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Kyrgyz Republic
Communities Forests and Pastures
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April 30, 2015
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GENDR
EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA
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Document of the World Bank
CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS
Currency Unit = Kyrgyzstani Som (KGS)
(Exchange Rate Effective February 1, 2015)
USD1 = 60.5 KGS
FISCAL YEAR
January 1 / – / December 31ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
Aiyl aimak (AA) / rural municipality areaAiyl okmotu (AO) / local government of aiyl aimak
Aiyl kenesh (AK) / local council of aiyl aimak
asl / above sea level
AISP / Agricultural Investment Support Project
ASSP / Agricultural Services Support Project
CBFM / Community Based Forest Management
CFM / Collaborative Forest Management
CPMP / Community Pasture Management Plan
FE / State forestry enterprise, Leskhoz
FGD / focus group discussions
GOSREGISTER / State Agency for Registration of Rights to Land and Immovable Property
IFEMP / Integrated Forest Ecosystem Management Project
IFI / International Financial Institution
IREI / Inter- Regional Environmental Inspection
ISF / The Irrigation Service Fee
Jaiyt Committee (JC) / Jaiyt or Pasture Committee – executive body of the Pasture Users’ Association
JICA / Japanese International Cooperation Agency
KAFLU / Kyrgyz Association of Forest and Land Users
KGS / Kyrgyz som
Kolkhoz / State collective farm
Leskhoz / State forest enterprise
LFEPDFS / Local Funds of Environmental Protection and Development of Forestry Sector
LRF / Land Redistribution Fund
MoA / Ministry of Agriculture
NAP / National Action Plan
NFEPDFS / National Fund of Environmental Protection and Development of Forestry Sector
NGO / Nongovernmental organization
NTFP / Non-timber forest products
Oblast / Region
PD / Pasture Department
PUA / Pasture Users’ Association
Rayon / District
RDF / Rural Development Fund
SAEPF / State Agency for Environment Protection and Forestry
Sovkhoz / Soviet farm
SFM / sustainable forest management
SLF / State Land Fund
SFF / State Forest Fund
SRF / State Reserve Fund
TDEPDFE / Territorial Division of Environmental Protection and Development of Forestry Ecosystems
TF / Trust Fund
UNDP / United Nations Development Program
UFF / Unified Forest Fund includes all forests and forest lands of the country
WB / World Bank
WUA / Water Users’ Associations
Table of Contents
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY vi
1 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Background 1
1.1.1 Land Use and Livelihoods 1
1.1.2 Climate Change Threats to Land and Livelihoods 2
1.1.3 Agriculture, Livestock and Pasture Land 3
1.1.4 Pasture Management, Land Management History and Reform 4
1.1.5 Forest Ecosystem Services and Contribution to the Kyrgyz Economy 5
1.1.6 Forests and Pastures in a mixed-use Landscape 7
1.1.7 Progress and Potential for Forest Sector Reform 8
1.2 Objectives and Scope 9
1.3 Methodology 9
2 THE HISTORY OF REFORMS IN NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 11
2.1 Water Resource Management and Governance Reform 12
2.2 Pasture Management Reform 13
2.3 Forest Resource Management and Opportunities for Reform 15
2.4 Land Sector Reform Policies and Progress 17
2.5 Major findings from a rapid review of reforms in land, forest and water management 18
3 ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES AND MANAGEMENT OF FOREST RESOURCES 20
4 SECTOR CAPACITY 23
4.1 Financing 23
4.2 Human capacity 25
5 FOREST SECTOR PERFORMANCE 26
6 GOVERNANCE ARRANGEMENTS AND ACCESS TO FOREST RESOURCES 34
6.1 General information 34
6.2 Use of forest resources by communities 35
6.3 Access arrangements 37
7 MOVING TOWARDS AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO FOREST GOVERNANCE 39
7.1 Strategic Relevance 39
7.2 Improving the policy, legal, and operational framework for forestry management 39
7.3 Improving capacity and operating procedures 42
List of diagrams
Diagram 1. Survey Sample in 4 Pilot FEs 11
Diagram 2. Typical Organizational Structure of an FE 21
Diagram 3. Expenditures of the DFESPA in 2013 (%). 23
Diagram 4. Change in shares of various land lease fees in all FE revenues 2009-2013 (%) 24
Diagram 5. FE Budget Approval and Fund Release Process 25
Diagram 6. Opinion of respondents on three major improvement needed for better forest management 33
Diagram 7. The major improvements needed for better forest management in 4 Pilot FEs (% of responses) 34
Diagram 8. Major Sources of Livelihood in Pilot Communities 35
Diagram 9. Five Most Important Activities in 4 FEs 36
Diagram 10. Use of Forest resources in 4 FE 36
List of Figures
Figure 1. Elevation Map of the Kyrgyz Republic 2
Figure 2. Forest Types of Kyrgyzstan 6
Figure 3. Organizational Structure of Forest Management 20
Figure 4. Organizational Structure of DFESPA 21
List of tables:
Table 1. Summary of Recommended Interventions xi
Table 2. Reported changes in livestock (in thousands) 3
Table 3. Production of Fodder in Kyrgyzstan 4
Table 4. Kyrgyzstan Land Inventory as of 1 January 2012 4
Table 5. Area of major Non-Timber Forest Products 6
Table 6. Forest area in 2011 8
Table 7. Major Characteristics of Pilot FEs 10
Table 8. Forest Land by Management Designation 17
Table 9. Pilot Forest Enterprise Organizational Data 22
Table 10. Recommended Interventions 45
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The concept for this study has been developed jointly by the World Bank team[1] in cooperation with the Kyrgyz Republic State Agency on Environmental Protection and Forestry (SAEPF), local stakeholders as well as with donor partners, including the EU FLERMONECA Project, implemented by the GIZ. The GIZ provided consultative support in designing an appropriate study methodology. The survey, interviews and Focus Group Discussions with key stakeholders were conducted by the Kyrgyz Association of Forest and Land Users (KAFLU).
This report has been prepared under the guidance of Alex Kremer and Jean-Michel Happi, World Bank Country Managers for the Kyrgyz Republic during the preparation of this report, and Kulsum Ahmed Practice Manager for the World Bank’s Environment and Natural Resources Global Practice.
The report was written by Asyl Undeland, a consultant specializing in rural development. It is based on a review of legislation, various documents and reports, and data provided from various sources. The report relied on quantitative data collected in four pilot areas and kindly provided by the KAFLU, as well as data and information kindly provided by UNIQUE forest and land use, which conducted baseline study of pilot areas in the framework of the EU FLERMONECA Project, including those surveyed by the KAFLU.
Special gratitude goes to the Rural Development Fund for help with processing data collected by the KAFLU and for collecting additional data on management of natural resources in Kyrgyzstan. The report reflects comments by the World Bank team following local discussions and peer review by UNIQUE, GIZ and the National Steering Committee chaired by the SAEPF in March, 2015.
This report builds on the results and analysis of the PROFOR supported study, the Development Potential of Forests in Kyrgyz Republic completed in 2012. Many of the recommendations and conclusions of this report remain valid.
The conclusions and recommendations from this report will be used to inform World Bank lending operations in the Kyrgyz Republic including the forestry components of the Pasture and Livestock Management Improvement Project (P145162) and the Integrated Forest Ecosystem Management Project (P151102).
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. The objective of this study is to enhance the knowledge and capacity for understanding the institutional, legal, and operational issues involved in integrated forest governance. The study aims to support the Kyrgyz Republic in their reform efforts through identifying opportunities to improve forest management and address gaps which create conflicts, contribute to environmental degradation and limit livelihood opportunities. It also analyzes prior reforms and their impacts to provide lessons for future reforms. The study is based on the review of national legislation, statistical data and information provided by the State Agency for Environmental Protection and Forestry (SAEPF). It utilizes field-level data from a study involving a survey and key expert interviews conducted in four study areas which reflected either piloting of different forms of community based forest management or the country’s typical governance framework.[2]
2. With less than 6 percent forest cover, forestry resources are scarce. From the 1930s to the mid-1960s Kyrgyzstan lost approximately half of its forest area. Since then the forest area has increased somewhat with a greater management emphasis placed on preservation and afforestation. Almost 90 percent of the country lies at an altitude higher than 1,500 meters above sea level; 15percent of the total land area is covered by glaciers, snow fields and rocks, and more than 30percent is located in high montane ecosystems. Overall, the terrain, climate and soil, as well as a shortage of water in some areas, do not create favorable conditions for growing trees.
3. The level of poverty in Kyrgyzstan remains high, especially in remote and mountainous areas. In 2013, more than one third of the country’s population (37 percent) were classified as poor and 4.4 percent extremely poor. The incidence of poverty in rural areas (41 percent) is significantly higher than in urban ones (29 percent). The level of poverty in mountainous areas is even greater (51 percent)[3]. 65% of the population is rural, living in approximately 1,800 villages spread throughout the lowlands and mountainous valleys along rivers and streams. Kyrgyzstan’s population continues to grow (average rural population growth 1.39% 2009 to 2013 in comparison to urban growth of 1.56% for the same period)[4]. Unlike some other countries in the region there is currently no significant out-migration of the rural population. Population in both rural and urban areas has been growing continuously since the mid-1990s. The potential for this situation to change significantly is considered fairly unlikely. Policy design therefore needs to reflect the needs of increasing rural population in an increasingly resource constrained environment.
4. Approximately 2.4 million people live near forests, with a major concentration situated adjacent to walnut-fruit forests. More than 200,000 people live directly in State Forest Enterprise[5] territory, and more than 1.8 million people or approximately 31 percent of the total population live near forests and rely on forest resources to varying degrees for their livelihoods. Forests that provide Non-timber Forest Products (NTFPs) play a crucial role in the livelihoods of these communities both for subsistence and additional income.
5. The demand for timber in the country, especially near forest communities, far outstrips supply and current trends predict that this gap will continue to increase. Commercial felling is prohibited under current legislation[6], with only very low volumes of wood derived from maintenance/sanitary cutting. During the Soviet era, Kyrgyzstan imported around twenty times the current official level of timber production. Timber continues to be imported from Russia, but at much lower levels. Estimates of the volume of legal imports and production, combined with estimates of illegally smuggled timber are four or five times less than the estimated annual minimum demand. The cost of timber at the local market is high at 10,000-15,000 KGS/m3 (US$ 160-250/m3), and not affordable for most households. This limited supply, in combination with the much higher demand due to the widespread use of wood for construction and energy indicates that illegal logging is prevalent in the country. With roughly half the rural population under the age of 19 this demand will only increase with the increasing need for timber in housing construction and fuelwood. The official reported contribution of timber production to the economy in 2013 was 265,200,000 KGS, just 0.2 percent of the total agricultural output in Kyrgyzstan, although unofficial wood product demand is estimated as being much higher (National Statistics Committee).
6. More than one third of houses in Kyrgyzstan rely only on coal and fuelwood for heating and cooking[7]. However, there are many households which use more than one source of heating or cooking, such as electricity in combination with coal/fuelwood. With the rising cost of electricity and gas, as well as supply shortages, many public institutions such as schools and hospitals have been switching to coal/wood-based stoves.
7. Kyrgyzstan’s landscapes provide a wide range of values, goods and services. Forest landscapes support livelihoods in many ways, including through providing arable lands for cropping on State Forest Fund Land, grasslands for livestock grazing and hay making, nut and fruit trees for commercial harvesting, beekeeping, and collection of berries, medicinal plants, and mushrooms. Stunning landscapes attract local and international tourists. Forests contribute to the prevention of natural disasters such as landslides, mudflows, and avalanches. Forests regulate water flow in rivers, reducing riverbank erosion and evaporation. Communities depend on forests to ensure the volume and quality of potable and irrigation water. Forests are important for local biodiversity serving as a home for many endemic trees and bushes and are an important source of genetic diversity.
8. Kyrgyzstan’s forests and pastures and the communities that depend on them will be disproportionately affected by the risks associated with a changing climate. Average annual temperatures have increased since the mid-20th century by 0.5°C in the south to 1.6°C in the north. Impacts are already being observed, from melting glaciers in upland areas to droughts and floods in the lowlands. Warming in the Central Asian region is projected to be above the global mean land warming. Clearly climate change will place additional pressure on the already fragile ecosystems and there will be a need to develop climate smart and adapted approaches to landscape management.