Central Asia’s arid climate, limited water resources, and fragile vegetation make it particularly vulnerable to drought, land degradation, and desertification. Overgrazing, deforestation, land use change, and inappropriate irrigation methods are causing soil erosion, reduced soil fertility, and depletion of groundwater resources. Land degradation in Central Asia has multifaceted socio-economic and environmental impacts, affecting livelihoods, food security and ecosystem resilience, and unsustainable practices such as overgrazing lead to soil erosion and land degradation. worsens overall. Economically, the cost of land degradation in Central Asia ranges from 3% to 11% of GDP, and the cost of doing nothing is five times the cost of action.
This side event proposes a constructive multi-stakeholder dialogue
By fostering this collaboration, side events aim to bridge knowledge gaps, foster innovation, and foster mutual learning.
Learning outcomes:
- Understand the role of pastures from ecological, economic and social perspectives.
- Identify policy gaps, conflicts of interest, and management obstacles that impede sustainable pasture management.
- We discuss legal frameworks, incentives, and governance structures that promote sustainable pasture management, including gender mainstreaming-related policies.
- Discuss existing public and private financing mechanisms and how they can be aligned with sustainable pasture initiatives.
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local time
Session name and description
speaker
12:45-13:00
Welcome coffee and registration
13:00~13:10
Official opening
Abduvohid Zahaduraev
Unit Head of the Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change of the Republic of Uzbekistan (TBC)Chris Majero IUCN Senior Program Officer
13:10~13:45
The role and value of pastures: ecological, economic and social perspectives Akmal Akramkhanov ICARDA, Uzbekistan, Senior Researcher
Dr. Abdullah Ravimov, MoA Research Institute CACILM 2
13:45-14:00
Question-and-answer session
14:00~14:50
Policy and financial perspectives for sustainable pasture management
Liubov TimofeevaNbS Project Officer, IUCN ECARO
Aziz NurbekovFAO Uzbekistan
Mr Temirzhanov, Ministry of Agriculture / UNCCD Focal Point, Kazakhstan TBC
Mrs. Aungtuya Dorjusren, UNCCD Focal Point Mongolia Representative, Senior Expert in External Cooperation Department
Mr. Risbek AsapovMinistry of Agriculture/UNCCD Focal Point AI, Kyrgyzstan
TBC Ministry of the Environment / UNCCD Focal Point, Uzbekistan
Chris MajeroSenior Program Officer, Forests and Grassland Team, IUCN
14:50~15:00
Summary and final comments