Drylands Management GEF Project

closed

The development objective of the Drylands Management Project for Kazakhstan is to demonstrate and promote sustainable land uses in the marginal dryland ecosystem of a pilot area in the Shetsky rayon (a district in the southern part of the Karaganda oblast - province). The project is a pilot activity that will test the environmental, social and economic viability of shifting from the current unsustainable cereal-based production system to the traditional livestock-based production system. In support of this objective, there are four main project components. The project--with active participation of local communities--will assist the Government of Kazakhstan to: (i) develop sustainable land use systems; (ii) provide initial service support to producer groups; (iii) improve national capacity to quantify carbon sequestration; and (iv) undertake a broad public awareness campaign and develop a strategy so that project interventions could be replicated in similar areas of Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries. By promoting sustainable land use practices, the project emphasizes an integrated ecosystem management approach to achieving ecological, economic and social goals that are expected to yield benefits at a local, regional and global level.