The application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to improve efficient land management was discussed at an OSCE-supported online training course held from 2 to 4 December 2020.

The OSCE Centre in Ashgabat organized the three-day event in co-operation with the Scientific-Information Centre of the Inter-state Sustainable Development Commission of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (SIC ISDC IFAS).

Representativesof Turkmenistan’s Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection, the State Committee for Water Management, the Academy of Sciences and the National Institute of Deserts, Flora and Fauna, as well as specialists from SIC ISDC IFAS participated.

During the first training session, international experts from Israel covered land degradation processes and how to apply GIS technology to land management analysis.

The second training session addressed indicators and existing monitoring frameworks available with GIS-data integration as well as the existing systems of indicators and monitoring frameworks for analysing land degradation.

On the third day, international experts focused on the evaluation analysis of satellite data in line with trends in land cover, land productivity, carbon stock above and below ground, and the proportion of degraded land.

“This seminar, which wasorganized as a joint initiative, is expected to have great practical significance, because the fundamental concepts of remote sensing and GIS-related applicationswere presented and important discussions on improving evaluation methods necessary to addressing land degradation issueswere also facilitated,” said Natalya Drozd, Head of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat.