Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) signed a Protocol of Intent during the High-Level Plenary Meeting “Nature knows no boundaries: working together for migratory species and sustainable development in Central Asia,” which was held on 11 February 2024 in Samarkand as part of the 14th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP 14). 

The document was signed by the Special Representative of the Director General of FAO, Daniel Gustafson, the Minister of Ecology, Environment and Climate Change, Aziz Abdukhakimov, and the Director General of IUCN, Gretel Aguilar.

The parties agreed to continue cooperation and accelerate the preparation of a subsequent Agreement to join efforts in the implementation of a subsidiary project of the Global Programs to assess the impact of food systems on land use and restoration (FOLUR) in Uzbekistan. 

Implemented with support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the FAO project “Programme for Assessing the Impact of Food Systems on Land Use and Restoration in Uzbekistan” aims to scale up the implementation of efficient land management technologies and conservation approaches in wheat-dominated production landscapes, as well as to create environmentally friendly value chains to realize the transition from ecosystem degradation to sustainable management. The project is being implemented in Karakalpakstan, Kashkadarya and Khorezm regions of Uzbekistan.

To achieve project outcomes, IUCN will analyze current land use practices, restoration potential and public-private partnership options among producers in priority areas, applying the Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology, the IUCN Global Nature-Based Solutions Standard and the Green List of Nature Reserves, Protected Areas and National Parks. 

Based on the assessment, IUCN will develop solutions for landscape restoration and sustainable land management in target regions, which will be tested, documented and demonstrated in the second year of the project.