Juniper’s comeback in Nohur
Ashgabat, 13 December 2013 – During the
month of November, dozens of residents of
Nohur, a village in the mountains in the south-
west of Turkmenistan, have come together to
plant 1,250 juniper trees on 10 hectares
around the village to save the ecosystem of their
home. Soil erosion, water scarcity, degraded
vegetation are the challenges affecting their daily
lives. The juniper trees are seen to be one of the
main solutions to tackle these challenges. This
tree planting is a result of the cooperation and consultations of villagers with the joint UNDP and
the Ministry of Nature Protection project “Addressing climate change risks to farming system in
Turkmenistan at national and community levels”. The Project is funded by the Adaptation Fund,
a global funding mechanism to help developing countries become more resilient against the
negative effects of climate change.
Ms. Jacinta Barrins, UNDP Resident Representative, who joined the villagers in their last day of
planting said that “UNDP is very pleased to support the initiatives of the Government of
Turkmenistan designed to address national and local level development priorities and needs in
the area of environment protection, preserving local ecosystems, and improving lives of local
communities.”
Unfortunately, the natural juniper forests were cut down in the past for heating purposes. At the
time little thought was given to the serious consequences of this human activity. The adverse
effect did not take so long to show. Today, with the absence of juniper trees the runoff from the
neighboring hills has increased substantially. Traditionally the villagers collect run-off from the
mountain slopes and gorges in specially built reservoirs (howdans). In years with good rains the
howdans store sufficient water to irrigate the fields, but during the last 5-6 years the
howdans
have been left unfilled due to insufficient precipitation and deforestation. Because of water
shortages, the population had begun to give up agriculture and horticulture and has concentrated
exclusively on livestock breeding. The consequent overgrazing in turn results in further erosion
of the hill slopes.
However, with support from UNDP within the Sustainable Land Management project,
implemented in 2008-2010, the community began to improve their water harvesting and saving
techniques to assist the communities to ease and adapt to the increasing shortages of water, to
allow communities to revert to agriculture, make livestock management more sustainable and to
stop the increasing degradation of the slopes. The new Project helps advance these techniques
further. The investment plan developed under the Project envisages the construction of eight
dams with reservoirs, repair of two existing dams, construction of a new well, repair of an
existing drip irrigation system and construction of a new one during 2014 and 2015. All these
investments will ensure the future sustainability of the area ecosystem and resilience of local
community to the changing climate challenges.
In the current year, with the support of the Project, the community has focused on establishing
nurseries for growing seedlings of indigenous species. The Project provided fencing materials,
tools and equipment for nurseries. In addition, a series of short-term training courses were
delivered on the methods of seed harvesting, processing and planting. These activities are to
sustain the re-forestation efforts of local communities. Preservation of ecosystems and ensuring
the well-being of communities is one of the main priorities of Government of Turkmenistan.
Contact Information
Mr.
Ahmet Shadurdiev
Project Manager
E-mail:
ahmed.shadurdyev@undp.org
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