The main aim of the SG is to finance small projects with a total budgetary outlay of not more than 50 lakhs to support strategic and tailor-made local community action for management of IHR ecosystems and their use on a sustainable basis. Small Projects are meant to support local NGOs/ agencies/ individuals, which/ who are often best positioned to work with local communities and possess a good understanding of local ecological and social-institutional conditions.

The SG implementation follows a strategic approach by targeting a well-defined geographic and/or thematic area prioritised by the NMHS Scientific and Technical Advisory Group (STAG) with the long-term view to develop the resilience of ecosystem-dependent mountain communities. As an overarching principle, the SG projects shall be problem- oriented and shall remain grounded and linked with the realities and needs of local communities.

Apart from providing direct environmental and livelihood benefits locally, the SG projects are expected to offer tangible ‘models’ to inspire policy-making and they should include concrete measures to ensure participation, gender equality and secure livelihoods for the marginalized groups. In this way, the SG projects will help in linking the household and community level to the dynamics of policy- and decision-making about mountain area planning and investment