SIGNATURE PAGE
BratislavaRegionalCenter
Expected Outcome(s)/Indicator (s):(CP outcomes linked t the SRF/MYFF goal and service line) / Improved capacity of local communities to engage in participatory design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation and review of projects at local level;
Well designed, locally-owned project concepts that fit under the CACILM framework, and capacity of RIOD network members and other relevant stakeholders enhanced to better service local community needs;
An inventory of traditional innovations addressing sustainable natural resource management, production of information material and effective methodologies for facilitating the dissemination of traditional knowledge;
Exchange and adoption by local communities of innovative traditional approaches for sustainable management of natural resources and strengthened national cooperation through facilitating herder-to-herder and/or farmer-to-farmer exchanges.
Expected Output(s)/Indicator(s):
(CP outcomes linked t the SRF/MYFF goal and service line) / INDICATOR 1.1: Increased number of community mobilisers/trainers qualified in participatory methodologies and equipped with the necessary technical tools for facilitating the implementation of all components of a project cycle – up to 20 people in the region.
INDICATOR 2: Increased number of small-scale pilot projects on SLM in CA – at least 5 projects. Coordination and mobilisation of resources for implementation of projects drawing on lessons learned.
INDICATOR 3: Increased awareness at the community level and development of the knowledge management products and knowledge inventory, established a regional and national expert network capable of collecting, and analyzing data.
INDICATOR 4: Increased number of visits and pro-active information exchange and flow between the farmer associations on SLM practices.
Implementing partner:
(designated institution/Executing agency) / UNDPRegionalCenter for Europe and CIS_
Other Partners: / Global Mechanism for UNCCD; UNDP Country Offices in Central Asia
Agreed by Ben Slay, Director, UNDPRegionalCenter____________
BratislavaRegionalCenter
United Nations Development Programme
Community Exchange and Training Programme of the UNCCD Global Mechanism
Project Document
Promoting Community Based Sustainable
Land Management and
CapacityBuilding in Central Asia
Acronyms
ADBAsian Development Bank
CACentral Asia
CBOCommunity Based Organisation
CETPCommunity Exchange Training Programme
CIDACanadian International Development Agency
GEFGlobal Environmental Facility
GISGeographic Information System
GMGlobal Mechanism of United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
GTZDeutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit
ICARDAInternationalCenter for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas
UNCCD/NAPsNational Action Plans to Combat Desertification
NBSAPNational Bio-Diversity Strategy and Action Plan
NCBNational Coordinating Body
NCSANational Capacity Self Assessment
NFPNational Focal Points
NGONon-Governmental Organisation
REAPRegional Environmental Action Plan
RIODReseau International des ONGs pour le Lutte Contre la Desertification
SDCSwiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
SDPSSustainable Development Policy Specialist
SIC/ISDCScientific Information Center of Interstate Sustainable Development Commission
SLMSustainable Land Management
SPAStrategic Partnership Agreement for UNCCD Implementation in CentralAsianRepublics
SPAsSenior Programme Assistant
SRAP/CDSub-Regional Action Plan to Combat Desertification
UNCBDUnited Nations Convention on Bio-Diversity
UNCCDUnited Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
UNFCCCUnited Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
UNDPUnited Nations Development Programme
UNDP COUnited Nations Development Programme Country Office
UNDP DDCUnited Nations Development Programme, DrylandsDevelopmentCenter (former UNSO)
UNDP RBECUnited Nations Development Programme, Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States
UNDP RCUnited Nations Development Programme, RegionalCenter
UNEP United Nations Environment Programme
UNEP/RRC-APUnited Nations Environment Programme, RegionalResourceCenter for Asia and the Pacific
UNSOUnited Nations Sudano-Sahelian Office (currently UNDP DDC)
PartI.SITUATION ANALYSIS
Subregional context
The rationale of this project comes from an urgency and severe multitude of land degradation problems in the CentralAsianRepublics[1] (CARs) and its effects on poor. Over 80% of the territory of CA falls under dry sub-humid, semi-arid and arid zones, and more than half of it is highly susceptible to desertification and land degradation. The agricultural (arable) and pastureland area affected by desertification is significant, the numbers are as follows: Kazakhstan 66%, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan 85%, Kyrgyzstan over 88% of arable land and in Tajikistan 97.7%.
Rural poverty is closely linked with unsustainable land use practices, low land productivity and loss of land carrying capacities. Although poverty has many dimensions and causes, rural communities usually have few options to improve their well-being apart from improving land management and natural resource management. With the collapse of the Soviet system and abolishment of agricultural subsidies, rapid increase in rural poverty has ensued during the post-independence period. As poverty has been increasing, people’s options for pursuing sustainable livelihoods have diminished, and as a result, they have been driven to seek quick returns from unsustainable practices, which lead to land degradation and reduced carrying capacity of the land to produce and provide its harvests.
It is estimated that in 2001 approximately 28% of the population in Kazakhstan earned less than the subsistence level. Government figures also indicate that 55% of the total population lives below the official poverty line, and of which 18% live in “extreme poverty”. In Tajikistan 83% of the population is classified as poor and 1/3 is considered “very poor”. In Turkmenistan only 7% are considered to be below the poverty line, however 58% of the population had cash incomes below the minimum wage in 1998 (the actual extent of poverty has not been accurately measured). In Uzbekistan 30% are below the poverty line and 17% are considered to be “very poor”[i]. Considering that the majority of the population lives in rural areas, the impact of desertification and land degradation takes a high toll on their ability to survive.
Solutions can be found at different levels of intervention, however experience and evidence tends to support that community based activities and rural economic liberalization could accelerate improvements and enlarge opportunities of small private farmers. This could be achieved provided that there is a comprehensive political, legal and institutional framework in place. A particularly challenging policy issue confronting CA relates to making shifts in secured land tenure, access to markets, cropping patterns in local farms and move away from unsustainable and often uneconomic cropping choices towards economically viable practices.
The key project focus will be on development of participatory processes for ensuring community involvement. The concepts of public participation and social mobilization emerged from the recognition that a genuine participatory approach to development is essential for success and sustainability of land management projects. Community participation in environmental protection activities is increasingly recognized by development agencies and governments as essential for promoting good environmental governance - improving responsiveness of national policies and programmes to citizens’ needs, and ensuring transparency and accountability in policy making and implementation processes. The participatory approach within this project will enable people to organize for collective action by creating interest groups, joint work on pilot projects and building solidarity required to resolve common problems and work towards community advancement. The benefits to community organizations and impact of social mobilization at local and national levels can be best sustained provided that there are linkages to policy, legal and regulatory frameworks, and local experiences and lessons at the community level are communicated to national policy-making levels.
In addition, the project will contribute to strengthening of cooperation among CARs in the area of sustainable land management (SLM) and lead to implementation of the National Action Programmes to Combat Desertification (UNCCD/NAPs) that have been prepared in all CARs and the Sub-Regional Action Programme to Combat Desertification (SRAP/CD). The project will also be based on recommendations of the Regional Environmental Action Plan (REAP) for CARs, in particular, within the framework of its regional environmental priority on land degradation. This project will also benefit from recommendations of the National Environmental Action Plans (NEAPs) prepared in all CARs. The project will be linked to the on-going process of national capacity self-assessments (NCSAs) aimed at building a more integrated approach to implementation of the global multilateral environmental agreements – UNFCCC, UNCBD and UNCCD. The National Bio-Diversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), National Communications to the UNFCCC and UNCCD/NAPs have also emphasized a link between adverse future climate change effects, biodiversity loss, land degradation, and deteriorating rural livelihoods and poverty. In addition, the project will also contribute to implementation of the Millennium Development Goals and its overall objective of poverty eradication.
National and sub-regional priorities
The main regional priority areas identified in the UNCCD/NAPs, SRAP/CD and REAP include: monitoring and assessment of the magnitude of desertification processes; establishment of an early warning system for drought mitigation; improving water use in agricultural sector; addressing issues of soil erosion; agro-forestry and forests resources management; integrated watershed management; pastoral management; nature and biodiversity conservation; and eco-tourism development. The action plans also underscore an urgent need for stronger public participation and development of local level initiatives. Among the long-term measures (for 2007-2012), the main focus of attention is given to alternative economic activities (including eco-tourism) and participatory SLM practices and marketing of local agricultural produce as means of poverty eradication.
In 2000-2001, the UNDP, UNEP and ADB have supported development and implementation of the REAP. Three organisations agreed on joint programming and coordination of activities along the agreed four objectives: strengthening of political and institutional basis for regional cooperation in environment; strengthening decision making capacity and process; enhancement of civil society participation; and capacity building for REAP implementation. Furthermore, the REAP National Focal Points acknowledged the importance and urgent need for a regional SLM program. This request was expressed at the regional training on Project Design and Management for implementation of the REAP in CA, held in Almaty in July 2003.
Initiatives for implementation of Multilateral Environmental Agreements
A number of initiatives have been implemented in CARs under the auspices of different international organisations. In 2002, to improve donor cooperation for implementation of the UNCCD in the CARs, the GM spearheaded the formation of the Strategic Partnership Agreement for UNCCD Implementation in CARs (SPA) that brought together the GM, Asian Development Bank (ADB), CCD Project of GTZ and Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). In 2003, the partnership was broadened to include the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the International Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA). The partner organizations have agreed to common programming and coordination of their activities implemented through a number of national and regional programmes.
In June 2003, the GM organized the Sub-Regional Partnership Building Forum (in Tashkent, Uzbekistan), where Government representatives, NGOs and representatives of donor organisations endorsed the Tashkent Joint Platform of Action for UNCCD implementation in CARs, which, inter alia, stresses the link between activities aimed at poverty reduction and land degradation, and outlines the areas of long-term cooperation, which include: policy dialogue and integration of land degradation issues into development policy formulation and inter-sectoral cooperation, creation of enabling policy, legislative and institutional frameworks and facilitation of civil society participation in the UNCCD implementation.
There are also several institutional frameworks that promote collaboration between the countries on environment related and technical issues. Some of the cooperation frameworks are: the Interstate Commission on Water Coordination (ICWC); International Fund for the Aral Sea (IFAS); Interstate Commission on Sustainable Development (ICSD); Regional Environmental Action Programme (REAP); Central Asian Energy Advisory Group; United Nations Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA); and the Central Asia Regional Environmental Centre (CAREC).
A new development that is of significance to the UNCCD was the opening of a new GEF Focal Area on land degradation and desertification, which was subsequently adopted by the Sixth Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD (COP6).
UNDP Focus Areas:During the preparation and implementation of NAPs/CD the following common barriers were identified by national experts at a number of national and regional platforms:
(i)Weak participation of civil society and weak cooperation between the governments, CBOs and development agencies in UNCCD implementation;
(ii) Weak policy and programmatic content of NAPs;
(iii) Lack of clear linkages to national development planning and budgetary processes, such as PRSPs and MDG reports; and
(iv) Lack of cross-sectoral interface under the three Global Conventions.
In addressing these identified barriers, UNDP will focus its national activities for SLM on three main areas:
Strengthening the capacity of national focal institutions and UNCCD Focal Points, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community-based organizations (CBOs) and community institutions in CA to develop improved methods of combating desertification and drought through SLM, and to pursue alternative sustainable livelihood options.
Supporting community level pilot projects on SLM and integrated local area development and local projects developed within the Capacity 2015 programme. Lessons derived from the UNDP/GEF Small Grants Programmes in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan will serve as a knowledge base for these types of activities.
Improving synergies between the Global Conventions and incorporation of land degradation principles into national and regional environmental and sustainable development policies and programmes by facilitating policy dialogues and integrated capacity building approaches. UNDP/GEF–National Capacity Self-Assessment activities, which are currently on-going in all five CA countries, will provide additional support and entry points for these activities
Part II. STRATEGY
PROJECT GOAL AND OBJECTIVES
The Project goal is to strengthen and develop capacities of Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs), Community-based Organizations (CBOs) and governmental institutions in the Central Asia sub-region to develop improved methods of combating desertification and drought, and to pursue alternative sustainable livelihood options. The project will adopt a two-prong approach in implementing the local pilot projects through pro-active involvement of the local governments and building their capacities in integrated natural resources management and mainstreaming of environmental dimension in local development programmes and other related governmental initiatives at the local level; and through building capacities of the local CBOs in SLM, social mobilization and project development and implementation.
The Project will contribute to implementation of the objectives of the Strategic Partnership Agreement for UNCCD Implementation in Central Asian Countries (SPA), outcomes of the Tashkent Joint Platform of Action for UNCCD Implementation[2]and ensure that local needs and concerns are adequately reflected in the design of the SPA/Global Environment Facility (GEF) Central Asian Countries Initiative on Land Management (CACILM). The specific objectives of the Project are:
(a)To mobilize and prepare local communities for implementing sustainable natural resource management and alternative livelihood initiatives under the CACILM framework;
(b)To engage the UNCCD RIOD Network[3] and other stakeholders in Central Asia to improve their response capacity to address local community needs, and
(c)To establish the basis for widespread dissemination and adoption of traditional knowledge and technologies.
The outcomes of this project could be further used for development of the sub-regional GEF country cooperation framework on SLM. In addition, the results will also be presented to the SPA partners for resource mobilization and information exchange.
GEF funding framework: This project will contribute to implementation of the CACILM partnership framework funded by GEF. At the moment, ADB has secured initial funding for the project development phase PDF B and proceed with the preparation of the full size project proposal for the GEF funding with the tentative budget of $20 mln. UNDP, as the key GEF implementing agency, has expressed its interest and preparedness to participate in implementation of the full size project; through 5 national projects and the current regional project.
STAKEHOLDERS INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT
The project will engage the UNCCD National focal points (NFP), RIOD Network and relevant government personnel from the inception of the project to expose them to participatory approaches. It will also involve an existing network of the REAP Focal Points from the Ministries of Environment and thematic Collaborating Centres. These networks will be consulted throughout the project implementation process and will form an informal advisory forum for the project.
Besides the NFPs, the project team will also establish cooperation with the national academic research institutions and specialized Governmental agencies, such as for example, the National Institute for Flora, Fauna and Deserts in Turkmenistan. Additionally, the project team through a process of participatory project proposal development will broaden involvement of the community based NGO, civil society and farmers associations.
A detailed list of focal points is presented below.
Country / UNCCD Focal Points / RIOD Focal PointsKazakhstan / Mr. Bulat Bekniyazov
Head of International Cooperation Department
Ministry of Environmental Protection
31, Pobeda Avenue, Astana, Kazakhstan
Tel: 7 3172 591974
Fax: 7 3172 591950
E-mail: / Mrs. Tatyana Bragina
NGO "Naurzum",
NFP-RIOD Focal Point
165-12, Taran Str.,
Kostanay 458003, Kazakhstan
Tel: (314-2) 548532 E-mail:
Kyrgyzstan / Mr. Kubanychbek Kulov
Director
Kygyz Scientific and Research Institute of Irrigation
Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources
Toktonaliyev St. # 4 a
Tel : 996 312 541168
Fax: 996 312 540975
E-mail. / Ms. Gulnara Nurmatova
NGO “Arayim”
RIOD Focal Point
112-1, Gogol str.,
Bishkek 720011, Kyrgyzstan
Tel. /fax: (996312) 288800.
E-mail: ,
Tajikistan / Mr. Davlatsho Gulmakhmadov
Minister
State Committee for Land Resources
Gibzozemgorodok, 15
734067 Dushanbe
Tel: 992 372 311 683
Fax: 992 372 311487
E-mail. / Ms. Muazama Burkhanova
Chair,
NGO "Foundation to Support Civil Initiatives",
NFP-RIOD Focal Point
73a-19, Shotemura str., Dushanbe 734002
Tel: (+992 372) 215857
Fax: (+992 372) 215857 E-mail: ,
Turkmenistan / Mr. Muhamet Durikov
Head of Laboratory
National Institute of Deserts, Flora and Fauna
Ministry of Nature Protection
Bitarap Turkmenistan St., 15
744000 Ashgabat
Tel: 993 12 357 298
Fax: 993 12 353716
E-mail: / Mr. Andrey Aranbaev
Chairman,
Ecology Club CATENA
RIOD Focal Point
48-60, m/r Mir-1\2,
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
Tel: (99312) 450774, 454312
Fax: (99312) 454312
E-mail:
Uzbekistan / Mr. Zokhid Nazirov
Deputy Director
Hydrometeology Research Institute
Main Administration of Hydrometeorology (Glavgidromet)
72 K. Makhsumov St.
700052 Tashkent
Tel: (+998 71) 2 340632
Fax: (+998 71) 1334349
Email. / Mr. Oleg Tsaruk
Chairman,
Central Asia Coordinating Committee,
Member of the Global Coordinating Committee,
RIOD Focal Point,
International NGO Network to Combat Desertification
31-10, Yangizamon St., Tashkent 700105, Uzbekistan
Tel: 998-71 1913935/2234 Fax:998-71 1913935 E-mail:
PLANNED ACTIVITIES