The LaVaCCA Project

Kurzfassung

Losses of land productivity (LP) have been observed on eight million hectares of irrigated agricultural land in Central Asia (CA, see Figure 1) during the past decades. Especially the irrigated lowlands of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers are affected by land degradation and cropland abandonment. The aim of LaVaCCA is to develop tools and methods to assess and quantify the nature, extent, and severity of changes in LP and land abandonment at a range of spatial and temporal scales, and to asses associated changes in economic land value. Hotspots of decreasing LP and land abandonment will be identified to enhance knowledge about the drivers of these processes. Economic assessments of alternative land use options under given ecological conditions will be elaborated. A strong methodological focus is set on remote sensing, GIS, land use modelling, and economic optimization. The generated information will be bundled and presented as a discussion support tool (DST) for politicians and decision makers in their efforts to increase food security and mitigate land degradation in the irrigated areas of CA.