This publication comprises papers presented at the Final Phase 1 Workshop of the People and Resource Dynamics Project (PARDYP). The project is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the International Development Research Council (IDRC, Canada), and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). PARDYP Phase 1 began in October 1996 and ended in September 1999, and has been active at the watershed scale in four of ICIMOD's eight member countries: China, India, Nepal and Pakistan. The primary objectives of PARDYP Phase 1 were to provide a basic understanding of the natural resource degradation processes, to recommend proven strategies and programmes for community and farm-based prevention of degradation, and to promote rehabilitation and improved management of natural resources using five watersheds of the Hindu-Kush Himalayas region as an example.