FRIENDS project team undertakes field visits to Uzbekistan
31 May 2023, Tashkent – From 1 to 6 May 2023, the FRIENDS project team undertook a mission to Uzbekistan to evaluate capacity and training needs. The FRIENDS (Forest Restoration Improvement for Environmental Development and Sustainability in Central Asia) project aims to develop national capacities to restore large-scale forest and other wooded lands, and to enhance know-how to prevent degradation in the beneficiary countries – Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The project forms part of the FAO-Türkiye Forestry Partnership Programme (FTFP).
In addition to assessing project needs, the Project Manager Adem Bilgin and FAO Forestry Specialist Burak Avcıoğlu visited a potential pilot in Bukhara and a nursery identified for modernization. During these field visits, Bilgin and Avcıoğlu trained staff in project implementation and briefed the Uzbekistan Country Office on mission results. They also met with the National Project Coordinator to reach mutual agreement on pilot sites and to discuss upcoming training sessions in Türkiye.
The mission contributed to project implementation and will help strengthen ties with the team in Uzbekistan.
About the FAO-Türkiye Partnership Programmes
The objectives of the FAO-Türkiye Partnership Programmes are to provide support to ensure food security, rural poverty reduction and sustainable forest management; to combat desertification; and to preserve ecosystems in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Türkiye, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, and other countries of mutual interest.
Established in 2007, the first phase of the FAO-Türkiye Partnership Programme on Food and Agriculture (FTPP) has benefited from trust fund contributions totalling USD 10 million, financed by the Government of Türkiye and represented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. During the first phase of the programme, 28 projects were implemented in 16 countries between 2009 and 2015.
In 2014, Türkiye and FAO commenced the second phase of the FTPP along with the first phase of the FAO-Türkiye Forestry Partnership Programme (FTFP), with additional funding of USD 20 million, bringing Türkiye’s total contribution to USD 30 million.
LINKS:
· FRIENDS project team conduct successful mission in Kyrgyzstan