DEICSA

Decreasing erosion by improving carbon stocks in the strongly degraded surrounding of the high-mountain village Saribash in the Greater Caucasus of Azerbaijan.

The University of Greifswald and DUENE e.V., with support from colleagues from Baku State University and from State Agricultural University in Azerbaijan developed proposals for sustainable use of grassland resources. The study included mountain meadows, which are especially species-rich, having evolved over hundreds of years of extensive use under stationary livestock keeping in the mountain villages. They are not only highly important for biodiversity but, with their dense turf, also secure steep slopes against erosion and landslides, storing significant amounts of carbon in their thick humus layers.

Nowadays, mountain meadows are acutely threatened by land-use changes. As livestock keeping expanded and switched more and more to transhumant organization forms, hay meadows are transformed into pastures, in some regions even into crop fields. This land-use change leads to a release of significant amounts of stored carbon in the form of greenhouse gases. The remaining woodlands are under high pressure from grazing and fuel-wood cutting.

DEICSA targets are erosion control, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity conservation. Its activities include the strengthening of hay-meadow use through soft mechanisation and a reduction of use competition through ‘living fences’. Living fences are hedges of indigenous, often thorny woody plants, preferably bearing usable fruit. Such hedges are planted at erosion hotspots, like livestock tracks or road embankments. Seedlings are produced in a community nursery, mostly from cuttings, and planted inside a protective metal fence.

DEICSA aims to develop existing or establish new sources of income for the local community, thus improving livelihoods in the long term.