Title: Improving management of degraded agricultural land in mountain areas: A literature study of possible methods for the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO) Tajikistan

The mountain ecosystems of Tajikistan are a biodiversity hotspot with unique flora that includes many endemic species. This region, as in many other parts of the world, has been subject to intense human pressure resulting in habitat destruction and degradation of the agricultural land. The eastern part of Tajikistan is called the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO). GBAO makes up 60% of Tajikistan’s territory. However, 13,000 ha of agricultural land, situated mostly on the flat area at the foothills of the mountains, are used for farming for a cultivation population of about 212,000. In GBAO the degradation of the land is the one of the main problems facing the farmers. Fortunately, scientists around the world have been investigating the problems and methods to improve agricultural land and to restore the fertility of agricultural soils. The current report is aimed at exploring and reviewing existing methods, used under different situations in an effort to manage agricultural land in the GBAO. Various potential solutions are described, and their effects discussed, specifically methods concerning no or minimum mechanical soil disturbance, terracing, use of increased plant cover, shelterbelts, and crop rotation and crop diversity. The study concludes that adopting these practices could help to reverse the degradation of agricultural land in mountainous areas such as the GBAO.