Experiences in Tajikistan
ILUMA is based on more than 10 years of practical experience in Central Asia. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH (German Federal Enterprise for International Cooperation) has piloted numerous land use approaches in Central Asia, together and alongside other organisations and institutions. In the past, different land use management approaches were implemented exclusively within the scope of specific land use types, such as forestry or pasture management. After some years of piloting and implementation, it became clear that a broader perspective needs to be applied to the whole landscape. This is when GIZ started to apply a landscape approach to its projects, according to which land use systems are examined via different dimensions related to the management of land resources. Such an approach also acknowledges the holistic nature and the interdependency of different elements for integrative land use management.
In this chapter we will present the experiences that serve as the bedrock of ILUMA, in particular those from our Regional Programme on “Sustainable and Climate Sensitive Land Use for Economic Development in Central Asia” commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and since 2008 implemented by GIZ and its partners, its predecessor programmes and partner projects. These experiences in forest and pasture management, agriculture and biodiversity, as well as wildlife management in Tajikistan, all served as showcases for how the dimensions of sustainable land management methods were best adapted to actual field activities. However, rather than talk about the experience on its own, we will discuss it in the context of the particular land use approach that it justifies and sustains. Thus, in what follows here, we will give an overview of each approach, subdivided into five sub-sections: a) what the land use practice is about. b) the key functions of each practice (themselves sub-organised into cornerstones; c) the experience in-itself; d) the experience reconstructed in a step-wise format; and e) guiding principles (themselves sub-organised according to their respective dimension). We also provide links to external, more detailed resources. In the last section, we will discuss methods and methodologies crucial for the application or replication of ILUMA within Tajikistan and beyond.