In 2009, Kyrgyzstan passed the Pastures Act, which was aimed to decentralize the management system. Within the framework of this law and concept, a local institution, the Pasture Committees (Jayit Committee), was created. Urmat Omurbekov, head of the Pasture Users Union (PUU) of Cholpon Ayil okmotu (local self-government administration) in Kochkor district, invited me in June to his office, where I also met his colleagues, the committee's accountant Aitbay Kapasov and inspector Tunuk Toktomushev. Urmat is incredibly knowledgeable about pastures; he can spend hours talking about his home region, his work and professionals in his field. Several years ago, PF Institute of Sustainable Development Strategy (ISDS) jointly with the National pasture users' Association of Kyrgyzstan “Kyrgyz Jayity” launched widescale activities for pastural committees in several regions of the country. Among them was the pasture committee headed by Urmat. But one thing at a time.

Urmat Omurbekov implemented a project with the support of ISDS "Natural Pastures and Ethnocultural Traditions" in the Kochkor district. Thanks to the project, Omurbekov was able to combine the experience of the older generation with the energy of the youth in the sphere of pasture management, to revive the ancient nomad tradition in remote pastures "Baisalduu koch” (Serene travel) and to restore over 9500 hectares of the communal pastures "Kyzart". Preservation of pastures based on traditional knowledge is a major focus of the ISDS’s Small Grant Programme “Jashtar Demilgesi: youth intiatives for sustainable future”which aims to revive and preserve traditional use of pastures, thus supporting local communities in development and restoration of biocultural diversity.

Pasture committees have been in place for 10 years and the experience of the Cholpon Pasture Committee proves the possibility of effective joint management of pastures between experts and local residents. Urmat introduced every employee by name - chairman Urmat Omurbekov, accountant Kapasov Aitbay, Inspector Toktomusev Tunuk, tax specialist Asyrankulova Ryskul. "Let me explain everything," Urmat said and opened his computer to start a presentation. Everything is as one would expect working in a committee: accounting, taxes, lists. While reviewing the data, we were constantly interrupted by people stopping by the office to ask or verify something regarding livestock inventory, or trying to coordinate decisions with Ayil Okmotu.  Urmat recounted the amount of taxes that must be collected for livestock - 15 soms per unit for a small type, 75 soms for a large one, 150 soms for yaks. All amounts are determined based on an analysis and in coordination with the pastoral users. 49,380 hectares of the Ayil Okmotu land is comprised of pastures. It is a large territory, where faming is the most prevalent occupation. 

The territory is made up of eight villages, 62 000 hectares in total, 3 500 of which are cultivated area and most of land are pastures. The famous salt speleological sanatorium Chon-Tuz is located on the territory of Ayil Okmotu and is operated by a private business, which pays taxes into the local budget and provides salt to farmers every year. The Ayil Okmotu’s budget is 11 million som, 48% of which come from state subsidies. The 52%, generated locally, go to the essential services, such as education and healthcare. "There have been a lot of challenges over the years" Urmat admitted. However, he remains optimistic.

"People here used to think that pastures were God's gift to us, nobody wanted to pay. But after we carried out an awareness-raising campaign and showed the actual difference, especially, when we started to attract investments, people realized the importance of what we are doing. The introduction of the livestock passport system has also accelerated engagement of villagers in the management of natural resources at the local level. We have attracted 14 million soms in investments, 1 200,000 soms of which came from the population. 

We have worked with ISDS for five years now. A lot has been done to convince local residents that we and our children need pastures, and that they themselves are the owners of these lands. Today, more than 70% of pastures are degrading due to improper land use. The increase in livestock, inadequate management of grazing farming have caused in recent decades the depletion of pastures, degradation of vegetation, reflected in the loss of valuable feed components from the grass stand and in their replacement with weeds. In turn, the irrational use of pastures led to significant change in soil cover and reduced fertility. Pastoralists are now faced with the fact that they are not capable to respond to the above challenges, as neither modern methods of managing pastures and resources nor traditional measures are used. The knowledge and practices of rational land management, which were held by nomads and our ancestors, have been lost. We conducted trainings, festivals, seminars, demonstrated practical experiments by allowing pastures to rest and saw the positive results firsthand. The last five-year project for improving pastures was started from 30 hectares of land. We showed people that pastures should be given rest, after that they trusted and supported us. By a decision of local Kenesh, 9570 hectares of communal pastures will be conserved for 3 years based on the traditional knowledge and practices, so that they can rest during the summer season.  This year, all pasture users will drive their livestock to remote summer pastures. Together with specialists from Kyrgyz Research Institute of Livestock Breeding and Pastures we conduct experiments on two demonstration plots. The results and achievements of the project were commended by Natalya Kilyazova, the head of the Institute’s department of pastures and fodder: “In a short time tangible results were achieved on rational pasture management, extensive advocacy work was conducted among pastoralists on the importance of treating pastures with care and on the implementation of forgotten traditional knowledge and practices in the planning of pasture management by local communities. Thanks to the comprehensive work done by the head of the pasture committee and his team, as well as partnership with various projects, the Cholpon PUU successfully practices the traditional method of conserving 9 000 hectares of degrading pastures having started from mere 30 hectares in 2015. The decision to create conservation area was made at the general meeting of pastoralists and later approved by the local Kenesh. It was noted in the reporting year, when examining the project's territory, that the pastures were in good condition, and new drought-resistant nutrient plants, such as the slender wheatgrass and the summer cypress, have started to grow. It indicates the high potential of these pastures, but their full recovery requires more time." 

We have also begun working with 4 pilot pasture committees in Kochkor district, where we replicate our success in involving the local community, pasture users, local self-government bodies in sustainable management and conservation of grazing resources through the integration of traditional and innovative knowledge and practices.

Thanks to his success in organizing the work of the pasture committee, Urmat Omurbekov began representing the country at various international events. He visited Italy and Brazil sharing his knowledge and learning from local experiences. In Italy, communities living in mountainous areas had trouble organizing and developing farming due to various natural, socio-economic and environmental conditions. Urmat spoke about integrating traditional knowledge and practices into the management of pastures as a way to adapt to climate change.

"The participation in the symposium made me realize that our local initiatives to prevent pasture degradation through traditional transhumance practices contribute to global initiatives aimed at strengthening resilience to climate change," said Urmat Omurbekov. "What was particularly gratifying to see was the similarity of views between farmers' and the desire to speak with clarity and truth. It's important in our business."

When it comes to infrastructure transformations, Urmat prefers to show, not tell. The community built bridges in hard-to-reach places near Chon Tuz and Son-Kul, special facilities to lay a water pipe to pastures, etc. We stopped first at a newly built veterinary clinic, where livestock is sheared and vaccinated, then at a forage base, where all the devices and necessary equipment are stored. 

"We hold a lot of cultural events with the villagers and separately with schoolchildren, where we talk about the importance of traditional knowledge and preservation of the environment. A community-built climate change adaptation center has been set up to inform local residents about climate change and advantages of using renewable energy, especially solar energy. Today almost 100% of local shepherds use solar energy during the period of migration. 

Every day we do a routine but important work. In early January, a livestock inventory is conducted, which includes a special commission and payment for every animal. All procedural aspects are coordinated with Ayil Okmotu. But the main focus of our activities is the pasture management and improvement, i.e. improvement of the infrastructure of remote pastures, livestock population, and soil fertility. We try to explain to people that keeping smaller livestock of high quality breeds can yield same profits while being less straining on the environment. We also help coordinate all issues regarding the forage base. Everything you see today is the result of many years of work. First, we approve annual and daily schedule, then a 5-year plan for pasture management. We regularly monitor pastures, looking for ways to improve and to build. We draw up the budget ourselves. The law is quite flexible; it gives us the opportunity, depending on the economic situation and the environmental conditions to regulate the pricing of services and manage activities aimed at pastures improvement. In spring we give a presentation and set prices at Kenesh. After approving the budget, we set a schedule for migration to the remote pastures in the summer. At this time visitors come in and we issue pasture tickets - the most important document when it comes to using pastures. "And that is how the process works," Urmat said. 

Together with Urmat and Tunuk, we went to the nearby pastures, where we met with those who have not yet left, drank Kymyz (fermented mare’s milk) and ate bread with kaimak (cream). We could hear the wind blowing behind the walls of the house, which was somehow built in this place. "I have lived here for many years, so I know well all the aspirations and joys of local farming", said Urmat, dipping bread in kaimak, the production of which he can also speak about in detail. Almost all of Urmat's relatives are in Bishkek, so he was conscious in his choice of living in a rural area, because he believes that the most precious thing for a Cholpon resident is pastures. "I don't want to leave the village. We have everything here, including health food. And we live in harmony with nature." 

Author: Tynymgul Eshiyeva