Skipt to content

Green Central Asia (CAWa-Green)

Project Green Central Asia completed ·

As part of the “Green Central Asia Initiative”, the CAWa-Green project aims to contribute to a sound scientific and reliable regional database for the development of sustainable water management strategies in Central Asia. The CAWa-Green project has established a consortium of leading geoscientific research institutions from Germany and Central Asia to address these challenges. Partners from Central Asian universities and state authorities complement the network. The overarching objectives of the CAWa-Green project include: (I) supporting informed decisions in land and water management through transparent data sets, (II) promoting regional and cross-sectoral cooperation, (III) strengthening the technical and methodological competences of specialists and researchers.

Background and goals

Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan) is characterised by a strongly continental, semi-arid climate. Climate change and climate fluctuations have a significant impact on the water supply and therefore represent a major challenge for sustainable agricultural development and energy production. The “Central Asian Water” (CAWa) project was part of the German Water Initiative for Central Asia (“Berlin Process”), which was launched by the Federal Foreign Office at the “Water Unites” conference in Berlin in 2008. In 2020, a follow-up programme entitled “Green Central Asia” was launched, under which the CAWa-Green project is being implemented.

Methodological approach

The methodological approaches cover a wide range of water-related applications, including hydrometeorological observations in high mountain regions, radar altimetric monitoring of reservoir levels, remote sensing-based estimates of land use, irrigation, potential crop yields, agricultural droughts and snow cover, as well as user-friendly algorithms for seasonal precipitation and runoff forecasts. Our aim is to make all data and methods freely accessible. Some of these are already being used by Central Asian partners and stakeholders and have proven to be helpful for decision-making at the regional level.

Expected results

  • Capacity building in partner countries
  • Development of modern tools and methods for water resources and food security
  • Solving transboundary water and environmental problems through dialogue and mutual cooperation
  • Strengthening cooperation between different stakeholders in the region for climate security
Project-Website: http://www.cawa-project.net/