Lesotho - Highlands National Resources and Rural Income Enhancement

The project aims to promote community based natural resource management and biodiversity conservation, put in place rural infrastructure that will be mostly comanaged by local beneficiaries, develop tourist attractions and promote and market tourism. It will also develop rural enterprises, conduct HIV/AIDS prevention and control campaigns, and strengthen public institutions so as to develop ecotourism as a foundation industry. The project provides an innovative approach to rural development that combines environmental management with rural employment creation and poverty reduction in an area where very few development options exist and unemployment and poverty are rife. It will bring about improved management of natural resources, including production and propagation of medicinal plants and herbs, producing both quantitative and qualitative benefits; it will introduce ecotourism activities and supporting rural infrastructure, thereby setting the stage for economic diversification. The project will support a coherent and focused marketing campaign to enhance the generic brand name of Lesotho as a distinct and “different” ecotourism market. The five components of the project are: (1) management and conservation of natural resources, (2) ecotourism, (3) institutional strengthening, (4) enterprise in rural areas and (5) rural infrastructure.