Donor: Asian Development Bank  |  Partner: Tre Altamira and SEC GEOPRIBOR  |  Duration: 2019 – 2020  | Location: The Kyrgyz Republic

About: The Kyrgyz Republic is a seismically active area with highly variable weather patterns, making the country vulnerable to the impacts of geophysical disasters and climate change. Landslides triggered by snowmelt, precipitation and seismic activity are a particular challenge, with around 15,000 km², or 8% of the country at risk from landslides. 10,000 households have been identified as high-risk, in urgent need of resettlement or risk reduction measures, with poorer households in rural areas typically more exposed.

ICEM, in partnership with Tre Altamira and SEC GEOPRIBOR, is supporting the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MOE) under the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic, in developing an investment project focused on landslide risk reduction. The project outcome is expected to be: exposure and vulnerability of infrastructure and settlements to landslides reduced. The investment project will apply a comprehensive approach combining both structural and non-structural risk management solutions.

The team will undertake a series of baseline assessments on landslide and seismic risk (integrating climate change), poverty, gender and social vulnerabilities, risk financing and insurance, and institutional capacity. For the investment project, the team will conduct topographic, geological and physical asset surveys, site level risk assessment, technical feasibility studies, economic and financial analysis, environmental assessments, governance due diligence, gender action planning and development of safeguards.

Aim: Develop an investment project to reduce the risks from landslides to people, their livelihoods and infrastructure in the country

The project has two main components: i) Development of a landslide risk management framework; and ii) Preparation of the Investment Project.

It will be carried out in four phases:

• Inception and scoping: including data collection.

• Development of a Landslide Risk Reduction Framework: conducting a series of baseline assessments for justification of the investment project.

• Prioritization for the Investment Project: applying a range of criteria to define the scope and activities of the project, utilizing the results of the baseline assessments.

• Preparation of Investment Project: Technical investigations and preparation of investment project documents.

Image credit: Andrei Osianin