GILGIT, Nov 10: Villagers of the Hussaini Valley in upper Hunza will get Rs0.577 million from the Mountain Areas Conservancy Project (MACP) to save agriculture land from erosion.

Secretary of the village conservation committee Mohammad Jalil said at a recent ceremony here that the Hussaini Valley, which is situated 8,386 feet above the sea level, enjoyed 69 per cent literacy rate.

He said that conservation was not new to their village. They had prohibited hunting and deforestation in the 1960seven when there was no NGO in the region.

While appreciating the NGOs' role in enhancing awareness about the management of natural resources, he pointed towards lack of coordination between the government and the NGOs, creating an imbalance between development activities and conservation.

The secretary of the village conservation committee said the MACP had trained several people in environmental education.

He said they needed funds to construct a bridge on the Hunza River to link the village with Zarabad which would help in transporting alternative fuel supplies to reduce pressure on forests.

Secretary of the village conservation committee said the village pastures needed surveys to identify medicinal plants.

For supporting the agro-pastoral activities in the village, he called for programmes to improve breeding.