GIZ provides technical support to state authorities and local communities in Kyrgyzstan to foster integrated approaches to sustainable land management. Reform of forest and pasture management practices is also the thematic focus of the SLU-CA programme in Kyrgyzstan.
Another key element of the programme, which is cross-sectoral in nature, is building the capacity of rural communities to adapt to the adverse effects of climate change, while simultaneously fostering reforms of planning processes and investment practices at all levels.
Emerging changes in national legislation, in particular the entry into force of the Budget Code in January 2017, have necessitated the development of a system of strategic planning of budgets of forest enterprises, focused on results. In order to solve this problem, Kyrgyzstan’s State Agency on Environment Protection and Forestry (SAEPF)* turned to SLU-CA with a proposal to provide expert support in preparing methods for the development of programme budgets of forest enterprises and training key employees of selected enterprises in this technique.
SAEPF has been piloting forestry sector reform since 2015, aimed at testing and subsequently adapting new decentralisation mechanisms and approaches to joint forest management. The first round of piloting occurred in 2015, initially based upon six pilot forest enterprises, then in 2017 with 20. Key tasks have included apportioning and introducing new approaches in the financial management of the forestry sector, and authorising pilot forest enterprises to rationally distribute budget funds earmarked for the financing of sustainable forest management and staff of forest enterprises.
*Abbreviations/Explanation:
SAEPF — Kyrgyzstan’s State Agency on Environment Protection and Forestry.