Outlook on Climate Change Adaptation in the South Caucasus Mountains

Better management of pastures and forests in Armenia CASE STUDY

forest management and land use, and poor agricultural practices accompanied by a hotter and drier climate are also resulting in the depletion of carbon sinks and storage. In response, the Government of Armenia adopted the decree “On approval of land monitoring procedure” 15 which requires state monitoring procedures to define the organic carbon content of 15 important indicators of soil and soil-layer protection. The Clima East Pilot Project entitled “Sustainable management of pastures and forest in Armenia to demonstrate climate change mitigation and adaptation benefits and dividends for local communities” supported by the European Union and UNDP is one of the tools to support the implementation and enforcement of the decree. The project aims to demonstrate sustainable natural resource management in degraded mountain pastures and forests of Armenia. In addition it aims to increase the capacity of ecosystems to sequester carbon under a changing climate while at the same time retaining biodiversity and economic values. The project will introduce a pasture management system, including rehabilitation of 2,000 ha of meadows and forest belts (60 ha), in the selected region. The project will help prevent further deterioration of natural resources (biodiversity, land, water, forest), promote better understanding of the impacts of climate change, and the potential for adaptive management, including the enhancement of local capacity for sustaining livelihoods in the face of climate change. A replication strategy will support the extension of the project experience and best practices to other regions of the country. The project implementation period is 2013–2016. To date, it has led to the creation of conceptual designs for

Pastural landscape, Armenia

The current status of natural rangelands (pastures and meadows), which cover approximately 1,244 thousand ha of the country, is extremely unsatisfactory. Almost half of the pastures are exposed to degradation, and their biological productivity has decreased 1.5–2 times since the 1950s (UNDP 2013b). Forest-covered land is also increasingly scarce, now accounting for only 350 thousand ha (MoNP 2015). The continued degradation of forests has led to a reduction in the integrity and resilience of forest ecosystems. The declines in these ecosystems are due to both anthropogenic and natural causes. Unsustainable

The mountain, forest, and rangeland ecosystems are an important asset for the population of Armenia. 50 per cent of this population lives in rural communities and so are particularly dependent upon the ecosystem goods and services they provide. However, the high level of rural poverty, poor economic conditions, and a decline in infrastructure, along with weak institutional and management capacities in governing structures has resulted in many negative impacts on these vital ecosystems. These include the loss of vulnerable habitats and species, reduction of ecological functions, and the growing threats to ecosystem services, as well as a decrease in carbon storage in the soil and vegetation.

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