UNDP in Turkmenistan held a workshop on the practical application of the Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) concept.

The seminar was organized within the framework of the project “Conservation and sustainable management of land resources and ecosystems of high natural importance in the Aral Sea basin”, implemented jointly with the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan.

The event aimed to develop the capacity of local specialists and share knowledge in the field of achieving land degradation neutrality for sustainable land management.

During the seminar, which was facilitated by international and local UNDP experts, the participants were introduced to the Concept of the new edition of the National Action Program to Combat Desertification (NAPCD) in Turkmenistan, as well as the Roadmap for taking into account the LDN concept in program documents, plans and development strategies at the national level.

Herman Kust, the project’s international expert, noted:

“The presented results of the Aral project, which focuses on developing scientific approaches to assess land degradation in Turkmenistan based on the new Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) methodology, are both relevant and timely. These approaches serve as the basis for the National Action Programme to Combat Desertification, including the development of key indicators and the setting of regional targets for natural resource management such as agriculture, pasture management, forestry and others. We are confident that cooperation with the UNDP project will strengthen the application of the LDN methodology and support the development of modern methods for selecting effective models and practices of sustainable land management in various sectors of the economy”.