FAQ

1. What does GIAHS stand for and what are GIAHS?
2. When was GIAHS concept formulated?
3. What is the goal and objectives of the GIAHS Initiative?
4. What are the intervention strategies of the GIAHS Initiative?
5. What is dynamic conservation approach?
6. How is GIAHS initiative trying to achieve both its development and sustainability goals in the face of globalization and global climate change/variability?
7. What do we mean by five assets of rural systems?
8. What are the criteria for judging adaptive management and dynamic progress?
9. At the rural community level, what are the factors that are most frequently at the base of the sustainable management of land and natural resources?
10. Why intervene in situations where the people concerned are already practicing ingenious and sustainable land and natural resource management techniques?
11. What kinds of local partners will GIAHS work with?
12. What are good policies for dynamic conservation of GIAHS and sustainable agriculture and rural development?
13. What are the advantages of using traditional agricultural knowledge systems?
14. How are the GIAHS sites and candidate systems chosen?
15. Will GIAHS Initiative work on sites in industrialized countries?

GIAHS is a Partnership Initiative, aimed to establish the basis for global and national recognition, dynamic conservation and sustainable management of agricultural heritage systems and their associated biodiversity, knowledge systems and cultures.

The fundamental aim of GIAHS Partnership Initiative is development, in the sense of improving income capacity, well-being and outlook of the local communities, especially as regards young generation, instilling pride and identity on their own agricultural heritage, knowledge systems and culture.

But the kind of development GIAHS Programme hopes to encourage is not development at any cost. It also promotes maintenance and conservation of a high level of goods and services derived from the ecosystem, of supported endogenous tried and tested ways of natural resource management (which have already proved their sustainability, based on a wide array of diversity and highly ingenious management practices.

International recognition is not the main objective of the GIAHS Programme, but it is a way of further ensuring continuity of the support work and funding in aid of these remarkable systems.