On 22 April 2024, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed bewteen the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization and the Forest Service under the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Kyrgyz Republic for the project titled: Conservation of Useful and Rare Tree Species in Kyrgyzstan through the Establishment of a Seed Storage (AFoCO/045/2024).
The signing ceremony marked a significant step forward for closer cooperation between AFoCO and Kyrgyzstan as the project is the 1st AFoCO country-driven project in Kyrgyz Republic, being the 14th full Member Party of AFoCO after completing and depositing the country’s instrument of Accession on 30 August 2022. The project was approved during the latest regular session of the AFoCO Assembly (9th), held on 25-26 October 2023, in Seoul, Republic of Korea. The Korea Forest Service (KFS) provided financial grant duly confirmed at the 6th Donor’s Meeting on 21 December 2023.
The project is envisioned to conserve and develop useful and rare tree species through the establishment of a seed storage, and ultimately contribute in combatting deforestation and enhancement of the capacities of forest stakeholders in Kyrgyz Republic with the following specific obejctives:
- To prepare technical documents as basis in the establishment of imporved seed storage;
- To establish and prepare for the operationalization of the seed storage (seed processing);
- To conduct national and regional capacity building and research activities on the establishment and operationalization of the seed storage;
- To develop a short-term breeding program, including the development of seed sources, as well as the selection of trees, the creation of an area of plus trees and genetic testing.
During the signing ceremony, the Vice Executive Director congratulated Kyrgyz Repulic in its launching of the 1st AFoCO project, while Kyrgyz Republic expressed gratitude for the support and assistance provided by the AFoCO Secretariat. The ODA Project team will now proceed with the preparation and conduct of the Project Inception Meeting (PIM) and the 1st Project Steering Committee (PSC) Meeting with the Implementing Agency (IA) to start implementation of project activities planned for 2024.
