For Kyrgyzstan, a landlocked country in Central Asia, land is an essential part of its national economy. Yet due to overgrazing and unsustainable land management, its pasturelands have been degraded at a cost of some $600 million, or 16% of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In an effort to reverse this trend, the government has committed itself to a set of land degradation neutrality targets, and made green agriculture one of the key priorities of its National Green Economy Programme.
To meet these targets, a pilot project was designed to help decision-makers assess the condition of pastures and the benefits of restoration initiatives, with the goal of eventually integrating the true value of land assets into the national accounting system. With support from the Green Growth Knowledge Partnership (GGKP) and the Economics Land Degradation (ELD) Initiative, the project used a range of scientific methods and tools – such as natural capital accounting, remote sensing and cost-benefit analysis – to better understand the current state and economic potential of land assets for a green economy as well as achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“Natural capital is essential for Kyrgyzstan to achieve the SDGs. This is why the project is so relevant for our country,” said Akmyrzaev Kubanychbek Urmatbekovich, Deputy Chairman of the country’s National Statistical Committee.
Preliminary results from the project were presented to stakeholders and experts at Green Economy Week 2019, which was held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on 11-17 November 2019. Even though the project has been affected by COVID-19, the project team – consisting of experts from government, development partners, academic and science associations – was able to present the project outcomes, lessons learned from the pilot testing and their policy implications to national stakeholders at a virtual workshop on 23 November 2020.
The project has four components: national level physical land asset accounts (land cover and land-use asset accounts); land and soil data platforms; the use of remote sensing to estimate the level of pastureland degradation in the Suusamyr Valley; and a cost-benefit analysis of pastureland restoration policy scenarios. These components have contributed to demonstrating how a natural capital approach and other scientific assessments could be useful for stakeholders in adopting sustainable land use and management practices to achieve green growth.
The pilot land accounts experience demonstrated the country’s capacity in developing such physical land accounts and it also concluded that geospatial data needs to be regularly collected in order to utilize these accounts; lack of data was the key challenge in developing monetary land accounts. The second component responded to this challenge by establishing two data platforms: a geographical data platform, or geoportal, for the land accounts information system; and a national soil information system, which tested soil resource account in two rural district plots. These online platforms help consolidate different types and formats of land and soil data and facilitate a nation-wide transition to digitization and digital data management of lands. This will eventually help Kyrgyzstan meet its international commitments under the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and SDG 15, especially on target 15.3 on land degradation neutrality and target 15.9 on integration of nature’s value.
The third and fourth components addressed pastureland restoration at the local scale – the Suusamyr Valley. Pastures are the most significant land resource in the country, covering more than 46% of its territory. The remote sensing work showed that the invasion of non-edible weed species marked higher vegetation presence in the pastureland in the valley, while local communities perceive their pasturelands as being degraded. This was reconfirmed by a cost-benefit analysis on three different pasture management policy scenarios. The more investments on weed removal in the optimal pasture management scenario forecasted higher benefits in the longer term. The results also showed a significant economic value of ecosystem services generated from pastures such as carbon sequestration.
Harmonizing scientific methods and a participatory approach across the board could help address the root causes of land degradation, and this could suggest appropriate policy options which could promote inclusive and green growth. These assessments also implied that the estimates generated from such an approach could contribute to the country’s voluntary target of land degradation neutrality and also feed into further development of land accounts in the country.
“Land is an asset and part of our national wealth,” stressed Nazira Kerimalieva, Head of the Sustainable Development and Environment Statistics Department, at the National Statistical Committee of the Kyrgyz Republic.
A roadmap for developing a holistic set of land account needs to be established given the significant contribution of land to national economic growth, while more consistent knowledge management through established digital databases is essential. Stakeholders who joined the virtual workshop also agreed to recommendations made by the project team. This includes capacity building in key ministries and agencies, and resource mobilization and advocacy for a stronger interest on the land accounts. Adopting these recommendations are crucial for Kyrgyzstan to implement its green economy programme, as well as its commitment to land degradation neutrality, climate change, biodiversity conservation and the SDGs.
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About the GGKP Natural Capital Expert Group
The GGKP Expert Group on Natural Capital explores state-of-the-art methods, models, data and tools to achieve its three goals of pushing forward the knowledge frontier around natural capital and green growth; mainstreaming natural capital in global green growth activities; and supporting stronger implementation of natural capital commitments in national economic plans. The group is comprised of 26 experts from across GGKP’s partner institutions, each with at least 10 years of experience working with natural capital. For more information, see About the Natural Capital Working Group.
About the Economics of Land Degradation (ELD) Initiative
The Economics of Land Degradation (ELD) Initiative aims to transform global understanding of the economic value of productive land based on both market and non-market values, and to improve stakeholder awareness for socioeconomic arguments to improve sustainable land management, prevent the loss of natural capital, preserve ecosystem services, combat climate change, and address food, energy, and water security.