The project “Support for the Network of Environmental Organizations in the Regions and Districts of Kyrgyzstan” was supported by the Counterpart Consortium.
The project was developed and implemented by the youth environmental movement “Biom” — a public, non-profit organization uniting senior high-school students, university students, and young specialists from across the republic.
The organization’s goals are related to developing environmental education, as well as raising public awareness and engaging the public in environmentally significant decision-making.
Among “Biom”‘s achievements are: implementing a project to train leaders of district environmental organizations from among students of natural-science faculties at Bishkek universities (“New Horizons”); conducting an expert survey to identify the priorities and factors influencing the formation of environmental awareness among the population of Central Asia; holding the German-Central Asian Forum “The Young Generation and the Challenges of Shaping Environmental Awareness” (together with the group of organizations “Youth Vector”); and holding the first Forum of Environmental Organizations of Kyrgyzstan (together with a group of Kyrgyz eco-NGOs), among others. Despite its young membership, “Biom” has managed to earn authority among Kyrgyzstan’s eco-NGOs and today already has extensive experience in public environmental education.
The goal of the project “Support for the Network of Environmental Organizations in the Regions and Districts of Kyrgyzstan” was to provide information and methodological support to the network of district eco-groups and organizations in Kyrgyzstan. Three-day trainings were held in Naryn, Talas, Jalal-Abad, Cholpon-Ata, Balykchy, Kara-Balta, and Chui-Tokmok for active eco-groups, NGOs, school teachers, university students and lecturers, and representatives of government environmental agencies. Training participants learned about various methods of engaging the public in “green” activities, and learned about international experience in ecology, Kyrgyzstan’s environmental legislation, and international conventions. In the final stage of the training, participants had the opportunity to put their knowledge into practice through planning and developing environmental campaigns. During this project, participants planned about 40 campaigns. Many of the campaigns were aimed at engaging young people in environmental activities (the village of Bozteri). Participants also showed activity and interest in independently organizing environmental outreach events for schoolchildren. The training in the village of Kerben, Jalal-Abad region, was very active: almost no training seminars had been held there before, but eco-groups had spontaneously formed. The training was also attended by residents of villages located near the Sary-Chelek Biosphere Reserve, as well as employees of various state committees for nature protection. It is worth noting the awareness of the population of Naryn regarding environmental issues. Despite the harsh climatic conditions in this area, it is touching to see the interest with which residents treat environmental protection. One of the most original symbolic campaigns was planned here — placing a call for environmentally friendly action on trolleybuses. Now, perhaps, Naryn’s trolleybuses will soon also declare their affiliation with the “green” movement. Campaigns for planting artificial forest stands and cleaning up territories were also planned. When developing the campaigns, participants soberly assessed their capabilities and resources, and all the developed campaigns are quite realistic to implement locally. Most of the events are expected to take place in the spring and summer of 1999.
Today, the NGO “Biom” is analyzing the results of the trainings held, as well as the current situation in the regions. This work is especially effective during “Biom”‘s discourse clubs, at which participants can not only listen to interesting talks by many specialists, but also think together, through joint discussion, about solving various environmental problems. This format promotes a deeper understanding of information and the joint resolution of complex issues. More than 10 discourse clubs have already been held on topics such as “Analysis of Environmental Information,” “The Pan-European Process — Through the Eyes of Young People,” “Kyrgyzstan’s Environmental Legislation,” and many others. Discourse club participants meet every Saturday at “Biom”‘s office. The materials from the discourse clubs form the basis for the texts of collections that training participants will receive as informational support. Thus, 1999 will begin not only with the implementation of planned campaigns, but also with the publication of five thematic brochures on public participation in environmentally significant decision-making. We hope that our actions will help the work and strengthening of Kyrgyzstan’s emerging public environmental network. We would be very interested in and would benefit from the experience of other organizations working in this direction. February 1999.
