In Ulaanbaatar this August, Central Asian nations gathered under the United Nations banner to confront a slow-moving catastrophe that has already claimed nearly 80 million hectares of their shared land. The conference is less a warning than a reckoning — the degradation is not approaching, it has arrived, and in Mongolia it has consumed nearly three-quarters of the country. What the delegates are negotiating is not whether to act, but whether the will and resources exist to act at a scale equal to the crisis.
UN Desertification Forum Spotlights Central Asia's Land Degradation Crisis
Land degradation threatens vulnerable populations in drylands across Central Asia, affecting food security and water access for millions.
Glaciers are not scenic. They are infrastructure.
Mark
Why does a conference on desertification in Mongolia matter to Central Asia specifically?
Mimi
Because the crisis is already here. Eighty million hectares—that's not a projection or a worst-case scenario. That's land that's already degraded, already losing its ability to support life. Mongolia is hosting because it's experiencing this acutely, but the problem spans the entire region.
Mark
Sheralizoda kept talking about glaciers and mountains, not just grasslands. Why the emphasis?
Mimi
Because water is the real constraint in Central Asia. The glaciers in Tajikistan's mountains aren't separate from the desertification problem—they're central to it. If those glaciers fail, the entire region's water security collapses. You can't restore rangelands if there's no water to sustain them.
Mark
So this is about more than preventing sand from spreading?
Mimi
Much more. It's about whether the region can sustain its population. Degraded land means less food production, less grazing capacity, less water. The people living in these drylands are already vulnerable. Degradation pushes them toward crisis.
Mark
What are these countries actually doing about it?
Mimi
Soil protection, drip irrigation, planting seedlings. It's methodical work—not revolutionary, but necessary. The question is whether it's happening at the scale the problem demands.
Mark
And the international community?
Mimi
That's what the conference is really about. These countries are saying: we can't solve this alone. We need resources, coordination, sustained commitment from outside. Uzbekistan hosting a wildlife trade conference last year was part of the same message—we're serious about conservation, but we need partners.
Le Pouls
- Nearly 80 million hectares of Central Asian land are already severely degraded — an area four times the size of Kyrgyzstan — and Mongolia alone has lost 77% of its land to desertification.
- Tajikistan's environmental chief warned that the crisis extends far beyond rangelands: the region's glaciers are retreating, and with them the water supplies that millions of people depend on for survival.
- Vulnerable dryland populations across the region face compounding threats to food and water security as fragile ecosystems buckle under climate pressure and land misuse.
- Central Asian governments are deploying drip irrigation, soil protection programs, reforestation, and monitoring systems — practical tools, but ones that need to scale dramatically and quickly.
- The Ulaanbaatar forum is pressing for deeper regional cooperation and greater international funding, testing whether diplomatic commitments will translate into sustained political will.
In Ulaanbaatar this August, Central Asian nations gathered under the United Nations banner to confront a slow-moving catastrophe that has already claimed nearly 80 million hectares of their shared land. The conference is less a warning than a reckoning — the degradation is not approaching, it has arrived, and in Mongolia it has consumed nearly three-quarters of the country. What the delegates are negotiating is not whether to act, but whether the will and resources exist to act at a scale equal to the crisis.
In the Mongolian capital this month, delegates from across Central Asia convened for a United Nations desertification conference — a meeting that made plain how far the region's environmental crisis has already advanced. Nearly 80 million hectares of Central Asian land now show signs of severe degradation, an area roughly four times the size of Kyrgyzstan. Mongolia, the host nation, has already lost nearly 77 percent of its land, where limited rainfall and short growing seasons make recovery slow and uncertain.
Among the speakers, Bakhodur Sheralizoda of Tajikistan's environmental protection committee pressed for a broader understanding of the crisis. The problem, he argued, is not confined to grasslands. Tajikistan sits atop Central Asia's mountainous spine, and the glaciers there are not scenery — they are the region's water infrastructure. Their retreat is a threat to regional survival that demands integrated protection strategies, not just rangeland management.
The conference, formally the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, focuses on the planet's dryland zones, where fragile ecosystems and vulnerable populations converge. All five Central Asian republics have begun implementing mitigation measures — soil protection, drip irrigation, seedling plantations, monitoring systems. The work is real, but Sheralizoda and others in Ulaanbaatar are arguing it must accelerate, expand, and draw far greater resources from both regional neighbors and international institutions.
The forum reflects a growing regional consensus that these challenges cannot be addressed in isolation. When 80 million hectares are degraded and glaciers supplying water to millions are in retreat, the crisis belongs to everyone. What remains uncertain is whether the commitments made in Ulaanbaatar will produce the sustained funding and political resolve the region's recovery demands.
In the Mongolian capital this month, delegates from across Central Asia gathered for a United Nations conference on desertification—a gathering that underscored just how far the region's environmental crisis has already advanced. The meeting, which runs through late August, brings together officials grappling with a problem that has already consumed vast stretches of their territories: nearly 80 million hectares of Central Asian land now show signs of severe degradation, an area roughly four times the size of Kyrgyzstan.
Bakhodur Sheralizoda, who heads Tajikistan's environmental protection committee, was among the speakers making the case for deeper cooperation—both within the region and with the international community. His message carried particular weight because it highlighted something the conference's formal agenda might otherwise obscure: the crisis is not simply about grasslands and rangelands, important as those are. In Tajikistan, which sits atop much of Central Asia's mountainous spine, the real vulnerability lies in the high-altitude ecosystems that feed the region's water systems. The glaciers there are not a scenic amenity. They are infrastructure. Protecting them is a matter of regional survival.
The UN conference, formally the Convention to Combat Desertification, is focused on what organizers call the drylands—arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid zones where some of the planet's most fragile ecosystems and poorest populations overlap. The goal is to push participating nations toward sustainable rangeland management, climate-resilient land use, and restoration of degraded areas. It sounds technical. The reality is starker. Mongolia, the host nation, has already lost nearly 77 percent of its land to degradation. Limited rainfall and short growing seasons mean that once the land begins to fail, recovery is slow and uncertain.
Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan have all begun implementing mitigation strategies—soil protection programs, monitoring systems, drip irrigation networks, and seedling plantations. These are not glamorous interventions, but they represent a shift toward acknowledging that the problem requires sustained, coordinated action. The work is happening. What Sheralizoda and others at the Ulaanbaatar meeting are arguing is that it needs to happen faster and at a larger scale, with more resources flowing from both neighboring countries and international institutions.
The conference itself reflects a broader recognition that Central Asia's environmental challenges cannot be solved in isolation. Last year, Uzbekistan hosted a major international conference on wildlife trade under UN auspices, signaling that the region's governments understand conservation as a shared responsibility. The desertification forum extends that logic: when 80 million hectares are degraded, when glaciers that supply water to millions are retreating, when vulnerable populations in the drylands face mounting pressure on food and water security, the problem becomes everyone's problem. What remains to be seen is whether the commitments made in Ulaanbaatar will translate into the sustained funding and political will the region's recovery will require.
Citations marquantes
Tajikistan is one of Central Asia's major sources of water and protecting its glaciers is critical— Bakhodur Sheralizoda, chairman of Tajikistan's Committee for Environmental Protection
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