Dinara Kemelova, Special Representative of the President of Kyrgyzstan for the implementation of the Five-Year Action Plan for the Development of Mountain Regions, outlined the main climate-related challenges facing the country’s mountainous areas on the air of Birinchi Radio.
First and foremost, she highlighted the difficulties faced by residents of mountain areas who, due to geographic remoteness and isolation, struggle with access to infrastructure, clean drinking water, electricity, Internet, communication, healthcare, and transportation.
«We need to improve living conditions in remote mountain settlements so that people have equal access to infrastructure, can remain in their villages, earn a living, and use all public services. These are our future goals,» Dinara Kemelova said.
Secondly, she pointed to the critical issue of preserving mountain ecosystems and biodiversity.
«Our mountains are a source of fresh water. Due to human activity and climate change, we are witnessing accelerated glacier melt, which feeds rivers and provides water for agriculture, energy, and the population. These negative consequences of climate change and melting of glaciers in the future may lead to water shortages, which poses a great threat not only to the mountainous regions of Kyrgyzstan, but also to Central Asia as a whole,» the Special Representative of President emphasized.
She added that the threat of desertification and soil degradation is growing. Unbalanced land use, overgrazing, deforestation, and unsustainable farming practices all lead to loss of land fertility and deterioration of pastures.
«Thirdly, these are the problems of natural disasters that lead to human casualties, damage the economy, and destroy ecosystems. All three of these categories of problems are interdependent with each other, so we call for an integrated approach to solving them,» Dinara Kemelova noted.
She recalled that the Second Global Mountain Summit Bishkek+25 will be held in 2027, where the results will be summed up and further steps will be determined to preserve mountain ecosystems.
