CACILM II: WOCAT Knowledge Platform

Integrated Natural Resources Management for Resilient Landscapes in Central Asia and Turkey (CACILM II) Project

The CACILM II project is dedicated to scaling up Integrated Natural Resources Management practices in drought-prone and salt-affected agricultural landscapes across Central Asia and Turkey.

By promoting sustainable management techniques, the project aims to reduce environmental pressures, mitigate risks, and enhance the adaptive capacity of rural communities facing drought and salinity challenges. Through integrated landscape management, CACILM II is set to stabilize and reverse soil salinization trends, reduce erosion, improve water capture and retention, boost carbon sequestration, and preserve agrobiodiversity - thereby curbing desertification.

Additionally, the project will showcase best practices in sustainable land management and facilitate knowledge exchange among local stakeholders and the global WOCAT network of experts, practitioners, and decision makers.

The mission of the WOCAT platform under CACILM II is aligned with the mission of the global WOCAT platform, which is to support the adaptation, innovation and decision-making around SLM, including:

• enhancing land productivity and water use efficiency
• improving provision of ecosystem goods and services
• promoting sustainable use of biodiversity
• contributing to food security and climate change adaptation/mitigation
• reducing disaster risks and land and water conflicts

WOCAT defines SLM as “the use of land resources, including soils, water, animals and plants, for the production of goods to meet changing human needs, while simultaneously ensuring the long-term productive potential of these resources and the maintenance of their environmental functions”. 

The main objective of SLM is to promote human coexistence with nature with a long-term perspective so that the provisioning, regulating, cultural, and supporting services of ecosystems are ensured. SLM is an essential prerequisite to sustainable development; progress should be made simultaneously at all levels. 

SLM provides flexible, adaptable solutions in a world of fast-changing natural conditions (e.g. climate change and variability, extreme weather events), social conditions (e.g. migration, feminization of agriculture), and economic conditions (e.g. changing markets). Global and local development challenges demand that land users innovate and find ways of managing their land sustainably, staying resilient in the face of change and maintaining or improving their livelihoods and living conditions.

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The WOCAT explorer is a vital tool for all WOCAT users. The interactive map showcases areas of SLM technologies and practices probated and adopted in all countries of the project. It uses location pins to show where the practice was adopted.

Kazakhstan - Kyrgyzstan - Uzbekistan - Uzbekistan - Tajikistan - Turkmenistan - Türkiye