Modeling of Sustainable Land Use of Mountain Pastures in Kyrgyzstan Based on Effective Management of Livestock Practices

Abstract

On the example of complex analysis of rangeland systems of Kyrgyzstan located in different natural conditions (key objects “Balykchi (Kyok-Moynok),” “Kyok-Oy,” “Suu-Samir”) the possibility of applying the methodology of sustainable land management modeling for assessment and improvement of traditional mountain pastures is shown. The main parameters of sustainable pasture management models for the considered territories were defined including 3 main groups: land potential, adverse impacts (actual processes and phenomena), risk of degradation (potential processes), whose content is divided into 8 subgroups and includes natural conditions and expanded resource potential, ability to self-recovery and sufficiency of socioeconomic conditions, natural and anthropogenic impacts and risks defined for these groups. A systematic list of successful practices in the use of mountain rangelands in Kyrgyzstan has been compiled. The analysis of different practices and their role in maintaining the sustainability of specific models, depending on the baseline situation, biophysical and socioeconomic conditions, has been conducted. The results are summarized and presented in the petal diagrams’ form. It is shown that the effectiveness of sustainable rangeland management models is determined by a set of successful practices. The article reveals a natural growth of volume and diversity of applied practices as the growth of anthropogenic potential of rangeland systems. The proposed approaches can be used as part of the practical management of rangelands by pastoralist societies and are included as methodological recommendations for the development of rangeland legislation and the assessment of the effectiveness of rangeland livestock, taking into account the completeness of the set of practices and technologies applied in different natural conditions.