FAO SUB-REGIONAL OFFICE FOR CENTRAL ASIA

(FAO-SEC)

FAO Initiatives and Activities on Forest Restoration and Sustainable Land Management

Ekrem Yazici Forestry Officer

27 May – 1 June 2013Mersin, Turkey

Overview of Land Use in Central Asia

COUNTRY LAND AREA ('000 ha)

ARABLE LAND FOREST AND OTHER WOODED LAND

PERMANENT PASTURES

Area

('000 ha)% of total land area

Area ('000 ha)

% of total land area

Area ('000 ha)

% of total land area

Azerbaijan

8,260

1,783 21.6

990 12.0

2,683 32.5

Kazakhstan 269,970

21,535 8.0

18,959 7.0

185,098 68.6

Kyrgyzstan 19,180

1,345 7.0

1,182 6.2

9,365 48.8

Tajikistan 14,060

930 6.6

552 3.9

3,198 22.8

Turkmenistan 46,993

1,850 3.9

4,127 8.8

30,700 65.3

Uzbekistan 41,424

4,484 10.8

4,199 10.1

22,219 53.6

Turkey 76,963

25,938 33.7

21,200 27.8

13,167 17.1

Overview of Forestsin Central Asia

FAO SEC OFFICE• Established in 2007 by Host Country Agreement and

covers:– Azerbaijan– Kazakhstan– Kyrgyzstan– Tajikistan– Turkey– Turkmenistan– Uzbekistan

• Country Offices in Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan

Global Guidelines • Operational Guidelines

on the Afforestation and Restoration of

Degraded Lands in Arid Environments (FAO, TIKA, GM, GIZ, Silvamed)

• Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests

• The vision: Improve global governance of the limited soil resources of the planet

• The mission: Develop capacities, build on best available science and facilitate the exchange of knowledge and technologies amongst stakeholders for soil resources management at all levels.

• Five pillars : • sustainable management of soil resources• investment/technical cooperation/policy• soil research • soil data and information, • harmonization of methods and indicators

Global Soil Partnership

Poor soil management could lead to Degradation

FAO SEC OFFICE, Ankara• Total of 42 employees; including 9 international staff

members

• Technical sections for:– Forestry– Plant Production and Protection– Livestock Development – Fisheries– Land and Water– Investment– Policy Assistance

FAO’s framework for assessing land degradation, developed in close collaboration with the World Overview of Conservations Approaches and Technologies “WOCAT” and originally initiated at the request and in support of the UNCCD, that can assist in targeting investment and planning interventions for efficient, equitable and sustainable agricultural development.

Regional Priorities for Central Asia in 2012-2013

Support to countries in the promotion and development of sustainable land management and planning • Strengthening institutional capacity in Central Asia on land

use mapping and land degradation assessment tools• Multi-country proposal aiming to scale up SLM in Central

Asia (including national land use system map produced with the lead institution in each country)

• Technical Assistance provided (upon requests from Member Countries)

Sustainable Land Management in Central Asia

Sub-regional forest land restoration priorities for 2012-2013

• Continuation of support to strengthening the policy, legal and institutional framework for implementation of sustainable management of forest and tree resources

• Strengthening environmental roles and contributions of forests and trees to:

combat desertification restore and sustainably manage watersheds resources conserve riparian (tugai) forests Climate change adaptation and mitigation

Capacity building at regional level

• Capacity Building for Sustainable Management of Mountain Watersheds in Central Asia and the Caucasus GCP/SEC/002/TUR

Trainings on income generation, livelihood improvement, seed collection, nursery development, arid zone afforestation techniques

Pilot demonstration Preparation of awareness creation

materials and technical guidelines and standards

FAO/GEF Projects

• Sustainable management of mountainous forest and land resources under climate change conditions in Kyrgyzstan (GEF-5, 6.1 Million USD)

Capacity building for SFM/SLM Management of mountainous

forest resources Restoration of degraded lands IFAD, TIKA, WB and GIZ involved

FAO/GEF Projects

• Sustainable Land Management inKonya Closed Basin, Turkey(GEF-5, 6,5 Million USD)

Capacity building for SLM Rehabilitation of degraded forest

lands Rehabilitation of degraded arable

lands and pastures, conservation agriculture

FAO/GEF Projects

• Global LADA Project, Uzbekistan and Turkey• UNCCD NAP Enabling Environment Project in

Turkey• Sustainable Land and Forest

Management/restoration projects in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan under GEF -6