A Tajik farmer plants pine trees to prevent soil erosion near village homes

Solehnazar Bobokhonov, a farmer in the Pistamazor village of Vahdat township in Tajikistan, is planting pine trees on a rocky hillside to stop soil erosion.

The hillside, which sits 300 to 400 meters above sea level, has gradually lost soil to heavy rainfall over several years. This erosion threatens the safety of approximately 500 households located at the top of the cliff. Bobokhonov manages 1.5 hectares of this specific plot, despite the land producing no crops for sale.

He pays a yearly land tax of 150 somoni to maintain the area. To overcome the challenges of saline soil and scarce water, he installed a drip irrigation system that draws water from a nearby canal into storage barrels. The project also received more than 2,500 pine seedlings through an internationally supported environmental initiative. The farmer and his son perform most of the maintenance, including monitoring the irrigation lines and replacing dead saplings.

They occasionally organize a hashar, a traditional practice of voluntary community work, to involve other villagers in the effort. While the trees are currently small, their roots are expected to stabilize the ground over time. The project aims to protect the homes above by slowing the impact of rainwater on the barren landscape.