About RESILAND CA+
The Resilient Landscapes in Central Asia programme a World Bank flagship initiative coordinated by CAREC to restore degraded landscapes, build climate resilience, and improve community livelihoods across five Central Asian countries through regional collaboration.
Programme Overview
RESILAND CA+ is a flagship regional programme of the World Bank, established in 2019 and coordinated at the regional level by the Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC). It supports Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan to address land degradation and strengthen resilience to climate change across shared transboundary landscapes.
The programme provides Central Asian countries with a regional framework to increase the resilience of their landscapes through landscape restoration. It finances analytics and advisory on landscape restoration and supports national investment projects, connected by a Regional Exchange Platform for high-level dialogue on disaster risk reduction and landscape restoration.
CAREC manages the regional subcomponents of the programme coordinating knowledge exchange, transboundary policy harmonization, and the regional exchange platform across all five countries. National investment projects are implemented directly by each country’s government with World Bank financing.
The Challenge
Central Asia’s drylands face a convergence of pressures: land degradation, climate-driven extreme weather, and unsustainable land use. Border regions are hotspots of both degradation and poverty, making transboundary cooperation essential.
Land degradation costs Central Asia an estimated 6% of GDP annually
The Aralkum Desert the 60,000 km² former seabed of the Aral Sea generates toxic dust and sand storms harming health, soil quality, and livelihoods across multiple countries. Annual economic losses in Karakalpakstan alone are estimated at $44.2 million. Borders’ susceptibility to land degradation, climate disasters, natural hazards, and poverty makes the regional approach critical.
The Regional Response
RESILAND CA+ takes a coordinated, transboundary approach understanding that nature, landscapes, and ecosystems know no borders. The programme operates through four interconnected pillars:
Landscape Restoration
Planting drought-resistant species, rehabilitating degraded forests and pastures, and implementing community-centred restoration models.
Climate Resilience
Monitoring climate-induced hazards and investing in nature-based and green-grey solutions to mitigate mudflows, floods, and dust storms.
Community Livelihoods
Supporting communities to diversify economic activities ecotourism, agroforestry, skills development reducing pressure on natural resources.
Regional Cooperation
Establishing jointly managed transboundary protected areas, fostering policy dialogue and harmonised approaches to landscape governance.
CAREC's Role: Regional Subcomponents
CAREC coordinates the regional subcomponents embedded within each national RESILAND project. These subcomponents focus on strengthening transboundary collaboration, managing the regional exchange platform, and developing regional knowledge products applicable across all five countries.
| Country | Regional Budget | Duration | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇰🇬 Kyrgyz Republic | $892,857 | June 2025 – Dec 2028 | ● Active |
| 🇹🇯 Tajikistan | $1,807,547 | May 2024 – Sep 2027 | ● Active |
| 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan | $2,000,000 | July 2025 – Aug 2028 | ● Active |
| 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan | N/A | N/A | ● Advisory Phase |
| 🇹🇲 Turkmenistan | N/A | N/A | ● Landscape Study |
Programme Team
| Role | Name | |
|---|---|---|
| Project Team Leader | Batyr Mammedov | bmammedov@carececo.org |
| Deputy Team Leader — Tajikistan | Dilovarsho Dustzoda | recath_manager@carececo.org |
| Deputy Team Leader — Kyrgyz Republic | Lyudmila Kiktenko | lkiktenko@carececo.org |
| Deputy Team Leader — Uzbekistan | Azamat Kauazov | cacip@carececo.org |
A Global Replication Model
RESILAND CA+ now serves as a replicable model for addressing land degradation in arid landscapes worldwide:
🇦🇲 Armenia Resilient Landscapes Project
Forest, wetland, and mining site restoration, ecotourism development, and institutional capacity building.
North Africa — Sahel Programme
The RESILAND model adopted for integrated landscape approaches through policy support and investments in Sahel countries.