Protecting the World's Largest Wild Walnut Forest

CAMP Alatoo, a Bishkek-based public foundation working since 2004 across Central Asia's mountain regions, is a lead local partner in conserving the Arslanbob walnut forest in Jalal-Abad province, the largest wild walnut woodland on Earth. Alongside pasture-management and value-chain partners, CAMP Alatoo delivers the education and community-organizing work behind a programme covering 13,000 hectares of natural walnut forest and 36,700 hectares of pasture that more than 47,000 local people rely on for food, fuel and income. The NGO also gathers independent data on forest and vegetation loss in Arslanbob so communities and officials can make better decisions on grazing and harvesting limits, helping woodland-dependent villages adapt to climate change while protecting a genetic reservoir for the world's cultivated walnut and fruit trees.