DARCA (Desertification and Regeneration: Modelling the Impact of Market Reforms on Central Asian Rangelands) is a three-year, EU-funded project that will contribute to policies promoting environmentally sustainable and profitable pastoral livestock industries in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Remote-sensed data is being used to identify desertification patterns at selected sites. Satellite-based environmental assessments are also being combined with inter-disciplinary field studies that show why grazing systems are changing and how these changes affect desertification processes. Results of these studies will be integrated into a model that predicts how pastoral households will respond to changes in government policy, shifts in market prices or fluctuations in stock numbers. The model will be used to forecast the environmental impact of alternative policies and to identify improved husbandry practices for private flock operators. Results will be disseminated to national policy makers, international donor agencies, and representatives of local producer groups. Training and material support provided by the project will improve the capacity of Central Asian research institutes to conduct similar work in the future.