4 May 2013: During a recent visit to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, the Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, Luc Gnacadja, and representatives from these countries discussed the need for a regional study on the economics of land degradation.

Gnacadja was in the region from 29 April-4 May 2013. In a meeting with the President of Turkmenistan, Kurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, the two discussed support for a regional Economics of Land Degradation (ELD) process, as well as a preliminary roadmap of actions at national and regional levels. Gnacadja also met with the Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan, Gulomjon Ibragimov, who indicated support for a stand-alone sustainable development goal (SDG) on land, and said his country plans to develop a National Drought Management Policy as part of its UNCCD National Action Programme (NAP). The Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of Kazakhstan, Nurlan Kaparrov, indicated that sustainable land management will be a major pillar of the Green Bridge initiative. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced this initiative at the UN Conference for Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) in June 2012.

The five Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan) participate in a regional, 10-year, multi-donor partnership programme to address land degradation and desertification called the ‘Central Asian Countries Initiative on Land Management (CACILM).’ [UNCCD Press Release][Land Policy & Practice Post on Launch of ELD Initiative]