National Action Plan to combat desertification in the Kyrgyz Republic.

National Action Plan to combat desertification in the Kyrgyz Republic is a nationwide multi-sectoral policy document. According to United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) definition, approximately 90 percent of agricultural land of Kyrgyzstan can be included in the category that can be defined as prone to desertification. Of the 10.6 million hectares of agricultural land, most of which was used as pastures for 11 million cattle, about 30 percent of this land is in the stage of desertification, 27 percent in the middle stage and 17percent in the early stage. Many inhabitants of the country live not only on unfavorable for land reclamation and degraded land, but also in the zones of ecological disaster. The main goal of the National Action Plan is to improve the quality of life of the people today and in the distant future.
At the first National forum on desertification problems the following priority directions of further actions were determined: (a) informing the population about desertification processes, possible consequences, education on practical methods and technologies of land and water resources uses to prevent desertification; (b) institutional measures to strengthen the management system, contributing to the development of local initiatives and employment the population; (c) improvement of the amelioratively unfavorable land, prevention of waterlogging, salinization, water and wind erosion, in order to increase productivity of irrigated land for rural economic growth and overcoming poverty; (d) restoration of pasture potential and development of transhumance; (e) increasing forest cover to consolidate slopes and light soils; (f) increasing water availability in runoff formation zones, solving the problem of fuel and building materials; (g) development of tourism; and (h) monitoring of desertification, creation and support of sustainable process for combating desertification.