8. OTHER COUNTRIES IN THE REGION

8.1 Forest resources in West and Central Asia

In the following section, the focus of the paper is widened beyond the borders of Kyrgyzstan in an attempt to identify key issues and communalities regarding forests and poverty in other countries in West and Central Asia. On the whole, this region is very sparsely forested and its scarce forest resources are mostly linked to mountain ranges and rivers, the exception being shrublands occurring in arid areas. This is reflected in the area statistics for all countries of the region given in Table 6. It appears that Kyrgyzstan is reasonably typical of Central Asia in terms of availability of forest resources, with forest covers of all the Central Asian CIS countries ranging between three and eight percent of the land area and forest areas per capita between 0.1 and 0.9 ha/capita. Nearby Iran has a forest cover of the same scale. Countries with relatively high forest covers above ten percent of their land area and distinctly higher growing stocks than all the other countries are the Caucasian CIS republics and Turkey. The countries of the Arabian Peninsula form a distinct group as far as forest resources are concerned and are therefore not covered in this chapter. In all but one of these countries (United Arab Emirates) forest cover is below one percent of the land area and plantations, to a considerable part established for ornamental purposes, prevail in most of these countries.

In nearly all countries of West and Central Asia, forests are exclusively state owned, the exception being Cyprus with 42 percent of the forested area in private ownership in 1996. Very small areas (i.e. around one percent of the total forested area or less), are in private hands in Israel, Jordan, Syria and Turkey (Timber Section UN-ECE/FAO 2000; Pswarayi-Riddihough 2002). Ministries or agencies of the central government control forests. The organization of the forest sector in the former Soviet republics is still very similar to the one described for Kyrgyzstan in Section 5.

Table 6: Estimates of forest resources in West and Central Asian countries for the year 2000. The "land area" figure refers to the total area of a country, excluding areas under inland water bodies. Legend: n.s.: not significant, indicating a very small value; n.a.: not available.

* The remaining 70.8% of the forested area in Kazakhstan are categorised as mixed broadleaved and coniferous stands.

** These figures for Kyrgyzstan are not entirely consistent with the data given in section 5.1. Another, lower figure for the forested area, 797,000 ha (1995), is given in (Timber Section UN-ECE/FAO 2000, Table 1, p. 62). This illustrates the uncertainties of estimates of national forest resources from CIS countries, which are to be taken with caution, in particular in cases where, as in Kyrgyzstan, no data from a recently conducted national forest inventory are available.

Sources: ¹ (FAO 2000), ² (FAO 2001), ³ (Timber Section UN-ECE/FAO 2000)

8.2 Nature of forests

Despite the limited cover of forests and woodlands in West and Central Asian countries, there is a high diversity of different forest types (see Table 7), resulting from the high variation in growing conditions in the area with its mountain ranges, vast arid areas and limited water bodies. All forests types occurring in Kyrgyzstan can be found in other parts of Central Asia. Some of them, for instance juniper, pistachio or riverside forests, haven even a much broader range of distribution and are equally important in more distant countries of wider West and Central Asia. An important forest type occupying vast areas in arid lowlands, steps, semi-deserts and deserts of West and Central Asia are open woodlands formed by drought resistant, well-adapted woody species (predominantly saksaul (Haloxylon spp.), further species include tamarix (Tamarix spp.), salsola (Salsola spp.) and elaeagnus (Elaeagnus spp.) species). Other dominant woody species and groups of species come up further West in Iran and in the Caucasus, such as beech, oak, hornbeam and alder species (von Maydell 1978), indicating the transition to the woody flora of South-Eastern Europe. Further south in the Near East, oak, juniper, pine and cedar species prevail in the remaining natural forests (Pswarayi-Riddihough 2002, p. 45-53). Plantations, both with local as well as introduced species have been established in most of the countries of West and Central Asia, as indicated in Table 7.

Table 7: Important forest types occurring in West and Central Asia (Arabian Peninsula excluded) and their relative importance in sub regions.

Please note that this table gives only rough indications and does not claim to be complete, as only the most important types of forests in terms of occupied area are listed.
Legend: X: occurring, but on limited area; XX: covering substantial areas in the sub region; XXX: occupying a large part of the total forested area in the sub region.

Compiled using information from: (von Maydell 1978; 1983; Yachkaschi 1992; Pswarayi-Riddihough 2002)

8.3 Role and state of forests

Forests in West and Central Asia are important sources of fuel wood, on which the overwhelming majority of the population in rural areas within reach of forests still or again, in the case of the former Soviet republics, relies. They also provide valuable NTFPs, in particular pistachio, walnut, wild apples, berries, mushrooms, medicinal herbs and sometimes game (FAO 2000; Timber Section UN-ECE/FAO 2000, p. 355; Pswarayi-Riddihough 2002). Another key aspect of forest use in West and Central Asia is the significance of forested areas for grazing providing stable feed for large number of animals in generally arid regions, fodder collection, as bee-keeping ground and, sometimes, as land reserve for tillage. This emphasises the link between forest use and broader land use issues. Official figures given for harvested timber suggests that on the whole, commercial timber extraction is of limited significance in the region, with the exception of Turkey, Cyprus, the Caucasian CIS republics and Kazakhstan (FAO 2000). Most of the forests in the region are important in terms of protection against natural hazards (landslides, erosion) and desertification and because of their contribution to the regulation of the regional water household (Timber Section UN-ECE/FAO 2000; Pswarayi-Riddihough 2002). The high diversity of forest types, tree and shrub species points to the significance of West and Central Asian forests for the conservation of woody biodiversity and to the vital role of forest ecosystems as habitats for flora and fauna to be preserved. A particular feature of forests and woodlands in all parts of West and Central Asia, is the presence, in some forest types even dominance, of fruit bearing woody species, amongst which also species and relatives of species of eminent commercial interest worldwide, such as apple, pear, pistachio or walnut. The genetic diversity of their wild relatives growing in West and Central Asian forests is of global importance.

A decline in quantity and quality of forests and general environmental degradation of forest areas is reported to take place in all parts of West and Central Asia. Generally increasing pressure on natural resources and on forests in particular from a large and ever-increasing rural population, unsustainable harvest rates, especially of fuel wood, overexploitation over centuries, overgrazing, and long-lasting forest conversion to other land-uses are some of the main causes for this development and are sometimes compounded by inadequate management of the remaining natural forests by often weak, understaffed state institutions (Yachkaschi 1992; Ter-Gazarian et al. 1995; Le Houérou 2000; Pswarayi-Riddihough 2002; Tüzün and Sezer 2002).

The national Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper of Armenia lists two specific problems resulting from forest degradation and a decline in forest areas which affects poor people in particular: Firstly, decreasing availability of forest products, such as fruit and medicinal herbs for poor families, and secondly, increasing difficulty for women and old men to collect the necessary fuelwood for heating (Republic of Armenia 2003, p. 89)) often leading to a decrease in time available for other productive activities. These examples, which might be taken from nearly every region in West and Central Asia, illustrate which consequences forest degradation entails for poor people.

8.4 Forests, forest policy and poverty

The observation made for Kyrgyzstan that social issues in forestry and links between forest policy and poverty reduction are only beginning to emerge from ongoing discussions applies to all former Soviet republics and presumably also to some other countries in West and Central Asia. This is also reflected in the fact that hardly any literature on the poverty-forestry nexus in former Soviet republics, apart from policy documents published by international donors, could be found in a literature search, which was conducted using major agricultural, forestry and social-sciences databases as well as search engines on the internet and using keywords in Russian, English, French and German. One of the main reasons for that is, undoubtedly, the distinct focus of forest policies in former Soviet republics on forest conservation and the ecological role of forests. The inclusion of social and economic aspects (Ter-Gazarian et al. 1995) and, in a broader sense, the development of multipurpose forest management as a means to achieve sustainability is therefore seen as a major challenge for the ongoing redefinition of forest policies in these countries (World Bank 2000, p. 32; 2001a, p. 35).

An example from Georgia illustrates the current state of this shift from a conservation orientation to a more comprehensive forest policy incorporating social aspects of forest management. In a declaration of principles and objectives for the national forest policy, the Georgian Government committed itself to the elaboration of a long-term forest strategy and the introduction of a sustainable forest management system that would also "make a significant contribution to poverty eradication in rural areas". It also lists the participation of stakeholders, including local communities and individuals, in particular women, as a basic principle of its national forest policy. It seems however that these principles have only limited weight on a practical level, since the following "programme of actions" for the period of 2002-2010 does not contain any explicit reference to poverty reduction or to participatory approaches and no concrete measures in these fields are mentioned (Government of Georgia 2002).

Despite the fact that relatively little evidence is available from the literature, some points on poverty and forests in West and Central Asia in general and the role of forest resources for important dimensions of human well being, such as opportunity, security and empowerment, can be made from what has been said so far and the limited literature found.

The range of services that forests provide and of products that can be gained from forests and woodlands in West and Central Asia shows their potential for increased income opportunities, their significance for livelihood of the rural population in areas with forest resources and, hence, their relevance for poverty reduction. Two particular aspects of West and Central Asian forests and their use should be emphasised: firstly, the availability of a wide array of often easily marketable NTFPs, in particular nuts and fruit, in many of the occurring forest types, and secondly, the importance of forested areas for livestock production and other agricultural activities. For example, pistachio forests in Uzbekistan play a similar role in the livelihoods of poor rural families as a source of cash income as the walnut-fruit forests in Kyrgyzstan, in some cases providing more than 60 percent of the total annual income of local families (Chernova and Renkema 2003). Thus, the use of forest resources can contribute significantly to poverty reduction by providing additional benefits and income for rural people, provided that access rules are defined in a way which ensures that poor households benefit from forest use, and an effective management system ensuring sustainable resources use and preventing further environmental degradation is put in place. In this context, the question regarding an acceptable, fair and socially just balance of benefits for forest users, including local people, and the state arises, given that nearly all forest resources in West and Central Asia are state owned.

Improved forest production systems, in particular agroforestry and more specifically sylvopastoral systems, can contribute to improve livelihood security of the rural population. It is worth remembering that during the Soviet era the introduction of woody elements to improve the water household and the production of pastures has been promoted both in Central Asia as well as in the Caucasus (von Maydell 1978; 1983). Such measures, termed "phytoamelioration", were typically carried out on a large scale and involved the use of heavy machinery and are therefore currently out of reach. However, the ecological knowledge available could be used for small-scale measures with low technological inputs for the same purpose. A typical characteristic of the organization of the forest sector in CIS countries is also the availability of non-forested land, often pastures, in the State Forest Estate controlled by the State Forest Service. Thus, foresters can potentially play a key role in the development of improved integrated land use systems and of sylopastoral systems in particular.

As far as participation of the local population in forest management is concerned there is some variation among the countries in West and Central Asia. Efforts to promote devolution regarding forest management and introduce participatory approaches are reported from Iran (Abdollahpour 2000, cited in FAO 2000), Turkey (UNDP 2001) and Georgia (World Bank 2004), and there is an increasing number of ongoing and planned projects funded by international donors on sustainable management of natural resources involving local people (cf. examples listed in (World Bank 2000; 2001a)). The role of participatory approaches to forest management and gender issues were topics discussed on an open-ended expert meeting, attended by representatives of most of the West and Central Asian countries, on "Special Needs and Requirements of Developing Countries with Low Forest Cover and Unique Types of Forests" in October 1999 in Tehran (IRAN-UNEP-FAO Initiative 1999). However, (Pswarayi-Riddihough 2002, p. 49, p. 14-15) notes a certain reluctance among decision makers to implement participatory approaches to forest land management in the Middle East (and North Africa), despite an increasing recognition of the importance of participatory aspects and all the above mentioned efforts to promote them.

8.5 Forest resources in national poverty reduction strategies

This section draws mainly on the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) published by the Governments of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Tajikistan^[11] and the national report on sustainable development for Turkey prepared for the World Summit in Johannesburg in 2002 (Tüzün and Sezer 2002). At the time of writing, no national poverty reduction strategy paper was available on the IMF website for other countries covered in this chapter.

The poverty reduction strategy for Azerbaijan refers to international experience with collaborative forest management and its potential to improve sylvopastoral practices and forest management in the areas concerned (Republic of Azerbaijan 2003, p. 43). The focus of the planned measures is however on establishment of plantations. Reforestations project should be preceded by feasibility studies, as a means to ensure, amongst others, that such plantations do not limit further the access of local communities to land for grazing and cultivation (Republic of Azerbaijan 2003, p. 93).

The Armenian Government lists the maintenance and the increase of the country’s forest resources as an important measure on the way to achieve the millennium development goals (Republic of Armenia 2003, p. 38) and mentions the strengthening of the forest management system as component of the wider environmental policy contributing to poverty reduction. In the forest sector, special importance should be paid to modern inventory methods and control mechanisms (Republic of Armenia 2003, p. 90). Investments into heating systems should be increased as a means to ease pressure on forest resources for fuel (Republic of Armenia 2003, p. 95).

In the Georgian national poverty reduction strategy much emphasis is given to the establishment of a clearly defined ownership system and rights of resource use as a precondition for efficient use of natural resources (Government of Georgia 2003, p. 39). Reforestation and the planting of nut bearing species in particular figure in the list of planned activities for the period from 2003 until 2005 (Government of Georgia 2003, p. 91). Phased privatization of forests is planned, but no details are given regarding the extent of privatization and the nature of forests that are to be privatized (Government of Georgia 2003, p. 40). In an earlier, intermediary version of the PRSP it was said that step-by-step about 10 percent of the total forest area should be privatised (Government of Georgia 2000, p. 45). A participatory element is introduced in the field of environment protection by action plans for differentiated environment protection on a local level, which should be developed in a public process involving all stakeholders and should allow the sustainable management of local resources (Government of Georgia 2003, p. 53).

The Government of Tajikistan stresses the importance of efficient use of and fair access to land and natural resources, but does not explicitly refer to tree or forest resources in its strategy (Government of the Republic of Tajikistan 2002, p. 41).

In Turkey, the policy proposals made to ensure sustainable forest management, seen as a means for poverty reduction, include, among others, the provision of loans and grants to promote rural development in forest villages. Introducing fishing, bee keeping or promoting tourism should extend the range of sources of income. Another proposal is the development of alternative approaches to problems with livestock rearing in forested areas, such as controlled grazing in degraded forests (Tüzün and Sezer 2002). It is expected that in this way opportunities for villagers can be broadened and their livelihood security can be improved.

8.6 Concluding remarks on the West and Central Asia Region

The remaining forest resources in West and Central Asia can undoubtedly play an important role in poverty reduction in the region and efforts are being made to strengthen this link. The emerging picture is one of an ongoing process of redefining forest policies in CIS countries as well as in other countries of West and Central Asia in which poverty and related issues are being considered by the decision makers, albeit in a rather cautious stepwise way, and are slowly gaining weight. However, it seems that a lot remains to be done to break down policy declarations emphasising the link between forests and poverty to a practical, operational level. In fact, the main focus of forestry measures listed in national poverty reduction strategies is on ensuring the running of the forest sector and establishing plantations, which is undoubtedly relevant for poverty reduction, but in itself not a guarantee that rural poor will obtain benefits from forest resources.

It seems also that international organizations and donors promoting the role of forest resources for poverty reduction are the dominant driving force in many cases. This points to potential risks on both sides: the risk that, on the one hand, political declarations made in favour of an stronger inclusion of poverty and other social issues in forest policy are nothing more than paying lip service to the agenda of the international donor community; and, on the other hand, the danger of pushing policies which are mainly based on Western values not necessarily compatible with the values rooted in local cultures. Carter et al. (2003) point out that a real dilemma for the CFM Project in Kyrgyzstan was the dilemma "between sticking to principles (such as promoting genuine local participation and equity) and building local, Kyrgyz ownership of the CFM concept".