competitive advantages. She mentioned components of the Sistan project as capacity building, soil and water management, including the management and rehabilitation of the Hamoun Wetland, and the development of the local economy, including climate-smart agriculture and alternative livelihoods.
She also expressed the issue and the need to implement a participatory plan for sustainable land management, emphasizing the development of sustainable livelihoods.
Falsafizadeh emphasized the main objectives of this project as identifying local opportunities for creating and developing sustainable livelihoods in the target area through the analysis of the current situation of land use, verification of findings according to available documents, research of the current and favorable position in a participatory manner and the development of an action plan and monitoring of the project with a participatory approach.

The Sistan project acting manager also said that the success of development measures depends on the participation and cooperation of all key stakeholders and stressed the influential role of the local community in the progress of projects.
Then, each consortium representative also expressed the participatory action plan prepared in the area of ​​57 thousand hectares in the Sistan region. This program results from seven months of continuous efforts of this group in the region through holding numerous meetings in the area.
Each of the local communities and representatives of government bodies commented on the issues presented and discussed the results. Then representatives of government bodies and Sistan districts, with the full support of the governorates, announced their readiness to participate and implement the measures.

On the sidelines of this workshop, an intimate meeting with the presence of Sanjarani, the head of the special governorate of Zabol city; Moghimi, vice President for Development and Planning; Moin Afshar, Deputy Civil Engineer of Zabul Governorate; Falsafizadeh, the acting manager of the Sistan project, and Sargolzayi, the provincial technical expert of the Sistan project, was held.
In this meeting, Falsafizadeh introduced the Sistan project to the head of the Zabul special governorate, enumerated some of the essential activities of the project so far, and pointed out the participatory nature of all measures under the Sistan project and the importance of attracting participation and synergy.
Sanjarani also stressed the need for consensus and integration of livelihood support and development projects in the region and called for regulation of activities.
In this meeting, all attendees agreed on constant contact and interaction between the provincial office of the Sistan project and the deputy for the development and planning of the governorate to increase the synergy and effectiveness of the project activities.
Local economic development is one of the components of the Sistan project. “Sustainable and integrated land use management planning plan with emphasis on the development of sustainable livelihoods” is one of the activities of the Sistan project, which is implemented under the component of local economic development by the Consortium of Rahbord Danesh Pouya.
Project “Enhancing integrated natural resource management for the restoration of wetland ecosystems and support alternative livelihoods development of local communities,” abbreviated as the Sistan Project is a joint project between the Iranian Department of Environment (DoE), UNDP, and is funded by the European Union.