Tashkent, Uzbekistan, October 10, 2023 – GGGI Uzbekistan conducted the Second Stakeholders’ Consultation Meeting on the project “Support for the Realization of a Pilot Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)” implemented by GGGI in collaboration with Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change of Uzbekistan (MEEPCC).
On 15 February 2023, GGGI and Agence Française de Développement (AFD) signed an agreement for the SEA project. GGGI and the stakeholders selected the tourism sector and the Master Plan: measures to organize the activities of the Free Tourist Zone “Charvak” (Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, dated 05.01.2019, № DP-5611) in Bostanlik region to develop the SEA pilot. To identify the baseline and the sustainability issues in the tourism sector GGGI collected information presented in the Scoping Report. GGGI conducted the first consultation with relevant stakeholders on August 22. Once the Scoping report is completed, a consulting firm will be hired to conduct the SEA pilot for the Master Plan. As a result of the Assessment, recommendations are expected to be integrated in the next version of the FTZ Charvak Master Plan.
The second consultation was conducted to validate the prioritization among eight sustainability issues identified in the scoping report. Moreover, this workshop and associated site visits collected additional information from regional stakeholders to interpret the baseline analysis and guide the design of the SEA.
This workshop was co-chaired by Sukhrob Akobirov, Bostanlik District Deputy Khokim and Dr. Aaron Russell, GGGI Uzbekistan Country Representative. Additional keynote remarks were made by Farmonov Durbek, Chief specialist of the department for coordination of state audit activities of State Center for Environmental Expertise (SCEE) and Sarimsoqov Ergash, Chief Specialist on Tourism of Ugam Chatkal National Park.
“We have identified priority issues for which we will develop sustainable development methodologies for further use and alternative solutions to issues by the government of Uzbekistan,” said Aaron Russell, GGGI Uzbekistan Country Representative. “These recommendations will help attract investment to the area,” he added.
Sukhrob Akobirov, Bostanlik District Deputy Khokim, shared his views on Sustainable Development of Tourism, opportunities, and challenges. He highlighted the importance of having local research and statistical analysis for the Bostanlik district. He identified key forest areas that must be protected because these offer significant benefits relevant to ecosystems and the inhabitants of the region, such as air quality increase and biodiversity protection. “There is potential to develop tourism in the area, but this needs to be well planned”, he argued.
Farmonov Durbek, Chief specialist of the department for coordination of state audit activities of SCEE, presented the issues related to the development of tourism in the Charvak FТZ. The issues included biodiversity reduction, waste management and air pollution, due to the increasing number of cars. According to Mr. Farmonov’s firm belief, SEA will lead to better environmental protection and management and will promote sustainable development as well as strengthen the policy-making process, thereby providing several longer-term benefits for Uzbekistan. “SEA increases the efficiency of the planning processes and improves governance, therefore it will enable the reconciliation of different objectives pursued by the government in the sphere of environment protection and ecology,” he shared.
Sarimsoqov Ergash, Chief specialist on tourism of Ugam Chatkal National Park, also made his remarks, pointing out that Ugam-Chatkal is the state national wild nature park located in the Bostanlik district. “A large portion of the National Park is open for tourism. There are numerous recreation and ecological tourism opportunities within the park. The preservation of biodiversity in Ugam Chatkal National Park is very important as the fauna of the National Park,” Mr. Sarimsoqov stated.
The GGGI team presented a brief introduction to the SEA project and its objectives, as well as an overview of SEA methodology. 30 attendees representing Bostonlik khokimiyat, Ugam Chatkal National Park, SCEE, Mass Media Deparrtment of the Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change, Ecomaktab (NGO), German Sparkassenstiftung, AgroInnovation (NGO) and UzReport TV were invited to participate in group discussions to identify the key areas of environmental concern. The participants expressed their opinions and identified the locations within the region where these issues are of greatest concern.
As a result, the participants recognized three main issues: 1) Degradation of forests, protected areas, and biodiversity due to tourism, 2) Insufficient waste management and collection services, and 3) Landscape erosion and landslide risk due to inappropriate infrastructure development and land use change. The towns and surrounding regions of Charvak, Khumsan and Chimgan were chosen to be the three top priority areas that need attention, with the latter accumulating an overwhelming number of stakeholder concerns.
The workshop was followed by field trips to hotspots for tourism, picnic area/waste management, traffic/congestion and biodiversity degradation well as a number of guesthouses and tree nurseries.