Tajikistan

Although Tajikistan Nature Foundation (TNF) is not a faith-based organization, it cooperates with the local population, including faith communities, in mountainous areas of Tajikistan (Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province, Pamir Mountains). Their current support of land restoration is implemented within the CAMCA project, which aims at the sustainable land management in such pilot conservancies as Alichur and Zorkul. These activities are reforestation using native species and soil conservation to conserve the habitat of flagship mountain species, including Marco Polo sheep. The organization intend to extend such efforts by incorporating the networks of faith communities to increase community-based restoration. Although not currently actively collaborating with faith organizations, TNF is very keen to begin such partnerships and to utilize spiritual values in enhancing ecosystem care in vulnerable mountainous environments in Tajikistan. TNF also encounters some issues in sustainable land management, such such as agroforestry. Remote communities that have different cultures and religious beliefs need to be approached in a specific manner to make them take part in the engagement. As well, it is not easy to monitor the effects of restoration because there are few resources to conduct ecological evaluations. These may be resolved by partnering with faith communities, which can harnes local networks, but the matching of conservation values with spiritual values should be planned in detail.