Region in Focus: Caucasus and Central Asia
Forests in the Caucasus and Central Asia region play an essential role in mitigating climate change, sequestering carbon dioxide, and alleviating the impacts of extreme weather events. Forests are also an important source of fuel and wood, and provide income for rural and marginalised communities.
Learn more about the state of forests in the Caucasus and Central Asia, recent policy developments and efforts to strengthen restoration in each country.
While forests cover a relatively small share of the vast Caucasus and Central Asian region, they encompass a wide variety of forest types and ecosystems, ranging from mountains, plains and flood plains to steppes, semi-deserts and deserts
Countries in the Caucasus and Central Asia have recently emphasised their strong commitment to restore degraded landscapes and to conserve biodiversity and natural resources.
While a shared history gives Caucasus and Central Asia countries a common administrative and legal background, including in forestry, the direction and speed of development since independence differs widely between the countries.