Kyrgyzstan Aims to Restore 300,000 Hectares of Degraded Land by 2030

Central Asia, once renowned for its steppes and oases, is now grappling with severe land degradation, identified as a major global concern by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. The region has already lost over 80 million hectares of productive land, a vast area equivalent to four times the size of Kyrgyzstan, impacting the livelihoods of approximately 24 million people.

This environmental crisis translates into tangible economic hardship. Farmers face reduced crop yields, herders contend with diminishing pastures, and entire families risk losing their income, sometimes forcing them to abandon their homes. The annual economic losses stemming from this degradation are estimated to be between $2 and $6 billion across Central Asia.

Compounding these issues, the region is warming at roughly twice the global average, leading to a 30 percent shrinkage of glaciers over the past half-century. This climate change intensifies the pressure on already strained water resources and exacerbates the problem of sand and dust storms, which carry fertile topsoil, salt from the Aral Sea, and dust from degraded lands, traveling hundreds or thousands of kilometers.

In response, Kyrgyzstan has set an ambitious goal to restore 300,000 hectares of degraded land by 2030. This effort involves active participation from local communities in managing pastures, including setting grazing limits and reinvesting collected funds into infrastructure. Neighboring countries are also implementing their own restoration strategies, such as planting orchards on slopes in Tajikistan, cultivating saxaul on the Aral Sea bed in Uzbekistan, and developing carbon farming in Kazakhstan, showcasing a regional commitment to addressing land degradation.