Project Activities
CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT
Our project aims to improve the advisory capacities of private and public service providers (e.g., agricultural extension services, industry associations) on environmentally sustainable resource use. With the help of trainings or peer to peer coaching, we advise across various sectors such as agriculture, aquaculture, forestry, eco-tourism, and livestock on different levels from individuals to entire organizations. In addition, our project develops innovative cross-sectoral consulting and information packages on sustainable resource use in the Aral Sea region.
As an example, we offer training programs to strengthen the skills of planning officers on the application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and the use of earth observation as well as other digital planning tools. The GIS training modules cover i.a. water management, land management, hydrology and forestry. For this our project closely works with the Reiner Lemoine Institute (RLI) to conduct module-based GIS training courses. As part of the GIS training, we have organized a GIS study tour to Germany for Uzbek and Kazakh partners for an advanced workshop at RLI, to participate in a conference on GIS, and to visit the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). The newly acquired skills and relationships with their peers allow our partners to have stronger collaborations and enhanced use of GIS in their daily work.
Furthermore, our project collaborates with the German Aerospace Center (DLR). Together we set up a GIS laboratory at the Agrarian University in Nukus as well as a geoportal solution for an enhanced results visualization and analysis. The DLR conducts satellite data processing of Landsat and Sentinel-2 optical imagery to derive different base products for further applications and planning activities. These products consist of several maps mirroring an up-to-date land cover situation as well as evolution of abandoned crop land, development of natural vegetation and bare soil in the regions around the Aral Sea and its dried seabed.
These maps were first used to support the selection of potential sites for Artemia cultivation and for the assessment of sites selected for different afforestation measures. The final maps will cover the entire area of our project and contribute to regional cross border activities.
IMPROVED VARIETY AND PRODUCTION PRACTICES TO GROW MUNGBEAN CROPS IN INNOVATIVE CROP ROTATIONS IN KHOREZM
ECO-ARAL in cooperation with the International Centre for agricultural research in the Dried Areas (ICARDA) selected ten farmers’ fields in Karakalpakstan and Khorezm region as piloting plots, to introduce crop diversification for increasing the economy and improvement of the soil quality in the Aral Sea region. The farmers are participating in the evaluation of innovative crop rotation plans to improve income and soil health compared to the traditional 2-year wheat-cotton rotation. On 12 September 2022, a field visit to the
SERIES OF TRAINING PROGRAMMES ON CAPACITY BUILDING OF WOMEN IN THE ARAL SEA REGION BY INVOLVING THEM IN INNOVATIVE AGRO-BUSINESS
Karakalpakstan Republic and Khorezm Region, Uzbekistan | ECO-ARAL in partnership with Association “Women of the Agricultural Sector” of Uzbekistan conducted a series of seminars for 310 trainees entitled “Capacity building of women in the Aral Sea region by involving them in agro-business and production of compost from waste” in Bozatov, Kungrad and Nukus districts of the Republic of Karakalpakstan between 28-30 July and in Urgench, Khanka and Gurlan districts of Khorezm region on 22-27, August 2022. Empowerment of women in
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Measures FOr ecologically oriented resource use
The ECO ARAL project implements measures for ecologically sustainable resource use in the Aral Sea region.
The Aral Sea region has been facing increasing challenges for decades with unusable soils and water shortages. Highly saline soils are no longer usable for conventional agriculture. Challenges that require new ideas. Our project provides innovative ideas and approaches to transform supposedly unusable natural resources into economic prospects.
For example, our project is introducing ecologically friendly Artemia cultivation in Uzbekistan. Where hardly anything else survives, Artemia also known as brine shrimp feels at home. Artemia is primarily used as feed in fish farming. Currently Artemia still persists in the remaining Aral Sea, where it is being collected for export. But the quantity and quality are continuously decreasing due to the decline of the Aral See and the ever-increasing salinity. It is only a matter of time before the current business model runs dry in the coming years.
Our ECO ARAL project showcases the transition to a new business model, by cultivating artemia in environmentally friendly constructed earth ponds. The saline soil and water, unusable for agriculture and humans, thus become an important resource in Artemia cultivation. Higher yields and improved quality should contribute to higher incomes and help Karakalpakstan position itself more strongly in the global Artemia market.
The project organized a study tour to Thailand with representatives from government and academia and have sent Uzbek professionals to Vietnam for an extensive training program on ecologically friendly pond construction and Artemia cultivation. We have contracted one of the leading Artemia specialists in the world to conduct multiple missions in Karakalpakstan which resulted in findings and reports crucial for developing a thriving Uzbek Artemia sector.
All findings are being compressed in an Artemia info-package to present service providers, beneficiaries and decision-makers a new and ecological way for constructing earth ponds and to cultivate Artemia in an environmentally friendly way.
Policy Advice
All our efforts, pilots and implemented measures translate in policy advice to our political partners in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
For example, in the forestry sector, our project has developed a series of maps (soil, vegetation, hydrogeology and climate) of the dried Aral seabed on the Kazakh side. Based on the maps we designed recommendations on the potential for afforestation measures. Decision makers can use the maps and recommendations to strategically plan afforestation and other measures (e.g., ecotourism routes, pasture restoration), which, in turn, may assist in combating desertification, land degradation, preserve biodiversity, and improve the livelihood of the people that live in these areas.
Our project has also supported a delegation visit of the Forestry Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the Kazakhstan part of the dried Aral Seabed. We organized a bilateral meeting to exchange experiences and determine the direction of further cooperation and collaboration between the two countries. During the visit the intergovernmental Roadmap on “Joint forestry cooperation activities: 2021-2022” was signed between the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Forestry and the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Together with other two GIZ projects, Integrative Land Use in Central Asia and Green Central Asia, our project is providing exchange visits and policy dialogues between staff of protected areas from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan. All three countries share protected areas among their borders. The exchange and dialogue strengthen the collaboration across borders to protect wildlife and biodiversity.
IWMI EXPERT MISSION ON WATER USE EFFICIENCY IN THE ARAL SEA REGION
ECO-ARAL project with the support of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) is carrying out a study on improving water use efficiency in the Aral Sea region.During November 21-24, 2021, IWMI experts visited Kazakhstan to further study the current situation of water resources management and use. Meetings were held with representatives of the Mangistau province administration (oblast Akimat), Zhaik-Caspian Basin Inspection of the Committee for Water Resources, Institute of Geography and Water Safety, Institute of Hydrogeology and Geo-Ecology named after U.M. Akhmedsafin, and the Institute of Water Resources Management. The experts were acquainted with the representatives of specialized organizations on
DEMAND AND POTENTIAL ANALYSIS OF ECOLOGICALLY ORIENTED BUSINESS MODELS IN THE SECTORS OF ECONOMY OF KAZAKHSTAN
ECO-ARAL project is conducting a study to analyze the potential of ecologically oriented business models across sectors for Kyzylorda and Mangystau provinces. A study will give an overview over the various economic sectors and existing business models as well as their current use of natural resources and ecological soundness.On October 14-15, this year, representatives of the project and the international company UNIQUE Forestry and Land Use visited Mangistau province to hold meetings with representatives of local executive authorities, financial institutions and businesses, to discuss innovative methods in crop and livestock production, which have high growth potential in the province and
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