The program "Eco-damu". Let's save nature together!

Editorial board of El.kz shares with readers useful information about the program of microlending "Eco-Damu" for the 2014-2024 years, which is implemented by UNDP (UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME) in Kazakhstan together with the Committee of forestry and wildlife by the Ministry of agriculture and JSC "Fund for financial support of agriculture". This program is intended for residents of the villages of Kazakhstan, located in the vicinity of protected natural areas.

The development of alternative activities in the program "Eco-Damu", do not harm biodiversity and promote conservation and sustainable use of ecosystem resources, can not only reduce the level of poverty in rural areas but also allows local people to participate in and contribute to the conservation of biodiversity of Kazakhstan. That their activities contribute to maintaining the ecological balance.

It provides favorable loans to the rural population at the lowest interest rates - 4%, which is the lowest and most favorable interest rate among microcredit programs provided in rural areas. That is, taking credit at "Eco-Damu".

You promote the preservation of the ecological balance and help yourself and your relatives by creating your own business. The loan is given only to those residents of the village, who do not harm the environment, but, on the contrary, help the revival and renewal of land, flora, and fauna, using alternative activities. This reduces harm and excessive pressure on the environment, reducing depletion of natural resources both within the region and globally. Today, the development of alternative activities and the introduction of sustainable, environmentally friendly methods of farming, forestry, fishing, and hunting are unfortunately still a poorly funded sector. For example, using alternative activities, reducing the load on the recreational zone, reducing uncontrolled tourism, decreasing poaching, cutting down the forest, reducing fires (which reduces the occurrence of fires), stopping the destruction of endemic plant species, overcoming the negative consequences of the inevitable devastation of the environment.

Using alternative activities, villagers make a huge contribution to the preservation of the nature of their native land, to overcome the negative consequences of the inevitable devastation of the environment and increase the welfare of their families and the region as a whole. Excessive exploitation and pollution of the environment can lead to the fact that the future generation will not see those animals and birds that we saw with you. The current and future generations have the right to live in an environment that is conducive to their health and well-being. Our land and all living things are of great importance for the further evolution and preservation of life-supporting systems of the biosphere. Achieving gender equality is a fundamental factor for sustainable human development.

"Eco-Damu" helping primarily women in obtaining employment, bringing in earnings of the countryside. The microcredit  program promotes the provision of equal opportunities for economic independence, the development of own business for women in the rural region. The main objective of the program "Eco-Damu" is to promote the microcredit for the population in 
List of protected areas of Kazakhstan, by replacing the proposal unsustainable economic activity in the alternative that will reduce the intense pressures on biodiversity arid and semiarid ecosystems, wetlands.

The main directions of ECO-DAMU

Sustainable development of ecological tourism

One of the pressing problems developing in the areas adjacent to specially protected nature reserves is spontaneous tourism. The results of spontaneously developing tourism are fires, garbage, cut down bushes for the fire, trampled grass. The biodiversity of a unique area is being damaged. Anxiety factor is created for flora and fauna. People living near nature reserves and national parks receive additional income from receiving and placing tourists coming to see the unique nature of the area and not observing the rules of nature management.

To solve the problem of spontaneous tourism, it is necessary to organize guest houses that provide tourists with accommodation, meals, horses for walking, transport for movement around the reserve and the national park. To a large extent, tourists will be attracted to this region by the production and sale of souvenirs made from local materials (felt, clay, etc.) and sewing products in the national style. Interesting in this regard will be the acquisition of a pottery machine - so any person can easily learn to work with clay, with minimal investment creating attractive souvenir products.

One of the main directions that contribute to the reduction of illegal poaching, deforestation of tugai forests, and the use of degraded lands is ECOTOURISM. The development of ecological tourism entails not only an increase in well-being and a steady income for the local population, but also in practice contributes to the preservation of the nature of the native land.

Implementation of alternative energy sources

Every day an enormous amount of sulfur, chlorine of zinc, lead is released into the atmosphere, that is, the number of factors that adversely affect climate change, weather and health of people is increasing every day. Massively the birds are drowning from the defeat by centric current in contact with the supports of overhead transmission lines (SOTL). The reason for such environmental problems is the use and daily life and economic activities of a person with solid fuel, natural gas, electricity.

For example, a diesel electric generator, which is used on distant pastures of shepherds, not only releases harmful compounds into the atmosphere and generates noise that disturbs birds and animals, but is a costly form of electricity, since it must be constantly refueled with expensive gasoline.

Alternative

Conducting power lines to farmers' farms, truck farmers, a very expensive exercise is often impossible in terms of costs, and only using alternative energy sources and resource-saving technologies will cut costs by thousands of times.

Changes in the outcome of your participation

The establishment of solar batteries, astro installations will improve the living conditions of shepherds but pasture pastures; fishermen in the fishery. Due to this, residents can name, hot water, conditions for drying fruits, light and heat greenhouses, which will eventually help to save forests, reduce the yield of carbon dioxide and reduce fuel costs.
Carrying out power lines to the farms of farmers, gardeners, very expensive event is often not possible for costs, and only the use of alternative sources of energy and resource-saving technologies will reduce costs by thousands of times.

Sustainable management of agriculture

The use of techniques and technologies that do not meet the requirements of scientifically based land use systems, sometimes excessive use of herbicides, pesticides, mineral fertilizers and other chemicals, the non-use of resource-saving technologies, including water-saving technologies, leads to land degradation, to the development of water and wind erosion, to decrease in soil fertility and biodiversity and environmental problems in crop production.

Alternative

Growing and marketing fruit, vegetable and melon crops are one of the most profitable businesses for those who live in the village and have a plot of land. These crops are rather unpretentious, yielding and allow you to return quickly and with good profits to the household money spent. They are sold not only fresh, but also in marinated, frozen, so the cultivation of these crops will be relevant at any time of the year. The use of water-saving technologies and the use of organic fertilizers contribute to the cultivation of environmentally friendly vegetable products. Drip irrigation, organic fertilizers (manure), technologies of growing under the film, radically improving the state of irrigated lands, have become the main factors for increasing crop yields.

Changes in the outcome of your participation

In comparison with traditional furrow irrigation, the use of water-saving technologies helps to save irrigation water to 50-60%. Therefore, by organizing a greenhouse with drip irrigation or a garden under a film coating with the use of organic fertilizers instead of chemical fertilizers, the population increases the yield of their farming, raises the production of organic vegetable products, promotes early harvest and contributes significantly to the conservation of biodiversity. Organization of nurseries, fruit gardens.

The use of water-saving technologies and the use of organic fertilizers contribute to the cultivation of environmentally friendly vegetable products.

 Sustainable methods of pastoral management    

For the villager livestock is the main source of income, so the livestock is growing every year. The increasing number of livestock, the unsystematic use of pasture land, the lack of food supply, grazing only on priauli lands lead pastures and senna-clusters around the villages to exhaustion and degradation.

Alternative

Improve the situation will help the organization of pasture farms, the use of cellular cattle in an area of up to 1 hectare with the constant sowing of perennial and annual forage grasses in these cells, the creation of living conditions for shepherds on long distances, the restoration of degraded pastures, the transfer of abandoned lands to productive landscapes by sowing fodder crops, the use of pasture rotation, the creation of sowing pastures in cages.

Changes in the outcome of your participation

Such works will help the pastures to recover, which will lead to an improvement not only in the environment, but also in the financial situation of rural residents through increased livestock productivity, milk yield and meat output will increase.

Sustainable management of forestry

The Republic of Kazakhstan is a small forest country and occupies one of the last places in the world in terms of percentage of forest cover (4.2%). Reduction of forest areas leads to desertification. Deforestation of tugai forests destroys the balance in the ecosystem and leads to the disappearance of all living things in the region. Therefore, creation of forest nurseries and their further development is especially important for Kazakhstan at present.

Alternative         

To reduce the burden on forest resources, one of the ways to solve the problem is to organize nurseries for fast-growing poplars, for the purpose of selling fuel, business wood, organizing fruit berries, gathering medicinal herbs, beekeeping.

Reduction of forest areas leads to desertification.

Beekeeping

What benefits do bees bring to nature and humans? Natural fresh honey has always been in great demand both in the food industry and in medicine. In addition to honey bees give a person the royal jelly, beeswax, propolis, pollen. Still, the main profit of the beekeeping farm (about 80%) is provided by the implementation of honey. And what do bees give plants? On the planet Earth, the life of bees and flowers is closely related. Flowers and pollen, they pollinate them in return.

Beekeeping will help to significantly increase the incomes of local residents, will not allow cutting down forests, which ultimately reduces the burden on forest resources. It is estimated that the benefits and benefits of pollinating plants by bees and insects are many times greater than the cost of honey collected throughout the world. Thanks to cross-pollination, the yields of seeds and fruits increase. More than 200 thousand species of our flora reproduce through pollination.

The creation of sustainable development of beekeeping will allow the local population to obtain additional jobs and will quickly generate income.

Sustainable hunting management

The lack of hunting materials, inadequate performance of biotechnical measures, a low level of registration work, and lack of investment in hunting facilities do not allow us to talk about the sustainability of hunting farms.

Alternative

Improving the approach to hunting management (oriented to humanization), carrying out biotechnical measures by sowing fodder crops and feeding, developing national hunting species for demonstration purposes and national hunting dog breeding, development of hunting tourism will make it possible to contribute to the sustainable development of hunting economy.

Changes in the outcome of your participation

Carrying out these measures will allow hunting farms to obtain material benefits and promote the development of hunting culture among the population, conservation of biodiversity, development of hunting farms, oriented to their humanization, development of national hunting species for demonstration.

Sustainable management of pond farming

Intensive fishing by nature users, without taking into account the maximum allowable catch, the use of non-normative tools (inappropriate design and mesh size) and methods of fishing led to the depletion of fish stocks of our reservoirs, to the disappearance of valuable fish species, and to a multiple reduction in commercial fish stocks. Reduction of fish stocks damages the unique biodiversity of wetlands, leads to an increase in the disturbance factor for nesting areas of birds, reducing the feeding base of birds.
 
The creation of pond farms is an alternative to the exhaustive use of fish resources. In this pond farm is a good prerequisite for the development of commodity production. Under the pond farm you can use natural water bodies, small lakes with already established ichthyofauna, which is very profitable. The restoration of pond farms is important for the conservation, reproduction and rational use of water resources of natural reservoirs and the creation of conditions for the development of commercial fish farming.

The change in the outcome of your participation

Commodity fish farming is a kind of economic activity that brings a good income. In this regard, pond farming can be used for the development of ecological tourism, the development of sport and amateur fishing, in general for the development of sustainable fisheries.

Processing of agricultural products of plant growing and animal husbandry

Every year, the rural population increases the number of livestock in the domestically owned farm with a view to increasing their material wealth. But the increase in livestock leads to an even greater desertification of the near-pasture pastures, land degradation, since the cattle trample the earth. Expensive feeds increase the cost of livestock.

Alternative

One way in this case is not to increase the number of cattle. it is possible to increase the productivity of cattle by purchasing elite cattle breeds. To reduce the desertification of priaulnyh territories, it is possible to apply the cellular content of cattle on an area of ​​up to 1 hectare with a constant sowing of perennial and annual forage grasses in the same cells, applying spring crops (for obtaining pasture and green summer forages, green mass for hay, haylage, silage, herbal flour). This increases the daily weight of cattle, increases the slaughter weight, gives better meat, milk, quality by-products, sub-products of categories 1-2 (tongue, liver, heart, kidneys, meat trimmings), technical raw materials (skins, bones, horns, etc. .). Another alternative to the expensive breeding of cattle is rabbit breeding and poultry farming.

Recommendation
 
It is known that the processing of products brings more profit than the sale of raw materials. The sale of fruit juices is more profitable than the sale of the fruit itself. The question is, which business will bring a stable income to the villager. Whatever the local people do, whether it's processing vegetables and fruits, bottling kumis or shubat, opening a mini-bakery, confectionery shops, processing dairy products is a promising and dynamic segment of the market. Processing of agricultural products will contribute to the development of the economy of a particular village, and the conservation of biodiversity, oddly enough, depends on the state of the region's economy.

Rabbit breeding

Rabbit breeding is a promising branch of animal husbandry. Rabbit meat has an exceptionally high nutritional value. By the vitamin and mineral composition rabbit meat is superior to all other species. Rabbit breeding gives an opportunity to produce a variety of products: processed rabbit fur. used in sewing various manti, headdresses, collars, jackets and fur coats.

Rabbit breeding is a profitable business. It allows you to quickly recoup the investment, due to the rapid growth of rabbits. If we bear in mind that demand for rabbit meat is growing in the restaurant business, then the market will expand. In this regard, the development of rabbit breeding will prevent further degradation of pastures and hayfields, due to the partial conversion of cattle breeding to rabbit breeding.

Poultry farming

Homemade geese. ducks, chickens are the most profitable birds in the subsidiary farm. They are unpretentious, give a lot of meat and fat, excellent fluff and feather. Additional benefit: sale of eggs and chickens. In addition, it is possible to implement chicken manure, which goes well for the fertilization of household plots. The appeal of the development of poultry farming is that it can be turned into a home business, that is, to attract the whole family and not pay money to hired workers. In addition, you can do the manufacture of products from down: pillows, blankets. Breeding poultry is a highly profitable and profitable business, so it can compete with livestock breeding. By reducing the number of livestock and increasing the number of birds, it is possible to restore degraded pastures, reduce the load on the pasture pastures and at the same time develop their family business.

Conclusion

UNDP in Kazakhstan together with the Committee for Forestry and Fauna of the Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan and JSC "Fund for Financial Support to Agriculture" implements the Eco-Damu Microcrediting Program for 2014-2024 for rural residents living in close proximity to specially protected natural areas in two stages.

Currently, at the first stage, for the introduction of alternative activities and environmentally friendly methods of conducting rural, fishery and sustainable eco-tourism in the project areas, the project supported local residents' initiatives to develop activities near the PAs in the amount of KZT 275 325 000.

83 projects are being implemented, in Almaty oblast 36, in Kyzylorda oblast 39, Mangistau oblast 8. Local residents have access to microcredit and permanent jobs in the amount of 175. It is worth noting that the private and public sector of microfinance organizations is not ready to lend to borrowers whose project proposals For example, they are aimed at the development of ecotourism or the sustainable management of economic activities. The rates of credit institutions are very high, only profitable business is credited. The microcredit program "Eco-Damu" is aimed at marginal segments of the population, therefore the annual interest rate is the lowest in the RK and is 4%. The only problem is only collateral. which rural residents could not always have.

The implementation of the Program will have a significant impact on increasing the knowledge and skills of the population of the project areas, for the development of their own business, using environmentally friendly methods of doing business. Support for environmentally-oriented activities of projects will contribute to improving the living standards of the local population in the project areas around the List of protected areas of Kazakhstan, improving the social and economic situation of the regions through involvement in the conservation of biodiversity.

The project, after the completion of Phase I, will demonstrate, on the example of successful projects, the opportunity to develop alternative activities that enable the local population to abandon unsustainable economic activities in favor of other income-generating activities, with priority through the application of rational, environmentally sound methods of using natural resources.

This short guide is aimed at preserving the biodiversity of Kazakhstan, we told you how each proposed type of economic activity under sustainable management can benefit and preserve biodiversity.

We express the hope that this publication will be useful to local communities, NGOs, employees of LPAK and other interested persons who wish to participate in the Eco-Damu program. The modern environmental policy of the country is aimed at achieving rational nature management, which is one of the main factors of sustainable development of the country.

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