OSCE Osh Field Office project spotlights damage to natural resources in southern Kyrgyzstan
(OSCE)Participants at a seminar on pastures and forests organized by the Osh Field Office of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek. (OSCE) Photo details
OSH, 27 July 2006 - A regional roundtable to focus the attention of key government officials and local leaders on the misuse of pastures and forests in southern Kyrgyzstan and to develop concrete mechanisms to respond to this growing problem, concluded in Osh yesterday.
The project was organized by the OSCE Osh Field Office of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek and the non-governmental organizations, Tashtar Ata, Bilek and Civil Society Support Centre, aimed at identifying the problems of pastures and forest use during 30 target community seminars in the three southern provinces of Kyrgyzstan.
"The seminars conducted in the remote communities of this region were very useful, and I am sure that they will have a visible impact and raise the awareness of the local population regarding the negative consequences of misusing natural resources," said Janybek Batyrov, the Head of the Osh Territorial Administration of the Agency for Environmental Protection, which co-operated closely on the project. "Without improving the people's understanding about the problem it is entirely impossible to change the situation."
The three NGOs presented the meeting with the results of awareness surveys taken among some 525 community residents and local leaders that were conducted over the last six months.
The Head of the OSCE Osh Field Office, Jerome Bouyjou, added: "Alongside improving the understanding and participation of the communities, it is important to recognize local concerns and realities. This project has succeeded in raising the awareness of the local population about the impacts of the overuse of natural resources and provided possible paths to improve community resource management."
A second project, conducted with the OSCE Office's support, focuses on cross-border areas in the South, to assess the increasingly critical situation there and strengthen political management of conflict over natural resources.
The project was organized by the OSCE Osh Field Office of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek and the non-governmental organizations, Tashtar Ata, Bilek and Civil Society Support Centre, aimed at identifying the problems of pastures and forest use during 30 target community seminars in the three southern provinces of Kyrgyzstan.
"The seminars conducted in the remote communities of this region were very useful, and I am sure that they will have a visible impact and raise the awareness of the local population regarding the negative consequences of misusing natural resources," said Janybek Batyrov, the Head of the Osh Territorial Administration of the Agency for Environmental Protection, which co-operated closely on the project. "Without improving the people's understanding about the problem it is entirely impossible to change the situation."
The three NGOs presented the meeting with the results of awareness surveys taken among some 525 community residents and local leaders that were conducted over the last six months.
The Head of the OSCE Osh Field Office, Jerome Bouyjou, added: "Alongside improving the understanding and participation of the communities, it is important to recognize local concerns and realities. This project has succeeded in raising the awareness of the local population about the impacts of the overuse of natural resources and provided possible paths to improve community resource management."
A second project, conducted with the OSCE Office's support, focuses on cross-border areas in the South, to assess the increasingly critical situation there and strengthen political management of conflict over natural resources.