HOW OUR MEMBERS ARE CONTRIBUTING TO CHANGE

The establishment of the National Engagement Strategy (NES) platform in Kyrgyzstan is a success in itself, given the way it has connected its members to strengthen their voices. The strategy has had a big impact in building the capacity of members and their mutual trust to collaborate towards a common goal: effective natural resource governance.

The activities carried out by the National Engagement Strategy in Kyrgyzstan triggered discussions at two round tables on natural resource. Participants from government agencies, civil societies and international projects decided to initiate a Forest Users Law (Act). Participants defined a strategy to support agro-forestry as well as a potential development law on forest use. This plan was submitted to the Minister of Agriculture and Director of State agency for Environmental Protection and Forestry in Kyrgyzstan.

The National Engagement Strategy in Kyrgyzstan is playing a major role in increasing the participation of local people in discussions on environmental management and enhancing their awareness on rights and obligations related to NRM. Villagers of Kalba, for example, have changed their attitude towards the significance of natural resources of the area and the importance of their conservation and transfer to the next generation. This has resulted in greater awareness of the importance of biodiversity for the well being of their community.

Land Rights in Kyrgyzstan

Major land governance problems in Kyrgyzstan:

The land governance system in Kyrgyzstan underwent drastic changes after the collapse of the Soviet union. Kyrgyzstan had no private ownership of land, while the ethnic Kyrgyz had a culture of nomadic herding. In this context, in 1991 the Kyrgyz government adopted a package of laws regulating land relations, defining the legal, organizational and economic aspects of the formation and functioning of the agricultural enterprises of different ownership, such as collective and state farms.

While the land reform has ensured full ownership of land for farmers, it has also caused a strong fragmentation of agricultural land and the dominance of small-scale peasants. There are cases of obtaining a land share of up to 3 acres of land per family, thus limiting farming households to increase income derived from on and off farm employment.

In this respect, Kyrgyzstan faces new challenges:

• developing and implementing state and regional programs to consolidate small land plots
• developing legal and economic ways to protect against unjustified reduction of valuable agricultural land and use for non-agricultural purposes
• fighting against land degradation and desertification.