Collective Action for Common Rangelands Improvement: A Climate Change Adaptation Strategy in Uzbekistan

Abstract

Rangeland degradation endangers livelihoods of many rural communities in Uzbekistan. Despite the threat of land deterioration from climate change, there are many reasons that land users do not take action to prevent or reduce land degradation. The described project uses a low-cost approach to mobilize stakeholders and initiate collective action. Based on a social learning process focusing on development of local climate-change scenarios, villagers from Qiziltepa district identified adaptation options and agreed on a common purpose to restore rangelands through collective governance systems. They formed pastoral user groups, established seed isles to ensure seeding of forage shrubs, and agreed on seasonal grazing. This case study shows the critical importance of scenarios in social learning processes for building awareness concerning climate change adaptation; they led to changes in perceptions and agreement on collective action and governance. We compare the potential of this integrated approach with large-scale seeding.