Land Degradation Neutrality: combat desertification

On July 28, Kyrgyzstan held the fifth session of the interdepartmental expert group on implementation of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.

The session is organized by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Industry and Melioration of the Kyrgyz Republic under support of UNPD-GEF Project “Strengthening of institutional and legal capacities to enable improvement of the national monitoring system and management of environmental information”.

The topic of the discussion was to increase the effectiveness of Kyrgyzstan's participation in the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in the Kyrgyz Republic, namely the formulation and implementation of national voluntary goals for a neutral balance of land degradation using the UNCCD indicator framework.

The State Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Industry and Melioration KR, Tashbolotov M.T., underlined the importance and timeliness of the work in this area for the country.

Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) targets were discussed based on the methodological note to set national voluntary LDN targets using the UNCCD indicator framework. The note was developed by UNCCD Secretariat and adopted in June 2017.

The interdepartmental expert group discussion was mainly focused on adaptation of the international mechanisms to the country’s conditions in order to raise its efficiency in fight against desertification and land degradation. 

Participants of the expert group discussed implementation of the initiative on LDN targets. They got acquainted with the UNCCD indicators that include land cover, land productivity, carbon stocks. These indicators and their associated metrics serve to report on progress in implementation of UNCCD and to monitor, evaluate and communicate progress towards achieving LDN targets. According to Regional Expert for Central and Eastern Europe, Land Degradation Neutrality Target Setting, Andrei Pinihin, these indicators are a kind of baseline that will serve as a basis for the country to develop national voluntary goals to achieve neutral land degradation zone. These goals will be enshrined in strategic and normative legal acts.

Implementation of UNCCD and LDN targets further the Sustainable Development Goal 15.3 – to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss. Besides, it helps in achieving the goal 15.3 – by 2030, to combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, and strive to achieve a land-degradation-neutral world (UNCCD, 2015).

The interdepartmental expert group comprises representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Industry and Melioration KR (MAFIM), Department of Pastures under MAFIM, Water Management and Melioration Department under MAFIM, the Ministry of Economy KR, the Ministry of Education and Science KR, the State Agency for Environment Protection and Forestry, the National Statistic Committee KR, Hydrometeorology Agency under MES KR, the Department of Cadastre andRegistration of Rightsto Immovable Property under the State Registry Service KR, Kyrgyzstan Scientific Institute of Irrigation, Association of Pastures Users, Union of Water Users Association and the Centre of Education, Consultations and Innovations.