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Macaulay Institute - Livestock managers, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan

09/03/05
The Macaulay Institute wish to identify potential partners to develop a project to conserve rangeland biodiversity while promoting improved livelihoods for livestock managers in the rangelands of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.

Contact
Carol Kerven - Pastoral Development and Livestock Marketing Consultant
The Macaulay Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen AB15 8QH
Tel: 01224 498200 or 01608674489
Fax: 01224 311556
Email: kerven_behnke@compuserve.com
Website: www.macaulay.ac.uk

More info

The rangelands comprise the great majority of land area in most of the Republics, and are subject to new threats of overgrazing and consequent degradation and desertification, as livestock managers have had to adapt to the collapse of the Soviet Union. The rangelands of the deserts and steppes are the traditional grazing areas of Central Asian pastoralists; these areas are also the source of mineral extraction by oil and gas companies. The challenge is to conserve the unique rangeland biodiversity while promoting improved livelihoods for pastoralists who are solely dependent on these ranges. Sustainable systems of livestock management are required. Lack of access to water for livestock is one of the crucial constraints we have identified. A partnership project could be designed to include local NGOs working in the rangelands, UK oil and gas companies, and development researchers.

This is an issue which the Macaulay Institute have been working on for about eight years, in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. It completed a DFID-funded research and policy project on this from 1997-2000. It then obtained a larger grant from the European Union to continue and deepen the work from 2000-2004. This latter project was "Desertification and regeneration: Impacts of market reforms on Central Asian rangelands", headed by Macaulay Institute. Its work has involved close collaboration with Kazakh and Turkmen government scientists and policy-makers as well as other EU country researchers.

Most of its work in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan has been research rather than development. However, it now feels that, though many research issues remain, it knows enough to be able to design some practical on-the-ground projects.