DUSHANBE, October 4, 2012, Asia-Plus — A three-day Forum on Sustainable Development of Central Asian Mountain Regions kicked off in Dushanbe today.
In order to institutionalize regional multi-level dialogue, the first Central Asian Mountain Partnership (CAMP) Forum was held in 2002 in Bishkek. Since then, the event has been repeated annually rotating among Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan. The experience gained during these years proved that the CAMP Forums under financial support of Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety of Germany effectively act as a regional multilevel platform for dialogue, mutual respect, and trust – qualities that are necessary when it comes to making decisions that meet the needs and interests of all concerned actors.
The main theme of the Annual Conferences changes each year and the venue rotates annually between the three involved countries.
The theme of this year’s conference is “Sustainable Land Management – up-scaling benefits for rural communities.”
Sustainable land management (SLM) is the use of land resources, including soils, water, animals and plants, for the production of goods to meet changing human needs, while simultaneously ensuring the long-term productive potential of these resources and ensuring their environmental functions. Currently, there are a large number of projects and programs active in the agricultural and forest sector addressing aspects of climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, biodiversity conservation, food security and poverty alleviation.
The Forum 2012 is expected to facilitate exchanging of experiences of actors working at different levels, from the local to the national, and the global level. Well moderated sessions guiding discussions on lessons learnt from SLM initiatives conducted in Central Asia will help to identify what SLM approaches and technologies should be promoted, how women can best benefit from such efforts and how SLM knowledge in the region can be shared and disseminated to land users, experts and decision makers. Researchers will present results of scientific studies and their relevance to SLM in mountains.
As a regional event, the Central Asian Mountain Partnership (CAMP) Forum 2012 has reportedly attracted participants from different Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan). The audience includes representatives from all levels of government, international and national development organizations, academic institutions, village communities, mass media.
The major implementing organization is CAMP Kuhiston, which has wide experience in organizing such events. However, in order to ensure a wide ownership, an Organizing Committee was established, including Ministry of Agriculture, Committee of Environment under the government of RT, Committee of Woman and Family Affairs of the RT, GAA, Oxfam in Tajikistan, University of Central Asia, CDE/NCCR North-South, SDC, UNFAO, UNDP, CARITAS, Mountain Partnership.
CAMP Forum is organizing this big event under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture of Tajikistan.
During the sessions of the Forum an integrated approach to planning and management of land resources will be discussed.
