Kyrgyzstan has launched a new project to strengthen ecosystem resilience and develop the capacity of local communities.

The project " Improving the Management of the Chychkan Gorge in Kyrgyzstan" was launched in Kyrgyzstan with the support of the Critical Ecosystems Partnership Fund (CEPF). The aim of the project is to encourage local people to participate in decision-making processes and in aspects of development policy. The project is being implemented in the Toktogul district of the Djalal-Abad region of the Kyrgyz Republic.  The pilot area is the Chychkan Gorge.

On 22-24 March 2022, the project kick-off workshop was held in Toktogul. Representatives of Toktogul district state administration, Jany-Jol local self-government, Toktogul forestry, the business community and municipal enterprises, pasture users, forest users and beekeepers took part in the workshop.  The event was organised by project initiators and implementers PF Rural Development Fund and the Country Office of the Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC) in Kyrgyzstan with the participation of representatives of the State Forest Service of the Kyrgyz Republic.

The aims and objectives of the project, the planned project activities and indicators were presented during the workshop. In the second part of the workshop there were conducted focus group discussions and group work on identifying stakeholders and issues related to the ecological condition of the Chychkan gorge.