Under a European Union–funded regional initiative focused on addressing climate and environmental risks in Central Asia, eight local civil society organizations were selected in August 2025 through a competitive call for proposals to support community-led actions. The initiative is implemented with technical assistance from the United Nations Environment Programme and aims to strengthen peace and socioeconomic stability in the region. Following the selection process, communities in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan held consultations between October and December 2025 to identify and prioritize 17 locally driven climate adaptation measures.
The selected measures focus on addressing environmental and socioeconomic challenges across the Ferghana Valley, a climate-vulnerable region experiencing increasing drought, heat, water scarcity, land degradation, and biodiversity loss. The area also faces growing risks from extreme weather events such as floods and dust storms. These environmental pressures are closely linked to socioeconomic challenges, including reduced agricultural productivity, limited job opportunities, competition over land and water resources, and rising migration pressures that affect family stability and community cohesion.
Most of the initiatives are centred on nature-based solutions that promote ecosystem restoration and sustainable natural resource management. Several measures focus on agroforestry, green infrastructure, and restoring degraded landscapes through actions such as establishing protective forest belts, eco-parks, nurseries, and landscape restoration. Other initiatives emphasize climate-resilient water management, including watershed restoration, rehabilitation of irrigation canals, development of community reservoirs with nature-based buffer zones, and water harvesting systems supported by participatory governance mechanisms.
Additional projects support climate-smart agriculture and nature-based livelihoods by promoting drought-resistant crops, restoring degraded farmland, supporting beekeeping for pollination, introducing vermicomposting, and encouraging climate-resilient greenhouse production. One initiative specifically targets the restoration of pastures and rangelands through vegetation recovery and ecosystem-based water retention approaches. All projects incorporate participatory decision-making and local governance structures to ensure transparent and fair management of natural resources.
These actions aim to strengthen climate resilience while reducing tensions related to the scarcity of land and water resources. By restoring ecosystems such as watersheds, canals, orchards, pastures, and forest belts, the initiatives are expected to improve soil moisture, reduce erosion, stabilize slopes, protect water quality, and enhance biodiversity. At the same time, they are designed to create employment opportunities, support initiatives led by women and youth, and encourage community cooperation through traditional collective work practices and dialogue on shared resources.
The project builds on a broader partnership established in 2017 between the European Union and the United Nations Environment Programme to strengthen the ability of countries to identify climate- and environment-related risks to peace and stability and develop nature-based solutions to address them. Currently in its second phase running from 2022 to 2027, the partnership operates across multiple regions, with a strong focus on the Ferghana Valley in Central Asia, where millions of people depend on irrigated agriculture and livestock and are increasingly affected by climate change and water scarcity. Implementation of the initiative is carried out by the Scientific Information Centre of the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination in coordination with EU delegations in the participating countries.
