The National Consultation on Community/women led Dryland Natural Resource Management was organized in Hyderabad and Pastapur from March 16-18th 2006. This two days of National Consultation was organized at MANAGE, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad. The first day, was spent in the Zaheerabad region, about 100 kms from Hyderabad, where the initiatives have been grounded.

Within the large framework of Community Autonomy, the Deccan Development Society started an initiative called Dryland Natural Resource Management four years ago, the aim of which was to prove that a series of focused-activities

• Can help the poorest to manage their natural resources most effectively

• The poor and the women can effectively manage and enhance the quality of their natural resources

• Biodiversity and gender concerns were basic to such a management

• Women, though poor and non literate can articulate their concerns most powerfully.

Besides these initiatives, the DDS also conducted a couple of very important studies on Economics of Ecological Agriculture and Non Pesticdal management of crops and Farmers' Perception of Biodiversity.

With this as the backdrop, in this workshop, the sum totals of the activities carried out under the supervision of DDS during the last four years were reviewed at this National Consultation. Experiences were shared between different stakeholders who are known for their concerns and other similar communities.

The National consultation had the following sessions which were followed by discussions.

Session I Managing Agricultural resources: Crop and Seed Diversity
Session II Community Management of Common Property Resources
Session III People's issues, People's Articulation
Session IV People's issues, People's tools
Session V How can communities influence policy making

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