19:03, 03 мая 2023, Bishkek - 24.kg news agency , Elena KHOKHLOVA
FRIENDS project team conducted successful mission in Kyrgyzstan. The mission aimed to assess the current situation of the project in Kyrgyzstan and contribute to upcoming planning and activities. FAO Representation Office in the Kyrgyz Republic reported.
Since April 2022, FAO has been actively implementing a project «Forest Restoration Improvement for Environmental Development and Sustainability in Central Asia» (FRIENDS). The project is aimed to develop national capacities to restore large-scale forest and other wooded lands and to enhance know-how to prevent degradation.
FRIENDS project is being implemented in the beneficiary countries of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, under the umbrella of the FAO-Türkiye Forestry Partnership Programme (FTFP).
As part of project backstopping activities, Project Manager Adem Bilgin and FAO Forestry Officer Peter Pechacek organized a mission to Kyrgyzstan in 2–5 April 2023, to prepare capacity-building activities and explore pilot applications for ecological restoration in Central Asia.
A meeting with the National Project Coordinator (NPC) of the FRIENDS project in Kyrgyzstan enabled them to share important information on capacity building and provide a status update on the project. During the meeting, the NPC also suggested an alternative area for the potential restoration of degraded walnut in Jalal-Abad.
Following an official recommendation of the Kyrgyzstan authorities, Bilgin and Pechacek also visited and inspected potential pilot sites in Zhaiyl district of Chui region as well as Ak-Beshim nursery to assess the needs for capacity-building activities.
The FAO representatives both confirmed that the mission had been fruitful, providing opportunities to assess the current situation of the FRIENDS project in Kyrgyzstan and contributing to upcoming planning and activities.
The objectives of the FAO-Türkiye Partnership Programmes are to provide support to ensure food security, rural poverty reduction and sustainable forest management; to combat desertification; and to preserve ecosystems in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Türkiye, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, and other countries of mutual interest.