Climate Change Adaptation Programme and Action Plan for 2015-2017 for the Forest and Biodiversity Sector

The Climate Change Adaptation Programme and Action Plan for 2015-2017 for the Forest and Biodiversity sector were developed pursuant to Paragraph 7 of the Package of Measures to Ensure the Environmental Safety of the Kyrgyz Republic for 2011-2015 promising directions concerning the field of the environment, reflected in the Concept of National Security, and the main objectives of the state policy on environmental protection and ecological safety as defined in the National Strategy for Sustainable Development for 2013-2017, and in the activities within the Programme of Transition to Sustainable Development of the Kyrgyz Republic for 2013-2017, in the framework of the “Priority Directions for Adaptation to Climate Change in the Kyrgyz Republic until 2017 approved by the Government Decree No. 549 of 2 October 2013. The purpose of this Programme is to enhance and preserve the biological diversity of the Kyrgyz Republic and to increase the area covered by forests under a changing climate.
The overall objective of the adaptation projects and programmes is to support specific measures aimed at mitigating the adverse effects of climate change on the population of the country and sectors of the economy. The main adaptation activities include the following: • Improving the regulatory legal framework for climate change adaptation; • Improving the institutional framework and ensuring cross-sectoral integration in adapting to climate change; • Improving financial and economic mechanisms, including the mobilization of external funding for priority adaptation measures; • Improving information tools to provide process monitoring of climate change and climate risk assessment; • Involvement of civil society in the process of adaptation to climate change; • Building scientific capacity to adapt to climate change; • Organization and promotion of cross-border cooperation on adaptation to climate change.
The section Main Priorities for Adaptation to Climate Change, which covers the main vulnerable sectors and threats and risks to forest ecosystems and biodiversity, identified the following major tasks and policy measures in this sphere: Task 1. Conservation of Diversity of Flora and Fauna Species. Key measures: • Continuous monitoring of flora and fauna populations under climate change; • Increasing the efficiency of the protected areas system management; • Conserving and restoring wetlands as habitats of natural biodiversity of species and an essential component of the natural environment, which plays a crucial role in adapting to climate change; • Taking account of the recreational capacity of territories when planning tourism activities, etc.
Task 2. Increasing forest area. Key measures: • Promoting the principles of social afforestation and joint forest management; • Implementing forest management and reforestation measures, etc. Since these tasks were approved by the Government as priorities for the sector, they have become the industry adaptation priorities for the forest and biodiversity conservation system. The above measures are included in the Adaptation Action Plan of the Programme aimed at increasing the resilience of the sector to the impacts of climate change. Accordingly, this framework determines the existing barriers, programme goals, objectives and measures of the Adaptation Programme of the Forest and Biodiversity Sector