Tura (Meghalaya), April 2 : Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Saturday launched a pilot project on Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) Approach for restoration of Ganol catchment areas in West Garo Hills district worth Rs. 1.20 crore. The catchment areas is located in 20 villages surrounding the 22.5 MW Ganol Hydro Electric Project. “This (PES) project will be the first of its kind initiative in the North Eastern States that also aims at providing cash support to comm ties to preserve and protect existing forests,” Sangma said. He said the project aims to rehabilitate & protect the health and restoration of Ganol of the catchment area. Voicing concern on the degradation of forests, the Chief Minister said most of the water bodies are drying up and the people are not getting enough water supply. Noting that climate is changing and at the same time livelihood also is going down, Sangma said that in this situation the government had to come out with a PES programme that would be able to address all these issues. “In this project the government will be not only telling the public about the different policies and different actions that they should do but also helping them financially to be able to make up for the loss of livelihood or the challenges that they might face in the process,” the Chief Minister said. “The government will continue to works in collaboration with the comm ty to be able to build trust and faith and be able to work together to find a solution to different environmental problems,” Sangma added. He said that the challenge is to balance livelihood and yet maintain the environment which is the crux of the problem and that is why the Govt. had to come up with different innovative methods. The Chief Minister also informed that the Govt. is planning to have 4200 square kilometre catchment areas in the state and informed that the government will provide all necessary help and support to the people through various departments to improve their livelihood. RRK BM