JUSTIFICATION FOR REAHBILITATION IN THE KALASH VALLEYS RETAINING WALLS FOR THE KALASH VALLEY OF BIRIR The valley

of Birir has been subjected to extreme forest destruction over the years, with the result that much agricultural land has been lost and ancient Kalash sites, as well as villages, are threatened. We have built some essential walls over the years, starting in 1995, with building a series of walls to protect Guru Village funded by ODA, and also planting some trees on the river bank. Subsequently, we built more retaining walls funded by the Provincial Government. Only one of these was badly damaged during the floods. For some years the inhabitants of the valley have been asking for the preservation of the Kalash graveyard and security of the Kalash community school in Grubinasar. The path which leads from Grubba Quioe, Kata Ker and Grubba Chet to the school has been so eroded that the path is now very dangerous and if there is no protection, will completely disappear. Also, if the gol floods, more fields will be washed away and the school building, threatened. Same goes for Guru Village, and Lower Birir as well as Upper Birir. Last year I had over twenty applications for retaining walls. Now, after the last summer floods, the valleys are desperately in need of rehabilitation. Bridges need to be rebuilt, pathways remade, irrigation channels re dug, and, most of all, retaining walls built to prevent more damage from successive floods. In such a scenario, where there is desperate economic pressure on the households to provide even the most basic necessities of life, a catastrophic event such as was seen with last summer floods, puts unbearable pressure upon the people.