В Кыргызстане будет разработана единая методика мониторинга и оценки пастбищ для жайыт комитетов

Kyrgyzstan will develop a unified methodology for monitoring and assessment of pastures for pasture committees

Full work on the preparation of a unified system for tracking and assessing the state of the country's pasture resources will start early next year. This decision was taken at the Coordination and Consultation Council (CC) of stakeholders in the field of sustainable management and effective use of pastures. It was attended by representatives of the Department of Pastures and Livestock Breeding of the MoA KR, the Research Institute of Livestock and Pastures, the State Research Institute of Land Management ("Kyrgyzgiprozem"), ARIS, the Central Asian Land Research Institute and other local and international organisations working in the field of natural resources. 

The meeting was organised by the CAMP Alatoo PF as part of an initiative to provide expert support to the Pasture and Livestock Department of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Kyrgyz Republic in developing the methodology, launched with the assistance of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH (German Society for International Cooperation). According to GIZ specialists from the regional programme on land use for climate change in Central Asia, the collection and analysis of data on pasture conditions "is one of the important aspects for Kyrgyzstan.  The need and relevance of a unified assessment system was stressed by Maksatbek Mamytbekov, deputy head of the Pasture and Livestock Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, who also announced plans to enshrine the methodology in a legal act to "reinforce its use by all pasture committees". Alia Ibraimova, head of CAMP Alatoo PF, recalled that in the background of several already existing methods of pasture monitoring and assessment, the question of creating a unified system was repeatedly raised. According to her, the new methodology should integrate key aspects of approaches developed by relevant organisations.

At the event a review of the methodologies for monitoring and assessment of rangeland conditions currently used in the country was presented. Their authors are specialists from such organisations as PF "CAMP Alatoo", ARIS, Kyrgyzgiprozem and others.  After the introductory presentations, the participants identified strengths and weaknesses as well as the main indicators of each methodology using the SWOT analysis tool. The results of the group discussion will be taken into account in the preparation of the concept and basis of the unified methodology. It is planned that the unified method will be based on the positive experience of the CAMP Alatoo PF following the "Participatory Assessment of Land Degradation and Sustainable Land Management in Rangeland Systems" project and involve different approaches from local community assessment of rangelands to satellite imagery analysis to improve and validate resource status data.

The development of a common methodology will be undertaken by an interdisciplinary working group, the preliminary composition of which was identified as a result of the SCS. Specialists from the Forestry Department and the Department of Forestry and Hunting of the MoAWM, the Ministry of Nature, Ecology and Technical Supervision of the KR, the PF "CAMP Alatoo", the National Association "Kyrgyz Jaiyty", ARIS, the Association of Forest Users and Land Users of Kyrgyzstan" and the National Academy of Sciences were proposed as candidates.  The final list of group members will be determined by mid-January 2023 and approved by order of the management of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Kyrgyz Republic.