Session II. Sustainable Land Management in Central Asia and Carbon Benefits
February 22, 2024
Land degradation in Central Asia, especially manifested in various forms over the past decades, has deep natural and anthropogenic causes. In addition to background arid conditions, human agricultural activities negatively affect ecosystem components. The expected warming and increase in CO₂ levels due to outdated land use methods require urgent measures to preserve the environment and food security of Central Asian countries.
Sustainable land management and land use are considered the most important mechanisms for neutralizing degradation and regulating soil carbon stocks through a set of technologies, approaches, and activities.
This session will demonstrate modern developments and successful practices in the field of sustainable agricultural land management and achieving carbon balance. During the conference, experts and specialists will have the opportunity to discuss international and country experiences and expand the list of strategies to neutralize land degradation in the countries of Central Asia.
The policy briefs are available here.
Chair :
Mr. Rieks Bosch,
Climate Change Expert
Mr. Rieks Bosch is a wide scoped expert in the field of Integrated Natural resource Management with specialization into its relation climate change and economic development. After his study on the University for Applied Science ‘Van Hall Larenstein’ in The Netherlands, with 3 Bachelor degrees in Agriculture, Ecology and Environmental Management, he widened his scope in the direction of Business Administration, Information management, Water resource management, Forestry, Climate change assessment and adaptation, Disaster Risk Management, Financing, Remote Sensing and others. He has experience as team leader and expert, managing over 80 staff multi-country and multi-sectoral expert team, for a large range of international organisations, including, EU, WB, ADB, GIZ, KfW, AFD and others.
Chair :
Mr. Alexey Kobzev,
Kazakh-German University, Kazakhstan
Mr. Alexey Kobzev, Head of Green Energy and Climate Change Lab in Center for Natural Resources and Sustainability at the Kazakh-German University (DKU). He has more than 15 years of experience in projects of UNDP CO Uzbekistan, UNDP RBEC, UNESCO, UN ESCAP, etc. on developing concepts and strategies for environmental protection and sustainable development, as well as big data management. He gained experience in the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation while working in the program "Climate Change and Sustainable Energy". He also built up expertise in the creation and management of the Knowledge and Project Management Unit. DKU is working on the development of education in the field of Renewable Energy in Kazakhstan and the development of cooperation in this area in Central Asia. A new Master's degree "Strategic Management of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency" was developed and launched in 2021 The annual projects Renewable Energy Trip 2018-22 for students from Kazakhstani and Central Asian universities and young professionals etc. are implemented.
Session partners:
Main speakers
Dr. Olga Andreeva
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
Ms. Xiaoxia Jia
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
Mr. Nicholas Wall
DGB Group | Dutch Green Business, Netherlands
Olga Andreeva has a PhD in Soil Science, focused on desertification/ land degradation assessment. For more than 15 years worked as an Associate Professor at Moscow State University, giving courses inter alia on SLM, LDN, Agroecology and Global Environmental facilities etc. One of the authors of SLM training course, including modules on WOCAT database, Economics of land degradation and Ex-Ante Carbon-balance Tool (EX-ACT). UNCCD GM LDN Target Setting Programme country consultant for Russia. One of the founders of the Science and Technology Centre to Combat Desertification and Droughts in the Institute of Geography of Russian Academy of Sciences. Main scientific focus is the nexus of LDN and SLM concepts from the perspective of science and implementation. The author of more than 30 peer-reviewed scientific publications. Leading author of the Study on land degradation, migration, and climate change nexus in Central Asia (2023). Olga Andreeva has experience in collaboration with WOCAT (official trainer), FAO, FAO GSP, DLDD NEAN, G20 landrelated initiatives. Joined the Science, Technology, and Innovation Unit, UNCCD in the beginning of 2023.
Ms. Xiaoxia Jia currently works in UNCCD secretariat as the secretary of the Committee on Science and Technology (CST) and Programme Officer on Science Technology and Innovation supporting the Science-Policy Interface (SPI) assessment on land-drought nexus and drought resilience, as well as SPI cooperation relevant to climate change adaptation, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. She led a collaboration with China on knowledge development and sharing on land and renewable energy and the UNCCD contributions to IIASA assessment on Carbon Farming in Kazakhstan and Central Asia and provided knowledge support for south-south cooperation on big data service and capacity building to Pan-Africa Green Great Wall Initiatives. She took dual roles of science officer and regional coordinator for Asia from 2019-2021. Before she joined in UNCCD, she was a senior governmental officer of State Forestry Administration of China and National Focal Point to the UNCCD and worked in bilaterial and multilateral cooperations for 20 years including coordinating China Hosting UNCCD COP13. She received science education in China and Australia on dryland ecology and ecosystems restoration, and natural resources management.
Nicholas Wall studied Conservation Biology at University, and since then, he has worked around the world on projects related to not only ecology, but wider sustainable land management. Nicholas Wall, Head of New Projects at DGB Group, is responsible for developing carbon projects and ecosystem restoration. In the course of his activities, he seeks new projects and opportunities that are in line with the mission of the DGB Group. Nicholas works with businesses, landowners and governments to ensure working closely to ensure the success of these ventures. He oversees feasibility studies and ensures that every DGB Group project incorporates a holistic approach. DGB Group is not just about carbon, but is committed to contributing to community development, protecting biodiversity and meeting the most rigorous international standards.
Discussants
Dr. Axel Paulsch
Intergovernmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Germany
Mr. Vladimir Grebnev
Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC)
Dr. Axel Paulsch is a geo-ecologist by training. Since 2002 he is working for the German-based NGO "Institute for Biodiversity - Network (ibn)" that he also chairs since 2004 He works at the interface between science and environmental policy mainly with the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Intergovernmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). In the German-funded programme CLIENT II and its projects in Central Asia the ibn implements the sience-policy interface.
Vladimir Grebnev possesses a unique combination of higher education, with a background in technical, economic, and environmental fields, coupled with advanced training courses in climate change and green development from top universities. With over 20 years of experience working in prominent positions in the environmental protection, climate change, and green growth fields, he has successfully implemented various development projects with a specific emphasis on environmental protection, climate change adaptation, and green growth. Throughout his career, he has developed numerous project documents, national, sub-national, and sectoral strategies, and conducted analytical research and studies. Furthermore, he has served as a Team Leader or Project Coordinator for more than 10 assignments, leading multidisciplinary teams in developing government plans and strategic documents related to climate change mitigation and adaptation. His expertise in this area is widely recognised, and he has made significant contributions to developing and implementing climate change policies and strategies at both national and regional levels, such as the Central Asian Climate Change Adaptation Strategy.