Biodiversity in Central Asia

Biodiversity

in Central Asia A Visual Synthesis

Biodiversity in Central Asia: A Visual Synthesis

based on official country information to the Convention on Biological Diversity, scientific papers and news The publication has been supported by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN).

The publication aims to contribute to the Aichi Biodiversity Targets 1 and 19 by sharing information and improving public knowledge of biodiversity values, functions, status and trends, main threats and societal responses.

© Zoï Environment Network 2011

This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part in any form for educational or non-profit purposes without special permission from the copyright holders, provided acknowledgement of the source is made. Zoï Environment Network would appreciate receiving a copy of any material that uses this publication as a source. No use of this publication may be made for resale or for any commercial purpose whatsoever without prior permission in written form from the copyright holders. The use of information from this publication concerning proprietary products for advertising is not permitted.

The views expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect views of the partner organizations and governments.

The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Mention of a commercial company or product does not imply endorsement by the cooperating partners. We regret any errors or omissions that may unwittingly have been made.

Concept: Viktor Novikov, Otto Simonett Maps and graphics: Matthias Beilstein, Viktor Novikov Text: Alex Kirby Design and layout: Carolyne Daniel Contributors: Neimatullo Safarov, Tatiana Novikova, Ilia Domashev, Asem Sadykova, Gulmira Kabanbayeva, Jakhan Annachariyeva, Lina Valdshmit, David Duthie, Martine Rohn-Brossard, Andreas Obrecht, Yann Demont, Geoff Hughes

Contents

08

Central Asia and Global Biodiversity

Biodiversity Richness of Central Asia

50

56

Biodiversity Services and Products

70

Safeguarding Biodiversity

30

Challenges for Biodiversity

Foreword A profusion of high mountain ranges rise from the vast flatlands of deserts and steppes in Central Asia and host a rich variety of indigenous and endemic flora and fauna in a range of vibrant ecosystems. Arctic, Mediterranean and Indo-Eurasian species meet and interact in the same East–West crossroads where culture and trade intersect. This hotbed of diversity is an important global treasure and one we must protect. Fortunately, Central Asian nations participate in the main international conventions related to the issue. All Central Asian countries are members of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the UNESCO World Heritage Convention and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, and most are members of the Convention on Migratory Species, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.

However, progress toward meeting the objectives of these conventions has been uneven, and the 2010 global biodiversity targets were not achieved. Meeting the 2020 Aichi Biodiversity Targets will require a coordinated effort to implement the 2011-2020 Strategic Plan for Biodiversity and the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing. Close cooperation and coordination between relevant multilateral environment agreements and institutions will be crucial. In this way biodiversity management can benefit from increased synergies, as experience in other areas such as chemical and waste management has shown. With this in mind, this report provides a synthesis of biodiversity information in Central Asia prepared by experts to communicate the challenges of biodiversity protection to global and national audiences. Importantly, the information is presented primarily in a visual format intended to help educators and decision-makers in agriculture, forestry and fisheries understand the scale and complexities of the task ahead.

Regional biodiversity problems became apparent 50 years ago with the disappearance of tigers, and a number of alarming trends have followed. The Aral Sea ecosystem has essentially died, and Issyk-Kul Lake in Kyrgyzstan has experienced a collapse of its fisheries over the past 10 years, and is highly endangered. The teresken bush in the Tajik Pamirs, an important food source for both wild and domestic animals, faces eradication as a result of overgrazing and fuelwood harvesting. Overexploitation of this kind is one of five pressures on biodiversity highlighted in this report. The other four are climate change, pollution, habitat fragmentation and invasive species.

In spite of the missed targets and negative trends, there is much to celebrate – the twentieth anniversaries of national independence of the Central Asian countries, the Rio Conventions and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). This joint anniversary is more than symbolic. Cooperation between the GEF and Central Asian countries has included projects covering a range of ecosystems from deserts to seas to high mountains, and interventions from policy development to education to demonstration projects and many small improvements and innovations.

These efforts have produced instances of transboundary cooperation and the joint planning of nature reserves, ecosystem corridors and the protection of natural areas.

Foreign support has also been important in Central Asia. For example, Switzerland has been active there for more than 15 years, providing support for water management, forestry and sustainable mountain development including pasture management, organic agriculture and biodiversity services. A recent example of Swiss assistance is the development of mechanisms for payments for ecosystem services. Switzerland and the Central Asian countries are members of the same GEF group, and with their history of bilateral support, the Swiss are well positioned to represent Central Asia in discussions with the GEF, the World Bank and other prospective donors.

Overall, there is much to look forward to when it comes to preserving biodiversity both globally and in Central Asia.

As the 2011-2020 UN Decade on Biodiversity unfolds, this volume will undoubtedly make a key contribution to those efforts.

Bern - Montreal - Geneva

Franz Perrez

10 January 2012

Ambassador, Head of International Affairs Division, Swiss Federal Office for the Environment

Ahmed Djoghlaf

Executive Secretary Convention on Biological Diversity

Otto Simonett

Director Zoi Environment Network

Indicators

Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan

Tajikistan

Turkmenistan Uzbekistan

Population growth and pressure on ecosystems Habitat fragmentation and pollution Climate change impacts Over-exploitation of biodiversity Challenges of alien invasive species and biosafety Ecological footprint Forest and other wooded land, area Change in status of threatened species Fish resources and catch: marine Fish resources and catch: freshwater Genetic resources of agrobiodiversity (domestic animals, plants) Food production Agricultural and forest areas under sustainable management Protected areas (number, coverage): terrestrial Protected areas (number, coverage): aquatic Protected areas and ecological corridors: cross-border cooperation Protected areas: management and conservation efficiency Afforestation efforts, forest fires and diseases control Botanical gardens, zoos, nurseries, ex-situ conservation Policies and measures on biodiversity: planning Policies and measures on biodiversity: implementation progress Biodiversity monitoring, forest inventory Sources of information: the latest country biodiversity reports to the CBD, the latest UNECE environmental performance reviews, expert interviews.

This table was distributed at the Istanbul regional workshop on biodiversity (17-20 October 2011, Turkey) to catalyse discussions on gaps, priorities and lessons for biodiversity conservation.

Positive or stable trends:

increase, improvement no negative changes reduction of pressures

Negative trends:

Mixed trends:

growing pressures deteriorating capacities or effeciency

no data

Central Asia and Global Biodiversity

Biodiversity in Central Asia

R U S S I A

K A Z A K H S T A N

Forest cover per person

Arable land per person

hectares per person 0.9 Turkmenistan 0.8 Kazakhstan 0.7

hectares per person 1.6 Kazakhstan 1.4

1.2

0.6

1.0

0.5 0.4

KYRGYZSTAN

AZR TURKMENISTAN

UZBEKISTAN TAJIKISTAN

I R A N

AFGHANISTAN

Kyrgyzstan

0.3

CHINA

Uzbekistan

0.2

Tajikistan

0.1

PAKISTAN INDIA

Turkmenistan

0.8

0

Kyrgyzstan

0.6

Uzbekistan

0.4

Tajikistan

0.2 0

Source: FAOSTAT (faostat.fao.org), data for 2010

Source: FAOSTAT (faostat.fao.org), data for 2010

Gross Domestic Product inputs by sectors

Gross National Income per person Current U.S. dollars per capita, thousand 9

per cent 100

8

90

7

80 70

6

Agriculture

Industry

60

5

50

4

40

Kazakhstan

3 2

Uzbekistan

1 0

Kyrgyzstan

1994

1996

1998

Source: World Development Indicators (data.worldbank.org/indicator)

Central Asia and Global Biodiversity

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

Services

20 10 0

Tajikistan

1992

10

30

Turkmenistan

KAZ

TKM

UZB

TJK

KYR

Source: World Development Indicators, data for 2009

A Visual Synthesis

Population pyramids: Central Asian nations in 2010 Age group, years 75-79

Uzbekistan

Tajikistan

Kazakhstan

Kyrgyzstan

Turkmenistan

0.25 0 0.25

0.25 0 0.25

65-69 55-59 45-49 35-39 25-29 15-19 10-14 0-4 Population, millions

0

0.5

1

0.5

0

0.5

0.5

0

0.5

Source: U.S. Census Bureau (www.census.gov/population/international/data/idb/), data for 2010

Population growth in Central Asia Population, million 35

30 Uzbekistan 25

20 Kazakhstan 15

10 Kyrgyzstan

Tajikistan

5 Turkmenistan 0

1951

1955

1960

1965

1970

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

2005

2010

2015

2020

Source: U.S. Census Bureau (www.census.gov/population/international/data/idb/), data for 2010

11

Biodiversity in Central Asia

Rural population

R U S S I A

per cent of total 100

Astana

90

K A Z A K H S T A N

80 70 60

AZR Baku

Teheran

Bishkek Tashkent KYRGYZSTAN UZBEKISTAN Dushanbe TURKMENISTAN TAJIKISTAN Ashgabat

I R A N

Mountain Range

AFGHANISTAN

PAKISTAN

Desert and semi-desert

50

C H I NA

40

Land use

8.4% 68.8%

Tajikistan

Kazakhstan 22.9%

Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan Turkm.

6.7%

Kaz.

30 20 10

INDIA

0.1%

0.4%

48.9%

Kyrgyzstan 44%

0 Steppe

Source: World Development Indicators, data for 2010

Central Asia is a largely arid region consisting mainly of steppes, deserts and mountains, though with some more fertile parts, like the Ferghana Valley, which is shared

by Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan (the two other countries of the region are Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan). It stretches from the borders of China to the shores of the Caspian Sea, and from Russia to Afghanistan. Traversed by the ancient trade routes known as the Silk Road which linked China and Asia Minor, the region earned a reputation as a crossroads through which goods, people and ideas passed between the furthest reaches of Asia and the whole of Europe. Central Asia was formerly under Soviet rule, and 2011 marks the twentieth anniversary of independence of all five countries.

Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan have the most extensive pastures of the five, and specialize as well in the mining and extraction sectors. Uzbekistan, the most populous country, has a variety of industries, although many of its people work in agriculture. It is among the world’s leading countries in cotton production. The mountain states of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have huge potential hydropower reserves, but still have too little fossil fuel energy for their needs. A large part of the rural population of both countries has migrated abroad in search of work.

Despite difficult times immediately after the Soviet collapse, the Central Asian economies have grown rapidly in the past decade, and poverty has been reduced, although growing numbers of people mean there is less land, forest and water available per head (the region is home to more than 60 million people).

5.3% 1%

Tajikistan

27.6%

66.1%

0.1% 3.9% 65.3%

Turkmenistan 30.6%

0.8% 10.1% 51.7%

Uzbekistan 37.4%

Pastures

Arable land

Permanent crops

Other land

Source: FAOSTAT (faostat.fao.org), data for 2010

12

Central Asia and Global Biodiversity

A Visual Synthesis

Central Asia possesses unique importance for the Earth’s biodiversity. It is in the heart of the Eurasian landmass, it contains a very wide variety of landscapes and climates, and the ecosystems and different species it harbours are immensely varied. Many of them are of global as well as regional importance. Both the historical record of impacts on its ecosystems and current trends in the changes affecting them today show that Central Asia’s water ecosystems and those affected by agriculture, together with forests, are the features most vulnerable to a mix of human influences.

Some of the most important of these are climate change, invasive species, the degradation of habitats, over-use of resources, and pollution. Many of the most harmful of the human impacts on Central Asia occurred during the decades of Soviet rule: one example is the treatment of the Aral Sea which straddles the border between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The Aral Sea basin was designated by Moscow for growing cotton and now suffers the effects of massive loss of water caused by ill-judged irrigation projects, saturation by pesticide overload, high salinity levels and severe problems for human health.

There has been a direct impact on many of Central Asia’s most distinctive species. The snow leopard is now extremely rare throughout most of its range. The last tigers in the region are thought to have been killed in the 1950s. The Caspian’s sturgeons and seals have been severely over-exploited and the saiga antelope is critically endangered.

Relative importance of impacts on ecosystems and trends Habitat Climate Invasive Pollution Overuse change change species

Evergreen forests Wild fruit and nut forests Desert forests Tugai and riparian forests Deserts and semi-deserts Steppes High mountains (>2500 m) Rivers, lakes, reservoirs Aral and Caspian Seas Agroecosystems Historical impacts since the 1950s: High

Moderate

Low

Current and ongoing trends: Increasing impact

Continuing impact

Decreasing impact

Sources of information: the latest country biodiversity reports to the CBD, the latest UNECE environmental performance reviews and expert interviews. This table was distributed at the Istanbul regional workshop on biodiversity (17-20 October 2011, Turkey) to catalyse discussions on gaps and priorities for biodiversity conservation. The regional situation may differ from country level. The authors hope that in the new generation of the national biodiversity strategies and action plans countries will report their specific situations in similar fashion.

13

Biodiversity in Central Asia

Global Living Planet Index 1970 = 1 1.6

Ecological Footprint Number of Earths 2

Global hectares per person 8 United States of America

1.4 1.5

1.2 1.0

← Biocapacity

7

1

0.8

Ecological Footprint and Biocapacity

0.6 0.5

0.4

6

0.2 0

Switzerland

1970

1980

1990

0

2000 2007

Source: WWF Living Planet Report 2010

1970

1980

1990

2000 2007

Source: Ecological Footprint Atlas 2010

The Living Planet Index assesses the state of biological diversity by measuring trends in global populations of vertebrates.

The Index was developed by the conservation group WWF with the UN Environment Programme’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre: WWF is now working with the Zoological Society of London. Between 1970 and 2007 the index fell by 28%, suggesting to scientists that humans are degrading ecosystems faster than ever before.

The ecological footprint measures human demands on planetary ecosystems. It represents how much biologically productive land and sea is needed to supply human consumption and to cope with the resulting waste. So it is possible to estimate how much of the Earth is needed to support the entire human population at a particular lifestyle. In 2007 the footprint was estimated at 1.5 Earths, meaning humans were consuming resources 1.5 times faster than the planet could renew them.

Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan have the highest ecological footprints in Central Asia, more than the world average, mainly due to their high carbon footprints (greenhouse gas emissions). Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have the lowest footprints.

Of all the Central Asian states, only Kyrgyzstan’s footprint lies within the country’s biological capacity.

5

Kazakhstan Russian Federation Turkmenistan

4

Nepal Brazil

3

WORLD China

2

Uzbekistan Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan India

1

0 Carbon Footprint Grazing Land

Fishing Grounds Cropland

Forest Land

Built-up Land

Source: Ecological Footprint Atlas 2010, data for 2007

14

Central Asia and Global Biodiversity

Biocapacity: biologically productive land and productivity

A Visual Synthesis

s

a

Omskk

5 Petropavlovsk o

n Kostanay

Kokshetau o

Lake Uvs

sh Irty

Ural

a

z

k

C a

Makhachkalaa

u Nukus

Turkmenbashi

a 2

or Gorgan

r

a

Mary

Bojnurd

Tehran

I

Turkmenabat

n

Tejen

Sari A l b o r z

Ashgabat b

10

mu Da rya

Mashad

12

Karshi

Almaty

Bishkek h

Ysik-Kol

Tashkent a

Mazar-e Sharif

Afghanistan Herat

h s k u u n d H i Kabul a

n

Aksu

Korla im Tar

T a k l a m a k a n

C h i n a

P a m i r 15

Hotan

Korug

P

u Kunduz

a

mo Qie

Kashgar

Dushanbe T a j i k i s t a n p Qurghonteppa

h

Turp

i

T

16

Termiz

S

K y r g y z s t a n 18 e n

14

Shihezi Urumqi Ghulja

19

Jalalabad Kokand Osh Kujand rghana Ferghana

Jizakh

S Samarkand A

3

17

e Shymkent

am Karamay

Taldykorgan g ga

Ili

Chu

13

Bukhara

K a r a k u m

Ka 4 Can raku al m

20 LLake Alakol

11

U z b e k i s t a n

Turkmenistan

k Balkanabat

n

Lake Balkhash

K y z y l k u m

Urganch

Dashoguz

a Rasht

Qom

111

a

Altay

22

Lake Zaysan

Balkhash

9 Kyzylorda

11

S e

Baku Ba aku

t

a ary rD Sy

a n s p i

AZR

Baikonur

Eastern Arall Sea

Western Aral Sea

s

Sar ysu

Northern e Aral Sea S

Aktau

h

Zhezkazgan

an j

Astrakhan

a

8

7

Yarka nd

K Atyrau

23

21

Karaganda n 2

A l t a i

24

Semey

Temirtau

Tengiz Lake

sey Yeni

Pavlodar

6

Astana

Aktobe

Barnaul n

Ob

7

5

Orenburg

Oral 1

i

Magnitogorsk

Volga

ra Saratov

s

Ish im

Samara

u

Tob ol

R

Novosibirsk N

Chelyabinsk

Ufa

K

ar ak or um Pakistan

Gilgit

Peshawar

S Srinagar

I n d i a

Key ecosystem communities 1

Pontic steppe

9

Central Asian northern desert

17 Tian Shan montane conifer forests

2

Caspian lowland desert

10

Central Asian southern desert

18 Tian Shan montane steppe and meadows

3

Kopet Dag semi-desert

11 Central Asian riparian woodlands

19 Tian Shan foothill arid steppe

4

Kopet Dag woodlands and forest steppe

12

Badghyz and Karabil semi-desert

20 Emin Valley steppe

5

Kazakh forest steppe

13

Alai-Western Tian Shan steppe

21 Altai steppe and semi-desert

6

Kazakh steppe

14

Gissaro-Alai open woodlands

22 Junggar Basin semi-desert

7

Kazakh upland

15

Pamir alpine desert and tundra

23 Altai alpine meadow and tundra

8

Kazakh semi-desert

16

Rock and Ice

24 Altai montane forest and forest steppe

Source: World Wildlife Fund: Ecoregions of the World (→ www.worldwildlife.org/science/ecoregions/item1267.html)

15

Biodiversity in Central Asia

The Aichi Biodiversity Targets The world largely failed to meet the 2010 Biodiversity Target to halt the decline of biodiversity set 10 years ago. So a revised and updated Strategic Plan for Biodiversity, including the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, to run from 2011 to 2020, was adopted at the 10th conference of the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity at its meeting in Japan, in October 2010.

They represent a new approach, including tackling the drivers of change. Among their provisions, they require signatories to address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss “by

Strategic Goal A Address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss by mainstreaming biodiversity across government and society

mainstreaming biodiversity across government and society�, to reduce direct pressures on biodiversity and promote sustainable use. They seek to improve the status of biodiversity by safeguarding ecosystems, species and genetic diversity, and to enhance the benefits to all from biodiversity and ecosystem services. The Central Asian nations are determined to achieve the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, and a joint approach and synergies with socio-economic development priorities are important for success.

1. People are aware of the values of biodiversity and the steps they can take to conserve and use it sustainably.

2. Biodiversity values have been integrated into national and local development and poverty reduction strategies and planning processes and are being incorporated into national accounting, as appropriate, and reporting systems.

3. Incentives, including subsidies,harmful to biodiversity are eliminated, phased out or reformed in order to minimize or avoid negative impacts, and positive incentives for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity are developed and applied, consistent and in harmony with the Convention and other relevant international obligations, taking into account national socio economic conditions.

4. Governments, business and stakeholders at all levels have taken steps to achieve or have implemented plans for sustainable production and consumption and have kept the impacts of use of natural resources well within safe ecological limits.

Strategic Goal B Reduce the direct pressures on biodiversity and promote sustainable use

5. The rate of loss of all natural habitats, including forests, is at least halved and where feasible brought close to zero, and degradation and fragmentation is significantly reduced.

6. All fish and invertebrate stocks and aquatic plants are managed and harvested sustainably, legally and applying ecosystem based approaches, so that overfishing is avoided, recovery plans and measures are in place for all depleted species, fisheries have no significant adverse impacts on threatened species and vulnerable ecosystems and the impacts of fisheries on stocks, species and ecosystems are within safe ecological limits.

7. Areas under agriculture, aquaculture and forestry are managed sustainably, ensuring conservation of biodiversity.

8. Pollution, including from excess nutrients, has been brought to levels that are not detrimental to ecosystem function and biodiversity.

9. Invasive alien species and pathways are identified and prioritized, priority species are controlled or eradicated, and measures are in place to manage pathways to prevent their introduction and establishment.

10. By 2015, the multiple anthropogenic pressures on coral reefs, and other vulnerable ecosystems impacted by climate change or ocean acidification are minimized, so as to maintain their integrity and functioning.

16

Central Asia and Global Biodiversity

A Visual Synthesis

Strategic Goal C Improve the status of biodiversity by safeguarding ecosystems, species and genetic diversity

11. At least 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland water, and 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services, are conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and integrated into the wider landscape and seascapes.

12. The extinction of known threatened species has been prevented and their conservation status, particularly of those most in decline, has been improved and sustained.

13. The genetic diversity of cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and of wild relatives, including other socio-economically as well as culturally valuable species, is maintained, and strategies have been developed and implemented for minimizing genetic erosion and safeguarding their genetic diversity.

Strategic Goal D

14. Ecosystems that provide essential services, including services related to water, and contribute to health, livelihoods and wellbeing, are restored and safeguarded, taking into account the needs of women, indigenous and local communities, and the poor and vulnerable.

Enhance the benefits to all from biodiversity and ecosystem services.

15. Ecosystem resilience and the contribution of biodiversity to carbon stocks has been enhanced, through conservation and restoration, including restoration of at least 15 per cent of degraded ecosystems, thereby contributing to climate change mitigation and adaptation and to combating desertification.

16. By 2015, the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization is in force and operational, consistent with national legislation.

Strategic Goal E Enhance implementation through participatory planning, knowledge management and capacity building

17. By 2015 each Party has developed, adopted as a policy instrument, and has commenced implementing an effective, participatory and updated national biodiversity strategy and action plan.

18. The traditional knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and their customary use of biological resources, are respected, subject to national legislation and relevant international obligations, and fully integrated and reflected in the implementation of the Convention with the full and effective participation of indigenous and local communities, at all relevant levels.

19. Knowledge, the science base and technologies relating to biodiversity, its values, functioning, status and trends, and the consequences of its loss, are improved, widely shared and transferred, and applied.

20. The mobilization of financial resources for effectively implementing the Strategic Plan 2011- 2020 from all sources and in accordance with the consolidated and agreed process in the Strategy for Resource Mobilization should increase substantially from the current levels.

Target 20 will be subject to changes contingent to resources needs assessments to be developed and reported by Parties.

17

Biodiversity in Central Asia

International and Regional Biodiversity-related Agreements The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), an Convention oninternational legally binding treaty, aims to conserve biodiversity, to ensure that it is used sustainably, and Biological Diversity to see that the benefits derived from genetic resources are shared fairly. Parties to the convention number 193 Convention on countries: they include all five nations of Central Asia.

Biological Diversity It was opened for signature at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro on 5 June 1992 and entered into force on 29 December 1993. The convention recognizes that conserving biological diversity is “a common concern of humankind� and is integral to development. The agreement covers all ecosystems, species and genetic

resources. It links traditional conservation efforts to the economic goal of using biodiversity sustainably.

The convention insists that, where there is a threat of significant reduction or loss of biodiversity, lack of full scientific certainty can never be a reason for postponing action to avoid or minimize the threat. The convention encourages countries to develop national strategies for sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity and to report about progress. All Central Asian nations are about to update their national biodiversity strategies and action plans in the light of lessons learnt and of the Aichi Targets.

Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety is an interConvention onThe national agreement intended to supplement the Biological Diversity Convention on Biological Diversity. It entered into

human health. It makes clear that products from new technologies must be based on the precautionary principle and allows nations to balance public health against economic benefits. It also requires exporters to label shipments which contain genetically-altered commodities such as agricultural crops. Central Asian nations are currently developing their national biosafety frameworks and clearing house mechanisms for comprehensive legal and instrumental control of LMOs.

Cartagena Protocol

Nagoya Protocol

18

force on 11 September 2003 and has more than 150 parties (countries), including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. The protocol aims to ensure the safe handling, transport and use of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology that may have adverse effects on biodiversity, taking into account as well possible risks to

Convention onThe Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits arising Biological Diversity

from their Utilization (ABS) is an international agreement which forms part of the Convention on Biological Diversity. It was adopted by the tenth Conference of the Parties to the CBD in Nagoya, Japan, in 2010. The protocol aims to share the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources in a fair and equitable way,

including by appropriate access to the resources and technology transfer. It seeks to do this by taking into account all rights over those resources and technologies, and by appropriate funding, contributing to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. From the five Central Asian states, so far it has been signed only by the Tajik Foreign Minister, on 20 September 2011 in New York.

The Ramsar Convention (the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, especially as Waterfowl Habitat) is an international treaty aimed at conserving wetlands and using them sustainably, by slowing encroachment on them and promoting recognition of their ecological importance. It takes its name from the Iranian city on the southern Caspian Sea where it was adopted on 2 February 1971, coming into force on 21 December 1975.

The Ramsar Convention is the only global environmental

treaty which addresses the needs of a particular type of ecosystem. The list of wetlands of international importance currently includes around 2,000 sites. Its broad definition of wetlands includes lakes and rivers, swamps and marshes, wet grasslands and peatlands, oases, estuaries, deltas and tidal flats, mangroves and coral reefs, and human-made sites such as reservoirs, and salt pans.

The Convention has 160 parties (countries), including all the nations of Central Asia.

Central Asia and Global Biodiversity

A Visual Synthesis

The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (the Bonn Convention or CMS) aims to conserve the world’s migratory species on land, sea and in the air. The convention was signed in 1979 in Bonn and entered into force in 1983, and unites116 parties (countries), including Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. CMS parties try to provide strict protection to the 176 species (as of November 2011) threatened with extinction which are listed in the Convention’s Appendix I, conserving or restoring the places where they live, reducing

obstacles to migration and controlling other threats to them. Species which need or would significantly benefit from international co-operation are listed in Appendix II. The Convention encourages states where these species live to conclude regional agreements, which may be legally binding or less formal. Several existing agreements include ones which aim to conserve marine mammals, and birds which migrate between Africa, Asia and Europe. There are also memoranda of understanding on the protection of the Bukhara deer and the saiga.

CITES is the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. It aims to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. Parties to the convention number 175 countries: they include Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The convention entered into force on 1 July 1975. Species protected by CITES against over-exploitation by international trade number about 5,000 animals and 28,000 plants. Those listed on the convention’s Appendix I are the most endangered and are threatened

with extinction: international trade in them is banned except for certain non-commercial purposes, such as scientific research. Appendix II lists species that are not necessarily threatened with extinction now but which may become so unless trade is closely controlled, while Appendix III lists species included at the request of a country that already regulates trade in the species and that needs the cooperation of other countries to prevent unsustainable or illegal exploitation. Central Asia’s species listed by CITES include snow leopard, brown bear and saiga antelope.

The World Heritage Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage was adopted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on 16 November 1972. UNESCO has 193 member states, including all the nations of Central Asia. Currently UNESCO maintains a list of 936 World Heritage Sites,

places such as forests, mountains, lakes, deserts, buildings and cities which it has identified as being of special cultural or natural significance. Kazakhstan has three sites, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan one each, Turkmenistan three and Uzbekistan four. Many more country sites are listed as tentative pending endorsement.

The Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea (the Tehran Convention) was signed on 4 November 2003 in Tehran.

The five Caspian countries, including Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, are members. Its objective is to protect the Caspian Sea environment from pollution and to promote the protection, restoration and rational use of the biological resources of the Sea. The protocol concerning regional preparedness, response and cooperation in oil pollution incidents was signed in August 2011 and three other protocols are being discussed: on land-based sources of pollution, on transboundary environmental impact assessment, and on biodiversity protection.

The Framework Convention on Environ­ mental Protection and Sustainable Development in Central Asia was adopted in November 2006. Aiming to strengthen regional environmental cooperation, it has five priorities: air pollution, water pollution, land degradation, waste management and mountain ecosystem degradation. Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan have signed the convention. Another important regional process is the Aral Sea Basin Programme of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) which addresses environmental and socio-economic problems and biodiversity-related projects in the Aral Sea basin.

CMS

19

Biodiversity in Central Asia

R

U

S

S

I

A

Chelyabinsk

Elevation in metres

Omsk

Petropavlovsk

Ob

Saratov

Semipalatinsk

Saryarka

Volg a

Ura l

Aktobe

h

s

Astana

Uralsk

Karaganda

K

A

Z

A

K

H

S

T

A

Lake Zaysan

N

Atyrau

ry s

u

Lake Balkhash

Sa

Aral Sea S

yr

Aktau

Baku

Da

ry a

Shihezi

Taldykorgan

Kyzylorda

Yining

Tamgaly Petroglyphs Ch Mausoleum of Khoja Almaty Ahmed Yasawi

u

Caspian Sea

Tacheng

Lake Alakol

Astrakhan

AZR

2000 1000 500 200 100

I rt y

Pavlodar

Orenburg

Makhachkala

Barnaul

Ishi m

Samara

Ufa

Turkestan

UZBEKISTAN Karabogazgol Turkmenbashi

Dashoguz

Nukus

Aydar Lake

Ysyk-Kol

Bishkek

KYRGYZSTAN i

Shymkent

Urganch

TURKMENISTAN

Taraz

Tashkent Khujand

Kokand

T

Osh Fergana

e

S n

h

a

n

Aksu

C H I N A

Protected areas in Kazakhstan Protected areas

UNESCO natural world heritage

Tentative UNESCO natural world heritage

RAMSAR sites (Convention on wetlands of international importance especially as waterfowl habitat)

UNESCO cultural world heritage

Tentative UNESCO cultural world heritage

Kazakhstan, the largest country in Central Asia, contains a variety of habitats. Arid lowlands with steppes, semi-deserts, and deserts comprise more than 80% of the land area. Mountains occupy another 10% of the territory. Thousands of small lakes, rivers, Lake Balkhash, the Caspian and Aral Seas further add to the diversity of ecosystems. Forests occupy only 4.6% of the total land area, and artificial forest plantations make up 10% 20

Central Asia and Global Biodiversity

of all forests. The protected areas of Kazakhstan have nearly doubled in size and coverage over the last decade and now cover 8.6% of the country. Kazakh strategy for protected areas system expansion calls for a further increase of strict nature reserves and national parks. The current system includes: ten strict nature reserves (“zapovedniks�), twelve national parks, more than fifty species management areas, nine Ramsar

A Visual Synthesis

Flora diversity

Flora species density in Kazakhstan

Number of species, thousand Vascular plants

Number of species per 10000 km

in Kazakhstan

6

Red-listed

5 4

2

Vascular plants

400

300

400

150 100

1

Endemics

0 Source: Kazakhstan’s Fourth National Report for the UN Convention Biodiversity (2010)

50 0 Source: Kazakhstan’s Fourth National Report for the UN Convention Biodiversity (2010)

sites, several other protected landscapes, buffer zones around strict nature reserves and parks, sustainable nature use areas (“reservates”) and nature monuments.

Large mammals in Kazakhstan have declined almost everywhere, mainly because of habitat loss. Some species are hunted - such as wolf and wild goat. Threatened and endangered mammals include the Bukhara deer, wild ass, goitered gazelle, desman, Central Asian otter and Menzbier’s marmot.

More positively, the saiga antelope living in the southern steppes and semi-deserts recovered from near-extinction. Among 12 amphibians is the unique Semirechye salamander. Rare mountain species are the endangered snow leopard, Tien-Shan bear, wild sheep and vultures. Wetlands host greater flamingoes and relict gulls. The Caspian Sea basin holds 90% of the world’s sturgeons and the endemic Caspian seals. With extensive governmental and international support, the level of the northern Aral Sea has stabilized and fisheries slightly recovered.

Disclaimer: the map and graph of protected areas show the entire protected area network and its evolution, including buffer zones and protected territories/ water areas both with and without a legal entity.

Invertebrates over 50 000

10 000 500

200

2

in Kazakhstan

Number of species

350

250

3

Fauna diversity

Red-listed

300 200 100 0

Birds Mammals Reptiles

Fish Amphibians

Source: Kazakhstan’s Fourth National Report for the UN Convention Biodiversity (2010)

Protected areas in Kazakhstan

Protected areas in 2010

Area, thousand hectares

per cent of total land area

25 000

20 000

other national parks nature reserves

15 000 Forest cover in 2010

10 000

per cent of total land area

5 000

0

1992

2000

2010

21

Biodiversity in Central Asia

Zhangatas

K A Z A K H S T A N Qaratau

Esik

Chu Tokmok

Bishkek Kyzyl Adyr

T

Almaliq

Kairakkum Res. Khujand Bekabad Isfara Batken

Ferghana Khaydarkan

Isfana

Jalal-Abad

Andijan

At-Bashy

Chatyr-Kol

K

Sulaiman-Too

Osh Jangy-Nookat

Kyzyt-Kyya

a i A l yl-Suu Kyz

Gulcho

R

a

n

g

T

a

k

s

h

a

o

l

a

n

a

h

S

n

Naryn

Baetov

Kochkor-Ata

a Dary Ferghana Valley Qoqand Marghilan

Syr

Gulistan

4000 3000 2000 1000 500

Aqsu

o an

Aqsu Wushi

Bachu

e r Kashga

Wuqia

Sary-Tash

Kashgar

C

Daroot-Korgon

H

T a k l a m a k a n

I

N

A

Garm

Yark an

d

Istaravshan

Namangan

Kyzyt-Suu

Bokonbaev

e

i

Naryn

Tash-Komur

Angren

Balykchy Y s y k - K o l

Song-Kol

Toktogul Reservoir Kara-Kol Chirchiq

Tup Karakol

Cholpon-Ata

K Y R G Y Z S T A N

Toktogul

Tashkent UZBEKISTAN

Kemin

Kochkor

Shymkent

Elevation in metres

Almaty

To sh k

Tole Bi Shu

Tala s

Karakul

T A J I K I S T A N Dushanbe Kaiaikhum Protected Pa Vahdat areas in Kyrgyzstan nj Nurek Protected areas

RAMSAR sites (Convention on wetlands of international importance especially as waterfowl habitat) Biospheric territories

Murgab UNESCO natural world heritage

Tentative UNESCO natural world heritage

UNESCO cultural world heritage

Tentative UNESCO cultural world heritage

Kyrgyzstan is dominated by the mountains of the Tien Shan and Alai, important in providing fresh water to other Central Asian states and the western part of China. Mountains occupy over 90% of the territory, sheltering a unique and varied range of ecosystems. Local scientists distinguish more than 20 different ecosystems in Kyrgyzstan. Many have been affected by

22

Central Asia and Global Biodiversity

overgrazing and deforestation, and the Kyrgyz mountain forests have significantly declined in the 20th century, threatening many species with extinction and increasing risk of erosion and disasters. Forests currently cover about 4.5% of the land area of Kyrgyzstan. Spruce, juniper and fruit-and-nut forests are the main types of national forests.

A Visual Synthesis

Flora diversity

Flora species density in Kyrgyzstan

Number of species, thousand Vascular plants

Number of species per 10000 km

in Kyrgyzstan

in Kyrgyzstan

2

Vascular plants

400

6 5 4

Fauna diversity

Red-listed

500

300

400

200 150

2

100 1 Endemics

0 Source: Kyrgyzstan’s Fourth National Report for the UN Convention Biodiversity (2010)

50 0 Source: Kyrgyzstan’s Fourth National Report for the UN Convention Biodiversity (2010)

The existing network of protected areas in Kyrgyzstan includes ten strict nature reserves, nine national parks, more than forty species management areas and numerous nature monuments, covering 6.3% of the land area. In 2003 Kyrgyzstan assigned the special status of “biosphere territory” to the entire Issyk-Kul province in the eastern part of the country. If this territory is added, the ecosystems under protection would cover one quarter of the country. Since independence, many protected areas have been operating on reduced budgets, staffing and equipment. There has been some improvement in recent years to involve local communities in forest and pasture management and advance species monitoring and conservation in international projects.

Many species of animals like the goitered gazelle, great bustard and imperial eagle are no longer found. Critically endangered are wild pomegranates and several tulip varieties including the glitter tulip (Tulipa nitida), Ostrovskiy tulip (T. ostrowskiana), pink tulip (T. rosea). Rare species like the grey monitor lizard, marbled polecat, snow leopard and brown bear remain in an extremely dangerous situation.

Invertebrates over 10 000

10 000

350

250

3

Number of species

Red-listed

300 200 100 0

Birds Mammals Reptiles

Fish Amphibians

Source: Kyrgyzstan’s Fourth National Report for the UN Convention Biodiversity (2010)

Protected areas in Kyrgyzstan

Protected areas in 2010 per cent of total land area

Area, thousand hectares

1 400 1 200

other national parks nature reserves

1 000 800

Including the Issyk-Kul biosphere territory

Forest cover in 2010

600

per cent of total land area

400 200 0

1992

2000

2010

The graph does not include the Issyk-Kul biosphere territory.

23

Biodiversity in Central Asia

Chirchiq Saryaghash Parkent Abay Tashkent Angren

Shardara Shardara Reservoir

Aydar Lake Zhetisay

U Z B E K I S T A N

Panjakent

Aini

Kyzyl-Kyya

Isfana Khudgiv

T

Garm

A

Jirgatal

J

I

K

Tavildara Qala-i Khumb

Vahdat Nurek

S

T

A

Vomar nt Gu Korug

Murga

Murgab

Alichur

Langar

Taloqan Khanabad

b

Lake Sarez

B

Feyzabad

A F G H A N I S T A N

N

Savnob

j Pan

Emam Shaheb

Protected areas in Tajikistan

Taxkorgan

Shaymak

Langar

Khandut

P A K I S T A N Drasan

Pasu

Gakuch

Protected areas

UNESCO natural world heritage

Tentative UNESCO natural world heritage

RAMSAR sites (Convention on wetlands of international importance especially as waterfowl habitat)

UNESCO cultural world heritage

Tentative UNESCO cultural world heritage

Tajikistan is the smallest country of Central Asia, dominated by the Pamir, Gissar and Alai mountains, with 93% of its land considered mountainous and over half above 3 000 m. It boasts a wealth of biodiversity and a broad range of habitats, reflected in high species diversity and local flora endemism. Tajikistan’s ecosystems include nut, juniper, and broadleaf forests, alpine meadows and grasslands and high-mountain deserts.

24

I

Vanj

Kulob

Panj

a

Termiz Shahr-i Tuz Am u D Ayvaj ar y

C H I N A

Kara Kul Kara Kul

Sultonobod

Sherobod

Kashgar

Daroot-Korgon

Rogun

Qurghonteppa

Wuqia

Sary-Tash

nj

Vaks h

Qumqorgon

Ulugqat

K Y R G Y Z S T A N

Pa

Shorchi

4000 3000 2000 1000 500

Jangy-Nookat

u Aks

Denov

Tursunzoda

Elevation in metres

Gulcho

Fergana

Khaydarkan

Varzob

Dushanbe

Jalal-Abad Ozgon Osh

Isfara

Pastigov

Takfon

Shahrisabz

Boysun

Khujand

Bazar-Korgon

Uchqorgon

Andijan

Konibodom

Istaravshan

Samarkand Sarazm Zarafshon

Kokand

Shaydon

Bekabad

Jizzax

Urgut

Olmaliq

Sirdaryo Gulistan

Dostlik

Kosonsoy Namangan Darya Syr

art an g

K A Z A K H S T A N

Central Asia and Global Biodiversity

The protected area system includes four strict nature reserves, one national park (the Tajik National Park) covering nearly half of the Tajik Pamirs, Shirkent natural-historical park, five Ramsar sites, and more than a dozen species management areas. Overall, protected areas occupy 22% of the territory the highest percentage in Central Asia. They cover almost all representative ecosystems, although many protected areas

A Visual Synthesis

Flora diversity

Flora species density in Tajikistan

Number of species, thousand Vascular plants

Number of species per 10000 km

in Tajikistan

Fauna diversity in Tajikistan

2

Vascular plants

400

6

350

5 Red-listed

4

300

Number of species

10 000 500 400 Red-listed

250

3

200 150

2

100

1 Endemics

0 Source: Tajikistan’s Fourth National Report for the UN Convention Biodiversity (2010)

Invertebrates over 12 000

300 200 100

50 0 Source: Tajikistan’s Fourth National Report for the UN Convention Biodiversity (2010)

0

Birds Mammals Reptiles

Fish Amphibians

Source: Tajikistan’s Fourth National Report for the UN Convention Biodiversity (2010)

Protected areas are too small for effective protection and lack management plans, equipment and adequate budgets. Several protected areas were negatively affected by the civil war in the 1990s.

Forest resources are slender, covering only about 3% of Tajikistan. Juniper forests make up nearly half of national forests and play a crucial role in erosion control and water regulation. Walnut forests mixed with wild fruit trees as well as pistachio and almond forests occur in central and southern Tajikistan.

The existing Red List of Tajikistan dates back to the Soviet era (1988), although the new Red List is under preparation.

Almost half of all mammals and reptiles are included in the Red List. The status of the leopard and striped hyena is doubtful. Threatened species include the goitered gazelle, grey monitor, snow leopard, brown bear, argali (Marco Polo sheep) and markhor goat.

in Tajikistan

Protected areas in 2010

Area, thousand hectares

per cent of total land area

3 500 3 000

other national parks nature reserves

2 500 2 000 Forest cover in 2010

1 500

per cent of total land area

1 000 500 0

1992

2000

2010

25

Biodiversity in Central Asia

Fetisovo Elevation in metres

Chimboy

Kunya-Urgench Mangit Sarygamysh Boldumsaz Lake Dashoguz Urganch

Karabogazgol

Xiva

Bereket

K

Gonbad-e Kavus

p

e

Nisa

t

Bojnurd

R

a

Sabzevar

A

N

K a v i r

Protected areas in Turkmenistan

Am

Ashgabat D

g

Neyshabur

Torbat-e Heydariyeh

Shahrisabz

Turkmenabat

Merv Tejen

Kaka

Mary

Yoloten

Mashad Sarakhs

uD

Karaku m Canal

Torbat-e Jam Tayyebad Ghurian

Dushanbe Shorchi

Kerkichi

Sherobod

Qurghonteppa

Balkh Sar-e Pol

Tagtabazar

Hari Rud

Mazar-e Sharif

Meymaneh

A Serhetabad Qaleh-ye Now Herat

Panjkent

Qarshi

ary a

F G H A N I S T A N

Chaghcharan

Protected areas

UNESCO natural world heritage

Tentative UNESCO natural world heritage

RAMSAR sites (Convention on wetlands of international importance especially as waterfowl habitat)

UNESCO cultural world heritage

Tentative UNESCO cultural world heritage

Most of Turkmenistan (80%) consists of sandy desert, although in the south the mountains of Kopet Dag and Kugitang lie along the Iranian, Afghan and Uzbek borders. Turkmenistan’s deserts are dominated by xerophytic shrubs and salt-tolerant species.

Other ecosystems are riparian wetlands, mountain forests and the Caspian Sea. Turkmenistan has many close relatives of domestic food plants, including wild pomegranate, grape, fig, apple, pear, cherries, plum, almond and melon.

Central Asia and Global Biodiversity

Khujand

Termiz

Sarahs Tejen

D a s h t - e

o

D e s Great Turkme n Collecto Baharly r

Quchan

Emamrud

I

Zara fs h a n Bukhara Samarkand

K a r a k u m e r t

Serdar

Gulistan Jizzax

Murgab

Gorgan

Sari

Semnan

Aydar Lake Nurota

T U R K M E N I S T A N

Magtymguly

Bandar-e Torkeman

Tashkent

U Z B E K I S T A N

Navoiy

ek Atr

Esenguly

Shymkent

Zarafshon

Pitnak

Balkanabat

Hazar

KAZAKHSTAN

D e s e r t Uchquduq

Golden Age Lake (under construction)

Turkmenbashy

26

K y z y l k u m

Nukus

2000 1000 500 200 100

Amol

Turkestan

K A Z A K H S T A N

Turkmenistan’s eight strict nature reserves cover more than 784,000 ha and include a range of ecosystems. Besides the strict reserves, there are 14 species management areas and 17 nature monuments. The country’s first national park is in the process of establishment. One of the famous nature monuments in the Kugitang mountains has 2,000 fossilized dinosaur footprints.

A Visual Synthesis

Flora diversity

Flora species density in Turkmenistan

Number of species, thousand Vascular plants

Number of species per 10000 km

in Turkmenistan

in Turkmenistan

2

Vascular plants

400

6 5 4 3

Fauna diversity

2 1 Endemics

0 Source: Turkmenistan’s National Report for the UN Convention Biodiversity (2010)

10 000

350

500

300

400

250 Red-listed

Number of species

200

Red-listed

300

150

200

100

100

50 0 Source: Turkmenistan’s National Report for the UN Convention Biodiversity (2010)

The Red List of Turkmenistan includes around 30 mammals, 30 reptiles, and many bird species. Since the 1950s the tiger, Syrian brown bear and lynx have vanished. The surviving populations of goitered gazelles, markhors, wild sheep, leopards, wild cats and wild goats are thought to be much reduced. Characteristic desert mammals include honey badgers, endemic sand shrews, ground squirrels and desert cats. There are many dry country bird specialists: Pander’s ground jay, houbara bustard, sandgrouse, desert sparrow and several falcons. Desert reptiles abound in Turkmenistan and many are endemic to Central Asia.

These include tortoises, lizards and snakes. Threats to biodiversity include habitat loss, deforestation, overgrazing and pollution.

Hunting, over-exploitation and the introduction of alien species compound the damage.

The Caspian Sea ecosystem around the Cheleken peninsula of Turkmenistan suffered years of environmental mismanagement during the Soviet era. Industrial waste and discharges led in those days to high levels of pollution in the Sea and on its shores.

While pollution has fallen, many effects persist.

Invertebrates over 4 000

0

Birds Mammals Reptiles

Fish Amphibians

Source: Turkmenistan’s National Repor for the UN Convention Biodiversity (2010), UNDP GEF (2009)

Protected areas in Turkmenistan

Area, thousand hectares

2 400

Protected areas in 2010 per cent of total land area

other nature reserves

2 000 1 600 1 200 Forest cover in 2010

per cent of total land area

800 400 0

1992

2000

2010

27

0Biodiversity 100in Central 200Asia

300

400 km

Map produced by ZOÏ Environment Network, October 2011 Source: Protected Planet (→ http://protectedplanet.net); UNESCO World Heritage Conventon (→ http://whc.unesco.org) ADB Nature Atlas (→ http://beta.adb.org/publications/central-asia-atlas-natural-resources); Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (→ www.ramsar.org)

Elevation in metres

Baikonur

Beyneu

Dzhusaly

K A Z A K H S T A N

Aral Sea

Kyzylorda

a ary rD Sy

Nukus

U Z B E K I S T A N

T U R K M E N I S T A N

Serdar

Great Tu

Baharly k Bojnurd

N

Tejen Quchan

Protected areas in Uzbekistan

Olmaliq

Jalal-Abad

Kokand Fergana

Osh

Isfara Istaravshan

T A J I K I S T A N Dushanbe Pamir

Kulob Denov Sherobod Qurghonteppa Termiz

Sarakhs Sarahs

Feyzabad

A F G H A N I S T A N

Murgab

Korug

Drasan

Protected areas

UNESCO natural world heritage

Tentative UNESCO natural world heritage

RAMSAR sites (Convention on wetlands of international importance especially as waterfowl habitat)

UNESCO cultural world heritage

Tentative UNESCO cultural world heritage

Uzbekistan’s mountains, deserts, riparian wetlands and the Aral Sea (which in the past 50 years has shrunk dramatically) produce a diversity of habitats. More than four fifths of the country is desert and semi-desert which includes seven types of terrestrial ecosystems as well as wetlands.

Mountains occupy nearly 20% of the total land area.

28

Kerkichi

Andijan Khujand

Gulistan

Qarshi

Karak um Cana l

KYRGYZSTAN

Tashkent

Panjkent

Shahrisabz

Turkmenabat

Mary

Jizzax Zar a Samarkand fshan

Toktogul

P anj

A

ollector

Aydar Lake

Navoiy Bukhara

Shardara

b Murga

R

rkmen C

Ashgabat

A tre

I

D e s e r t

arya uD Am

K a r a k u m

Shymkent

Vak sh

Xiva

Bishkek Talas

Itchan Kala Urganch

Golden Age Lake (under construction)

Taraz

D e s e r t Uchquduq

Sarygamysh Lake Dashoguz

Shu

Zhanatas

Kentau Turkestan

Qongirot

K y z y l k u m

2000 1000 500 200 100

C hu

Chiili

Moynoq

Balkanabad

Lake Balkash

Central Asia and Global Biodiversity

There are nine strict nature reserves, two national (natural) parks, 14 species management areas, five nature monuments and the Dzeiran centre for captive breeding of rare animals, including the goitered gazelle, wild ass, Houbara bustard and Bactrian deer. Most of these areas were established in the Soviet era and cover 5.8% of the country’s

A Visual Synthesis

Flora diversity

Flora species density in Uzbekistan

Number of species, thousand Vascular plants

Number of species per 10000 km

in Uzbekistan

in Uzbekistan

2

Vascular plants

400

6

350

5 4

Fauna diversity

Red-listed

300

Number of species

Invertebrates over 14 000

10 000 500 Red-listed

400

250 200

3

150

2

100

1 Endemics

0 Source: Uzbekistan’s National Report for the UN Convention Biodiversity (2008)

300 200 100

50 0 Source: Uzbekistan’s National Report for the UN Convention Biodiversity (2008)

area. New categories of protected areas covering groundwater and river zones are being introduced in the country. In the past decade, more than 25 such water protection zones along or upstream of the main rivers and lakes have been designated. Protected areas of Uzbekistan are managed by various state authorities: the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources, the State Committee for Nature Protection, and the Tashkent ProvincialAdministration (Hokimiyat). The Kitab geological reserve is supervised by the State Committee for Geology and Mineral Resources.

Forests cover 7.7% of the land area: junipers constitute the principal mountain forests and saxaul natural and artificial forests are typical for deserts and are extensively used for reforestation of the Aral Sea surrounding areas. More than 25% of all national forests are planted.

Rare animals include the saiga antelope, goitered gazelle, desert monitor, Tien-Shan brown bear, snow leopard, mountain urial, Menzbier’s marmot, Dalmatian pelican, glossy ibis and heron.

0

Birds Mammals Reptiles

Fish Amphibians

Source: Uzbekistan’s National Report for the UN Convention Biodiversity (2008); http://www.cbd.uz/

Protected areas in Uzbekistan

Protected areas in 2010

Area, thousand hectares

per cent of total land area

3 000 2 500

other national parks nature reserves

2 000 1 500 Forest cover in 2010

per cent of total land area

1 000 500 0

1992

2000

2010

29

Biodiversity Richness of Central Asia

Biodiversity in Central Asia

Steppes R u s s i a

K a z a k h s t a n

Kyrgyzstan Turkmenistan

I r a n

Uzbekistan Tajikistan Afghanistan

Steppes

32

Biodiversity Richness of Central Asia

Pakistan

C h i n a

India

Steppes are grassy and largely treeless plains. The climate is usually too dry to support the growth of forests but not dry enough to qualify as a desert, though some steppes may be semi-deserts. They often experience very marked differences of temperature between day and night, and between summer and winter. The steppes of southwestern Russia and northern Central Asia are the world’s largest steppe ecoregion. Steppes have developed their own suite of species, both resident and migratory. The Saryarka ecoregion is an area of the Central Asian steppe with both freshwater and saltwater lakes in northern Kazakhstan. A World Heritage Site, it is outstanding for its wetlands that receive millions of water birds migrating between Africa, Europe, and South Asia and their breeding areas in Siberia. Up until the 1950s Kazakhstan’s steppes were considered sustainable. In the next two decades, however, 35 million hectares of virgin and fallow steppe lands were ploughed for Soviet agriculture. The soil lost over 30% of the humus which helps it to retain water and nutrients and the ecological balance became increasingly disturbed. Wind erosion triggered massive dust storms. After collective farms vanished soil rehabilitation stopped and herders soon overcrowded steppe pastures and depleted them.

A Visual Synthesis

Deserts R u s s i a

K a z a k h s t a n

Kyrgyzstan Turkmenistan

I r a n

Deserts

Uzbekistan Tajikistan Afghanistan

Pakistan

C h i n a

India

The Central Asian deserts and semi-deserts include several sandy, stony and clay deserts that stretch from the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea to Lake Balkash and to the foothills of the Kopetdag, Tien Shan and Pamir mountains. Rainfall, totaling 70–125 millimetres per year, is greatest during the winter and spring, with a long summer drought. The difference between night and day surface air temperatures in the Central Asian deserts could be as high as 30°C. The large Karakum Desert deserves special mention: it occupies more than two-thirds of Turkmenistan and covers some 350,000 square kilometers, more than the total area of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan combined. Under its arid surface are rich oil, gas, and sulphur deposits that are now being fully exploited. The spread of agriculture in the deserts, especially irrigated farming and grazing, in combination with energy infrastructure, is the main threat to the local biodiversity. The unsustainable use of plants, especially saxaul forests, for firewood is also damaging.

33

Biodiversity in Central Asia

R

Samara

u

s

s

i

Omskk

a

Kokshetau o

n Kostanay

Orenburg

Oral

Barnaul n

Petropavlovsk o

Magnitogorsk

ra Saratov

N Novosibirsk

Chelyabinsk

Ufa

Pavlodar

Astana

Aktobe

A l t a i

Semey

Temirtau

Tengiz Lake

Altay

Karaganda n

K

a

z

a

h

s

t

Zhezkazgan

Atyrau

Astrakhan

k

C a

Makhachkalaa

u Nukus Dashoguz Turkmenbashi

Ghulja

Kyzylorda yzylorda d

a

k Balkanabat

Ashgabat b or Gorgan

Sari A l b o r z

I

r

a

n

Kyrgyzstan

Turkmenabat

S Samarkand Karshi

p Qurghonteppa Termiz

Kabul a

Broadleaf, fruit-nut

Saxaul

Juniper, pine, larch

Birch, aspen

Tugai and floodplain forests

i

e

n

n

a

Korla

Aksu

T a k l a m a k a n

C h i n a Hotan

Korug

h

h

m Qie

Kashgar

Pamir

u Kunduz

Afghanistan k u s u n d H i

Fir, spruce

S

Dushanbe T a j i k i s t a n

Mazar-e Sharif

Herat

T

Jalalabad Kokand Osh Kujand rghana Ferghana

Jizakh

B Bukhara

Mashad

Forests

Ysik-Kol

Tashkent a

U z b e k i s t a n

Mary

Bojnurd

Tehran

Qom

Urganch

K a r a k u m

a Rasht

Bishkek k

e Shymkent

K y z y l k u m

Turkmenistan

S e

Baku Ba aku

Shihezi Ur

Taldykorgan ga

Almaty

a n s p i

AZR

am Karamay

LLake Alakol

Lake Balkhash

Baikonur

Eastern Aral Seaa

W Western Aral Sea

Lake Zaysan

n

Balkhash

Northern e Aral Sea S

Aktau

a

K

ar ak or um Pakistan Gilgit

Peshawar

Forest steppe, mainly pine and birch

r Srinagar I n d i0 a

100

200

300 km

Map produced by ZOĂ? Environment Network, October 2011

Source: World Wildlife Fund (→ www.worldwildlife.org/science/data/item6373.html)

Forest reduction in the 20th century in Central Asia

Tien Shan spruce forests in Kyrgyzstan Junipers in Kyrgyzstan Pistachios in Tajikistan Tugai forests in the Amu Darya delta, Uzbekistan

-100%

34

-90%

-80%

Biodiversity Richness of Central Asia

-70%

-60%

-50%

-40%

-30%

-20%

-10%

0

A Visual Synthesis

Forest cover in Central Asia Area, thousand hectares

12 500

Kazakhstan

11 500

10 500

9 500 Other forests

8 500

7 500

Fruit and nut forests Evergreen (coniferous) forests

Forests Some of Central Asia’s forests are sparse, like the saxaul woodlands of the deserts, while others are traditional dense forests. All play key roles as indicators of species diversity, core ecosystem elements, and carbon sinks. They offer not only timber but many non-wood products, including fruit, nuts and honey, as well as refuges for wildlife. Most of Tajikistan’s and Kyrgyzstan’s forests, in fact, are protected, with timber felling forbidden.

Some forests harbour trees which tolerate high aridity and salinity, and others which are close relatives of domestic food plants: both could be useful as climate change and biodiversity loss intensify. Much of the region’s forests was lost in the early Soviet years (the 1930s-1940s). Today’s main threats are grazing and trampling, fires, and illegal cutting for fuel and sale.

6 500

5 500

Desert (saxaul) forests

Forest stock in Central Asia

Biomass, dry weight million metric tonnes *

Volume, million cubic metres

4 500

3 500

400

Turkmenistan

Other forests, including saxaul Evergreen (coniferous) forests

2 500

500

300

300 250

1 500

Kazakhstan

350

Uzbekistan

Forest biomass

200

above ground

200

100

150

Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan

0 Source: FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010, data for 2005-2010

100 50 0

Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan Turkmenistan Tajikistan

Source: FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010, data for 2005-2010

100

below ground * total for Central Asia

Source: FAO 2010, data for 2005-2010

35

Biodiversity in Central Asia

Saxaul trees grow in the deserts of Central Asia. The biggest saxaul forests, which are composed primarily of white and black saxaul, are in southern Kazakhstan where they cover six million hectares. Turkmenistan has about four million hectares, Uzbekistan two million, and small areas are also found in Tajikistan. Saxaul trees are important for protecting soil and helping prevent sand from filling channels, oases and covering roads, and so help to regulate water supply. They benefit pastures by providing shade and increasing pasture productivity. They are extensively used for reforestation efforts around the Aral Sea to mitigate dust storms and halt desertification. The saxaul has extensive root systems reaching down as deep as 10 metres to find moisture. Saxaul trees grow up to 10-12 metres high and live 50 years.

Tugai forests are floodplain forests of Central Asia, found in river valleys where the groundwater is close to the surface.

They can include a range of tree species, among them poplar, willow, tamarisk, birch, salt tree and buckthorn. They were once widespread, but the area occupied by tugai has shrunk dramatically because of floodplain reclamation and low water levels in rivers and deltas. Those that are left are vital for wildlife. The largest remaining tugai forests are found in the lower Amu Darya river delta. Floodplain forests in the mountains are increasingly threatened by the gold development projects along nearby river beds. Tugai forests have a high value for soil protection, and serve as grazing lands, fire barriers and habitats for wildlife.

Spruce, ďŹ rs and juniper woods are found in the Central Asian mountains at altitudes up to 3,700 m above sea level. Juniper trees grow at about 2 cm annually, and some specimens are estimated to be more than 1,000 years old.

Most juniper forests are found on the northern slopes of the Turkestan, Alai, Zeravshan and Gissar mountains. The Tien Shan spruce forests are typical of the Issyk-Kul Lake’s surroundings. All mountain forests play a vital soil-protection and water-regulating role and they are strictly protected. They attenuate erosion processes, stabilize the soil against mudand-stone landslides and regulate runoff.

36

Biodiversity Richness of Central Asia

A Visual Synthesis

Wild apple forests The mountains of Kazakhstan and the other countries of Central Asia are key for the world’s apples. Scientists believe Central Asia produced the ancestor of most cultivated apple species, which then spread East and West along the Silk Road. But the wild apple forests are not adequately managed to conserve biodiversity, and there are fears they are losing their genetic distinctiveness. Kazakhstan is now working to conserve its wild apples in situ - in their native habitats, in addition to research stations and botanical gardens. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan also have significant wild fruit and nut forests.

On the eastern slopes of the Fergana Valley in southern Kyrgyzstan are the largest areas of natural walnut forests in the world, composed mainly of walnut but also including other fruit trees and shrubs, among them varieties of apple, pear and plum. The forests have extremely rich biodiversity - more than 180 tree species, 150 bird species and 40 mammal species. After studying traditional forest management schemes, Kyrgyzstan with Swiss support introduced community fruit-and-nut forest management, an experimental approach that engaged community groups and local authorities to manage forests. In addition to Kyrgyzstan, walnut forests also grow in central and southern Tajikistan.

The pistachio is a tree which is salt- and aridity-tolerant and can also cope with wide temperature fluctuations, from -10°C to 40°C. Well-known in southern Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, it grows as well in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

Many of today’s pistachio forests are planted rather than natural growth. Wild pistachio nuts are prized for their flavour.

Each hectare of pistachio forest on average provides 80 kg of nuts and in some areas 300 kg. But pistachio trees are valuable for more than their harvest. They can protect the soil and prevent the formation of gullies and the destruction of mountain slopes.

37

Biodiversity in Central Asia

ha

Pamir and Tien Shan Ba

3000

4000

5000

200

e

2000 100

Lak

1000 0

lk

Altitude in metres

sh

300 km

Taldykorgan

Map produced by ZOĂ? Environment Network, November 2011

A

Z

A

K

H

S

T

A

N

Ghulja

Ili

K

Qyzylorda

Ch

u

Kapchagay Lake L Almaty Sy

Talgar Peak 4979

as Tal

a ary rD

Turkestan

Taraz

Bishkek

Ysyk-Kol

Shymkent

yn

K Y R G Y Z S T A N Tashkent

T

i

h

S

n

a

7439 Jengish (Pobeda) Peak

n

e

Aksu 5982

Dankova Peak

n He Hota

Namangan

Ferghana Valley

Kokand

UZBEKISTAN Jizakh

Piramida Peak

TAJIKISTAN Vakh sh

Dushanbe

7134 Lenin Peak 7495 Ismoil Somoni Peak 6974 Independence Peak

A F G H A N I S T A N 38

Biodiversity Richness of Central Asia

C

H

I

N

A

T a k l a m a k a n

7719 Kongur Shan

Hotan

P a m i r

Termiz Amu Darya Mazar-e Sharif

He

Kashgar 5509

Samarkand

Karshi

Osh

Ferghana

Yarka nt

oiy

Kujand

7282

PAKISTAN

Disthegil Sar 7885 7788 Rakaposhi

Muztag 8611 K2

A Visual Synthesis

Kopet Dag Altitude in metres

Tejen

T U R K M E N I S T A N

500 1000 1500 2000

Karakum Ca nal

Baharly

Gokdepe

Ashgabat

Abadan

Lotfabad

Kaka

Teje n

Dushak Kalat-e Naderi

Magtymguly Kazakhstan

K

o

e

p

D

t

Shirvan Uzbekistan

A tre k

Bojnurd

I

R

Turkmenistan

Maraveh Tappeh

Iran

A

N

Quchan

a

g Radkan Kashaf

Chakaneh Sofli

Mashad 0

Afghanistan

Mountain Ecosystems Diverse mountain ranges described by the early Persians as the “Roof of the World” and by the Chinese as the “Heavenly Mountains” have always played a pivotal role in Central Asia. The mountains provide an astonishing array of essential ecosystem goods and services that serve not only the mountain inhabitants but also those in the lowlands and people around the globe: forest products and land for food production; watershed protection; habitat for flora and fauna of local and global significance; the regulation of natural hazards and climate; natural areas for leisure and recreational activities; and perhaps most important of all, the storage and release of water.

Two of Central Asia’s major mountain ranges – the Pamirs in Tajikistan and the Tien Shan in Kyrgyzstan – make those countries the most mountainous in the region, with an average elevation of about 3,000 metres above sea level, peaks exceeding 7,000 metres and more than 90% of their national territories considered as mountainous.

25

50

75

100 km

Map produced by ZOÏ Environment Network, October 2011

Global biodiversity hotspots Mountains of Central Asia

The Kopet Dag, also known as the Turkmen-Khorasan mountains, run along the border of Turkmenistan and Iran, a region characterized by foothills, dry and sandy slopes, plateaus and steep ravines. Mountains comprise only 5% of Turkmenistan’s land area but hold about two thirds of the country’s biodiversity.

39

Biodiversity in Central Asia

Mountain ecosystems also cover parts of east Kazakhstan (the Kazakh uplands, Djungar Alatoo, Tarbagatai and Altai), south-east Uzbekistan (Western Tien Shan and Gissar), and extend into Afghanistan (Hindu Kush) and China. Overall, mountains cover 800,000 square kilometres or 20% of the total area of Central Asia.

40

Biodiversity Richness of Central Asia

Most of the population in Central Asia relies on water that falls in the mountains where it is stored in glaciers and snow before making its way downstream to population centres.

The densely populated valleys and oases of the vast drylands of Central Asia depend on mountain water transported by numerous rivers and streams. Global warming is slowly melting mountain glaciers, affecting snow reserves and at the same time increasing the water requirements of basic agricultural crops.

A Visual Synthesis

The Central Asia mountains host at least 20 distinct ecosystems and 4,500–5,500 species of vascular plants, almost one quarter of which are unique (endemic) to the region.

At lower altitudes and in the foothills, dryland ecosystems prevail. At higher altitudes, grasslands, shrubs and forests are widespread. Meadows and tundra-like ecosystems are found at the high mountain plateaus.

Globally endangered species resident in the mountains include the snow leopard (with more than half of the global population) and the Marco Polo sheep. The numbers of these species have declined, however, as a result of poaching, hunting and the depletion of the food base.

The high biodiversity richness and endemism of flora and fauna of the mountains of Central Asia is exemplified by the fact that the number of vascular plant species found in the Pamir-Alai or the Tien Shan Mountains is four times higher than that of the nearby lowland Karakum Desert, which has twice the area.

41

Biodiversity in Central Asia

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world’s largest enclosed body of water by area: it covers 371,000 sq km. The Caspian seal is endemic to the Sea, which is also home to many sturgeon species, now endangered by overfishing for the caviar trade. The commercial value of the Caspian’s biodiversity is estimated by the Caspian Environmental Programme at US $5 bn annually. The Volga River, Europe’s largest, provides 80% of the Caspian’s fresh water, much of it polluted. Offshore hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation poses other risks. The other main river flowing into the northern Caspian is the Ural: the wetlands around the Ural delta are important to migrating birds.

150

0

n Do Volgograd

300

The Khazar nature reserve near Turkmenistan’s Caspian coast, is home to 18 mammal species and more than 370 birds, nearly half of them waterfowl. The Kara-Bogaz-Gol is a shallow water ecosystem in north-west Turkmenistan, forming a lagoon of the Caspian about 18,000 sq km in extent but separated from it by a small rocky ridge with a very narrow opening. The salinity of the bay is about 35%, against the Caspian’s 1.2%, and 3.5% for the world’s oceans. In the Soviet era, the Kara-Bogaz-Gol was artificially separated from the Caspian, which led to negative environmental impacts.

450 km

Map produced by ZOÏ Environment Network, November 2011

Atyrau

lga Vo

Astrakhan

K A Z A K H S T A N

R U S S I A

a

Makhachkala

100 500

k

Ardabil Rasht

200

Gorgan Sari

Teheran

I

R

Biodiversity Richness of Central Asia

4

A

3

0.5 0.4

2

0.3 A

Lake Urmia rmi rmi

TURKMENISTAN

S

Altitude in metres Depth in metres

200

Tabriz

5

0.8 0.7

Turkmenbashy

a S e

42

500

thousand tonnes 6

0.6

Baku

1000

million, number of animals 1.0

Sturgeon catch in the Ural-Caspian basin

0.9

Kara-Bogaz K Kara-Boga oggaz-

AZERBAIJAN Mingacevir Shirvan

1500

Zhanaozen Sarygamysh Sarygamys Sar arygamysh rygam s Lake

a n p i

Tbilisi 2000

UZB

s

GEORGIA

Aktau

C

Mineralnye Vody TereGrozny k Vladikavkaz

Decline of the Caspian Seals

N

0.2

1

0.1 0

1900 1930 1960 1990 2010

Sources: Caspian Environmental Programme; Russian Wildlife Conservation Centre

0

1985

1990

1995

2000 2006

Source: Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis of the Caspian Environmental Programme 2007

A Visual Synthesis

Aral Sea The Aral Sea region in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan is suffering a severe environmental disaster. In the early 1960s, the waters of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers that fed the Sea were diverted for irrigation mainly to grow cotton, causing the gradual disappearance of the Sea. Despite numerous local and international rescue efforts it continues to shrink, as overall water consumption patterns persist. The exposed seabed has left salt, sand, dust and agricultural chemicals blowing as far as 300 km. Water, land, crops and human health all suffer, with chronic respiratory and kidney disorders and liver diseases increasing.

The Sea can no longer moderate the increasingly extreme climate. The economy, based on fisheries, livestock grazing, hunting and fur production, is devastated. Four decades ago the annual fish catch was 35,000 tonnes, but fishing stopped altogether in the mid-1980s, although Kazakhstan has partly managed to restore water levels and fisheries with an extensive artificial dam in the northern Aral Sea. Many lakes and wetlands dried up or were drastically reduced, causing the disappearance of 90% of the tugai (floodplain) woodland. Poaching and habitat fragmentation caused further stress and led to the extinction of the Turan (Caspian) tiger, other large predators and a significant drop in the Bukhara (Bactrian) deer.

Fish catch in the Aral Sea region

thousand tonnes per year 50

Massive water withdrawal for irrigation, over-fishing

40

30

20 Fishery cessation in the sea

10

0

1930

1940

1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

2010

Sources: International Symposium on the Management of Large Rivers for Fisheries (2003); Integrated Water Resource Management in the Amu Darya delta (2010); Environment and Security in the Amu Darya river basin (2011)

The shrinking Aral Sea 1960

1980

Aralsk

2000

Aralsk

2010

Aralsk

Aralsk North Aral dam

seasonal lake

Muynak

Muynak

Muynak

Muynak

100 km

Source: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/WorldOfChange/aral_sea.php; Climate Change Central Asia: a visual synthesis report (2009)

43

Biodiversity in Central Asia

Ak-Tuz Kemin

C

Shabdan

Grigorevka

Ananevo

Tup

Cholpon-Ata

hu

Taldyy-Suu

Kuturgu

Mikhaylovka

Novovoznesenovka

Karakol Balikchy

I s s y k

Orto-Tokoy

K u Kyzyt-Suu

1609 Ottuk

Kazakhstan

Kochkor

Depth in metres

400 0

300

200

Altitude in metres

Kyrgyzstan

2000 2500 3000 3500 4000

100 50

25

Tamka

UZB

75 km

Tajikistan

China

Map produced by ZOÏ Environment Network, November 2011

Fish catch in Issyk-Kul Lake, Kyrgyzstan Average annual catch, tonnes

1 400 1 200 1 000 800 600 Chebachok Leuciscus bergi

400 Other species

200 0

1960s

1970s

1980s

Fishery ban introduced in 2008

1990s

Source: V. Pivnev Fish of Kyrgyzstan 1990"; J. Ismanbaeva 2008

44

Biodiversity Richness of Central Asia

2001-03

Issyk-Kul Lake Issyk-Kul Lake (“hot lake” in Kyrgyz - it never freezes) lies in eastern Kyrgyzstan. Issyk-Kul, with a surface area of 6,236 square kilometers is the region’s largest mountain lake. It is on the Ramsar Convention’s list of globally significant wetlands and forms the core of a biosphere reserve. Once a Silk Road staging post, it was a popular tourist resort and a flourishing fishing ground. In the last decade, however, fisheries declined to negligible levels, and many fish, including endemic species, are threatened, because of over-fishing, predation by introduced species, and the end of restocking with juvenile fish. The government banned all fishing here in 2008. In spite of this, thousands of illegal fishing nets are detected annually. While agricultural runoff into the lake and oil leakages from navigation have much reduced over the past 20 years, the poorly treated wastewater from urban and tourist areas continues to pose pollution risks to the lake’s ecosystem.

Community based and eco-friendly tourism is now developing around the lake. The restoration of the lake’s ecosystem depends in large part on the restocking of the lake with juvenile endemic fish from hatcheries and on tighter control of illegal fishing.

A Visual Synthesis

45

Biodiversity in Central Asia

46

Biodiversity Richness of Central Asia

A Visual Synthesis

Tulips of Central Asia Central Asia is home to the wild tulip, forebear of the carefully nurtured blooms which now beguile gardeners across the world. But in their heartland many are under severe pressure from agriculture and plant collectors.

In Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, more than 20 species are included in the national Red Lists as rare and endangered.

Of more than 100 tulip species known globally, roughly half are found in Central Asia.

47

Biodiversity in Central Asia

s

i

a

n Kostanay

Kokshetau o

Orenburg

Pavlodar

Astana

Ural

Aktobe

sh Irty

Oral

Barnaul n

Ob

Petropavlovsk o

Magnitogorsk

Volga

ra Saratov

s

Ish im

Samara

u

Omskk

Tob ol

R

N Novosibirsk

Chelyabinsk

Ufa

A l t a i

Semey

Temirtau

Tengiz Lake

Altay

Karaganda n

a

z

a

Atyrau

Dashoguz

S e

h Turkmenbashi

Turkmenistan

a Balkanabat

a

or Gorgan

Tehran

I

r

a

Mary

Bojnurd

n

Termiz

Kashgar

T a k l a m a k a n

C h i n a

K

ar ak or um Pakistan Peshawar

S Srinagar

I n d i a

Central Asia selected flagship species

0

Mountains

Grasslands

Snow leopard

Mountain goat (Markhor)

Saiga antelope

Varan (Desert Monitor)

Deserts

Persian leopard

Mountain sheep (Marco polo sheep)

Bactrian deer

Caspian seal

Steppe eagle

100

200

300 km

Map produced by ZOĂ? Environment Network, November 2011 Source: ???

48

Biodiversity Richness of Central Asia

im Tar

m Qie

Hotan

Gilgit

h s k u u n d H i a Kabul

Herat

n

Korug

P

u Kunduz

Afghanistan

e

i

Pamir

Dushanbe Mazar-e Sharif

Mashad

T

Tajikistan

a Karshi

a h S Aksu

Ysik-Kol

Kyrgyzstan

mu Da rya

Korla

n

Bishkek k

k Shymkent

A

Ashgabat b

Ghulja

Almaty

Jalalabad Kokand Osh U z b e k i s t a nTashkent Kujand rgg na Ferghana Jizakh Bukhara Samarkand Saamarkand r

K a r a k u m Ka Ca raku na m Turkmenabat l

Sari A l b o r z

Shihezi Uru Taldykorgann

K y z y l k u m

Urganch

am Karamay

LLake Alakol

Chu

a ary rD Sy

u Nukus

Lake Zaysan

n

Lake Balkhash

Kyzylorda Kyzy rda

a Rasht

Qom

a

Balkhash

Baikonur

Aktau

a n s p i

Baku Ba aku

t

an j

C a

AZR

s

Z Zhezkazgan Aral Sea

Makhachkalaa

h

Sar ysu

Astrakhan

k

Yarka nd

K

A Visual Synthesis

Snow Leopard Symbol of the 2011 Winter Asian Games and motif of the coat of arms of Central Asia cities, this stealthy nocturnal hunter with its huge furry tail is well adapted to life at high elevations. But poaching and loss of prey and habitat mean at most 7,000 wild survivors remain worldwide.

Marco Polo Sheep (Argali) The largest wild sheep, a coveted trophy with its curling horns, this is a sub-species of the argali sheep.

The 13th century explorer described them in his autobiographical book The Travels of Marco Polo. Argali inhabit high mountain plateaus of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and move across borders to other countries.

Markhor This large wild goat is an excellent climber and cliffhanger and has screw-shaped 1.5 m long horns.

Endemic to the Pamir-Hindu Kush region, it has no more than 4,000 wild survivors worldwide, which are estimated to be declining. Several nature reserves in Tajikistan have been established to protect this and other species.

Bactrian Deer Formerly hunted by royalty and for its gorgeous horns, this red deer occupies river corridors surrounded by deserts, and is now highly endangered because of the loss of this habitat (the tugai floodplain forests). Fewer than 500 animals remain in the wild.

Saiga These antelopes have huge inflatable noses and migrate in large groups over long distances. They have adapted to survive the harsh, windy winter steppes. Habitat loss, poaching, drought and disease have reduced them from several million to under 50,000 in 20 years.

Caspian Seal Found only in the Caspian Sea, these exotic animals depend on its ice, now threatened by climate change. Regarded as indicators of the Sea’s health, they migrate to the deeper and cooler southern Caspian in the summer. The Caspian seals’ numbers are estimated at 100,000 animals: 10 times less than a century ago.

Varan (Desert Monitor) This monitor lizard, found also in other parts of the world, is known locally as the desert crocodile and is the stuff of legend for its size and appetite. It uses its long, powerful tail like a whip in defence. In the early 20th century, massive hunting due to high demand for its skin drastically reduced its numbers.

Steppe Eagle This bird of prey, Kazakhstan’s national symbol, relies on its very sharp eyes. It prefers desert, steppe or savannah, and Central Asian populations winter in Africa.

Habitat destruction, persecution and power line collisions are causing a slow decline.

49

Biodiversity Services and Products

Biodiversity in Central Asia

Day in, day out, the natural world provides many vitally important services and products. Different species and ecosystems keep the Earth friendly to human existence, oxygenating the atmosphere, purifying water, fixing nitrogen, recycling nutrients and waste and pollinating crops (one estimate says bees alone provide about a third of human nutrition). The economic value of biodiversity services and products at regional and national levels in Central Asia has not been assessed yet, but global studies show that these can be much higher than the gross national product.

Sport and tourism Sense of place, spiritual value, inspira on

Weather forma on, climate regula on Indicators of global changes, decomposi on, weathering

Recrea on, health services

Water storage Hazard regula on, carbon storage, soil forma on, watershed protec on Diversity of habitats, unique flora and fauna

Pollina on, purifica on

Au

Gene c resources, wild fruit-nut forests

Natural pastures, livestock

Tradi onal knowledge and products

Food products, crops Water supply

52

Biodiversity Services and Products

Mineral resources

Hydropower poten al

A Visual Synthesis

Nikolai Vavilov was a Soviet botanist and geneticist credited with describing the centres of origin of cultivated plants. In 1931 he identified Central Asia as one of the eight most important of these centres, the region richest in diversity both within and between species.

Honey produce Honey, thousand tonnes

14

The region is rich in highly variable domesticated crops with many unique landraces. The main cultivated crops are cereals, food legumes, vegetables, melons, industrial and stimulant crops. Fruits include apple, apricot, peach, pear, plum, grape, almond, pistachio, pomegranate and fig. Many landraces and old local cultivars survive.

The native genetic diversity of fruit species has been eroded, through overgrazing, deforestation and industrialization. Following the Soviet collapse, people have overused fruit crops, worsening genetic erosion. But the high diversity of cultivated plant species remains important globally as well as for Central Asia itself.

Kyrgyzstan

12

Vavilov’s centres of origin

10 8 6

Tajikistan

Central Asia

4 2 0

1990

2010

Source: agrostatistics of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan

53

Biodiversity in Central Asia

s

i

a

Magnitogorsk

Volga

ra Saratov

s

Omskk

Kostanay n

Kokshetau o

Orenburg

Pavlodar

Astana

al

Aktobe

sh Irty

Oral

Barnaul n

Ob

Petropavlovsk o Ish im

Samara

u

N Novosibirsk

Chelyabinsk

Tob ol

R

Ufa

A l t a i

Semey

Temirtau

Tengiz Lake

Altay Lake Zaysan Atyrau Aral Sea

Shihezi Ur

Taldykorgan Ghulja

C a

Chu

Almaty

a ary rD Sy

Dashoguz

Ysik-Kol

Urganch

Tashkent

Turkmenbashi

e

Jizakh

Kujand

Bojnurd

Tehran

I

Qom

r

a

Mary

n

Mashad

Karshi

Dushanbe

Kashgar

Termiz

Herat

H

u s u k n d

h

Kabul a

Aksu

Korla im Tar

C h i n a Hotan

Korug

K

ar ak or um Pakistan Gilgit

Afghanistan

n

T a k l a m a k a n

Pamir

Mazar-e Sharif

Tejen

Sari A l b o r z

mu Da ry

an j

or Gorgan

Turkmenabat

A

a Rasht

n

h

a

m Qie

Osh

a Ka Ca raku na m l

e

i

T

Jalalabad

Kokand

S

Yarka nd

a n s p i

Baku Ba aku

Lake Balkhash

Aktau

Makhachkalaa

AZR

am Karamay

Sar ysu

Astrakhan

Peshawar

S Srinagar

I n d i a

Agrobiodiversity

0

Rainfed croplands

Grazing lands

Irrigated croplands

Areas abobe 3000 metres

100

200

Intense grazing

Orchards

Wheat

Cotton

Vineyards

Sunflowers

Fruit- and nut forests

300 km

Map produced by ZO� Environment Network, October 2011 Source: Interactive Agricultural Ecological Atlas of Russia and Neighboring Countries (→ www.agroatlas.ru/ru/content/vegetation_maps/Arable)

54

Biodiversity Services and Products

Honey production

A Visual Synthesis

Agrobiodiversity Most land in Central Asia, apart from glaciers and sheer rock faces, is used for agriculture. This form of farming is known locally as agrobiodiversity, meaning that it includes traditionally cultivated lands as well as natural pastures on the deserts and steppes and in the mountains, and also areas such as wild fruit and nut forests.

The map and table showing the top ten agricultural products of each country of Central Asia illustrate how they have adapted to their individual topography, climate and traditions. Kazakhstan, for example, puts its rolling steppes to good use for growing wheat, while beef and milk are both high on the list because of the extensive grazing available. Horsemeat also makes an appearance, because there are so many horses used in other forms of agriculture that a market has been found for them. In mountainous Kyrgyzstan, however, wheat is much further down the list, but root vegetables (potatoes, carrots and turnips) enjoy more prominence. Kyrgyzstan’s Talas Valley is the largest producer of beans in Central Asia. Cotton production is clearly dominant in the other three countries of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.

TOP 10 agricultural products Kazakhstan

Kyrgyzstan

Tajikistan

Turkmenistan

Uzbekistan

Milk

Bean

Cotton Lint

Egg

Carrot

Cotton seed

Cattle meat

Onion

Wool

Horse meat

Apple

Pig meat

Tomato

Sheep meat

Wheat Potato Grape

Source: FAOSTAT

55

Challenges for Biodiversity

Biodiversity in Central Asia

Ufa Uf U fa

C y Chelyabinsk k

R U S S I A

Penza

Omsk

Petropavlovsk ov

Samara

Buzuluk r Kumertau

Volga

Magnitogorsk o

o Kokshetau

n Kostanay

Atbasar

Oral

sh Irty

Aktobe

Arkalyk

K

H

S

T

A

N Balkhash

Amu Darya Delta and Aral Sea e

Zhanaozen

S e

Kara-BogazGol

Dashoguz

Uchkudukk

a Dary Amu

Neyshabur

I

R

Challenges for Biodiversity

A

N

Namangan

Ferghana

Jizakh

Jalalabad

Osh Kashgar

TAJIKISTAN

Ashgabat Mary

Southern Turkmenistan

Issyk-K

KYRGYZSTAN

e Naryn Ferghana valley

U Z B E K I S T A N Navoiy

Bishkek ek Toktogul

Tashkent region

raa Bukhara

Almaty

Balykchy Issyk-Kul

Taraz

Tashkent

a

Tehran

Gorgan

Z Zhanatas

Shymkent

Urganch

TURKMENISTAN

Gonbad-e Kavus Bojnurd

Foothills and Mountains off Pamirs and Tien Shan n

Kentau

Turkmenabat

Sari

T

Chu

Sy r

Turkestan

Balkanabat k

Rasht

Qom

Ili

Nukus u

Turkmenbashi

Karaj

L Balkhash Lake

rya Da

a n p i C a s Baku Ba B

Ay

yy Kyzylorda

Cheleken Penninsula

58

K

Baikonur

Aral Sea S

Aktau

Mingachevir

r Arak

A

Aral

Derbent

Shirvan

Z

Temirtau Karaganda

Zhezkazgan

Northern Caspian Sea

Makhachkala

A

Atyrau

Astrakhan

Northern Kazakhstan kh

Orsk

Ural

Volgograd go

Pavlodar

Stepnogorsk

Rudniy

Orenburg

and Uzbekistan Termiz

Mazar-e Sharif

AFGHANISTAN

Central n Eastern Korug Gilgit

A Visual Synthesis

Ob

Synthesis of biodiversity challenges

Novokuznetsk

Barnaul n

Population density (inhabitants per km²) Biysk

Semey

1

Oskemen

Environmental crisis area: ecosystemchange and degradation due to massive water withdrawal for agriculture with negative implications for life quality, economic performance, health and environment

Lake Zaysann

yagoz o Tacheng

l

Sensitive ecological regions intensely used for agriculture (crop cultivation and grazing) and experiencing high pressure from climate change, habitat disturbance and overexploitation

Karamay K Kuytun

Shihezi

Ghulja

Densely populated and industrialized regions

C H I N A Tup

Kul Lake

n Pamir

50

Sensitive water ecosystems with complex manmade pressures on biodiversity including climate change, pollution, habitat disturbance, overexploitation and invasive species n Zyryanovsk

Taldykorgan a

5

Kuqa

Fortified borders

0

100

200

300 km

Map produced by ZOÏ Environment Network, October 2011 Source: LandScan Global Population Database 2007, Oak Ridge, TN, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (→ www.ornl.gov/sci/landscan)

The map (left) shows starkly how multiple pressures are affecting Central Asia’s biodiversity.

Underlying the distinct pressures it shows the fact that much of the region is scarcely-populated mountain or desert, so there is a relatively small area where the problems are concentrated.

Climate change is a real and growing global problem which is affecting Central Asia already.

Beyond that, four sorts of pressure are discernible. One is the deterioration of water ecosystems because of pollution, invasive species and other factors: this is evident in the Caspian Sea and Lake Issyk-Kul. Another is the massive loss of water in the Aral Sea basin caused by thoughtless and unplanned nature exploitation and large-scale irrigation projects over the past five to seven decades. Then there is the extensive damage from habitat loss and overexploitation.

Last, there is the inevitable pressure of population and industry. Fortified borders and energy and transport infrastructure augment biodiversity impacts through habitat fragmentation.

Probably all of the above pressures can be relieved by careful planning and rigorous enforcement, though remediating the existing damage would be very expensive. The problems may appear intractable, unless the countries of Central Asia can together make very rapid progress towards balancing population growth, greening their industries, energy sectors and agriculture and protecting their natural ecosystems effectively. As all of this will need to happen not only quickly but in the context of a warming climate, the prospect is challenging.

59

Biodiversity in Central Asia

Change in surface temperature, 1951-2001 RUSSIA

Change in precipitation, 1951-2001 RUSSIA

Astana

Astana

KAZAKHSTAN

KAZAKHSTAN

Bishkek

UZBEKISTAN TURKMENISTAN Ashgabat

CHINA

TAJIKISTAN

0.1 0.2 0.4

IRAN

Sources: U.K. Climate Research Unit (data synthesis is available at: www.climatewizard.org), compilation of information from the Second (and the First) National Communications

Surface temperature trends Country-averaged annual air temperature (C째)

18 Turkmenistan

16 14

Uzbekistan

12 10 8

Kazakhstan

6 Tajikistan

4

Kyrgyzstan 2 0

1951

1960

1970

1980

1990

2001

Source: U.K. Climate Research Unit data synthesis at: www.climatewizard.org

60

Challenges for Biodiversity

UZBEKISTAN

Tashkent KYRGYZSTAN Temp. change C째 per decade Dushanbe

TURKMENISTAN Ashgabat

IRAN

Bishkek

CHINA

Tashkent KYRGYZSTAN Rainfall change mm per decade Dushanbe 2 TAJIKISTAN 1 0 -1 -2

Sources: U.K. Climate Research Unit (data synthesis is available at: www.climatewizard.org), compilation of information from the Second (and First) National Communications

A Visual Synthesis 1 - Increased climate aridity, expansion of desert areas

Climate change impact on ecosystems

2 - Ecosystem degradation due to reduced river flow, increased risk of fires and diseases

Elevation, m 4 000 9 Nival (glacier) ecosystem

Migratory birds

3 500 3 000

8

2 500

3 - Increased ecosystem productivity in northern parts of Central Asia, northward shift of vegetation 4 - Forest degradation due to reduced runoff, increased risk of droughts and diseases

10 Lakes

5 - Changes in species composition, risk of extinction of endangered and vulnerable species 6 - Alteration of food-chains, change in the balance of predators and herbivorous animals

Alpine ecosystem

Evergreen forests (juniper, pine)

2 000

7

Broad-leaf forests (walnut, apple, maple) 4 Sensitive species and ecotones 5

1 500 1 000

Tugai ecosystem (river floodplains) Deserts and 500 semi-deserts 2 1

Middle mountain ecosystems 6

Steppes 3

Xerophitic forests (pistachio, saxaul) 11 and pastures

9 - Glacier melt and vegetation succession, alpine habitat loss

Agricultural ecosystems (0-3000 m) 12

10 - Physical and biological changes in high mountain lakes

Concept: I. Abdusalomov and V. Novikov

Glacier volume change in Kyrgyzstan

Glacier volume change in Tajikistan

Volume, km3 700

Volume, km3 700

600

600

500

500

400

400

300

300

200

200

0

?

50 years ago

Today

8 - Degradation and reduction of habitats, reduction of forage

11 - Changes in phenology (earlier ripening, fading), pest attacks

0

100

7 - Shift of forest communities to higher altitudes, risk of fires

Next 50 years

Source: Kyrgyzstan’s Second National Communication, 2009

?

100 0

50 years ago

Today

Next 50 years

Source: Tajikistan’s Second National Communication, 2008

12 - Mixed negative and positive effects of climate warming

Weather records confirm that the surface temperatures in Central Asia are growing, but precipitation trends are different.

Almost everywhere, climate warming in winter is more pronounced than in other seasons.

Climate change scenarios for Central Asia envisage a 1°C–3°C increase in temperature in the next two to four decades. If global greenhouse gas emissions are unmitigated, scientists project that temperatures could exceed today’s by 3°C–6°C by the end of the century while rainfall amounts in southern parts of Central Asia could reduce. The impacts of these weather changes, especially in the mountains, are still unknown.

61

Biodiversity in Central Asia

Ufaa U

R U S S I A

Penza Samara Volga

Saratov a

Omsk sk

Chelyy bi skk Chelyabinsk

Buzuluk r Kumertau

Petropavlovsk o

Kostanay

Magnitogorsk n

Kokshetau K Ko Stepnogorsk

Rudniy

Oral

Atbasar Orsk

Astana A

Aktobe

Ural

Volgograd g

Pavlodar ys h

Irt

Orenburg

Arkalyk

Temirtau Karaganda

K A Z A K H S T A N Atyrau

A

Zhezkazgan

Astrakhan

Balkhash

Aral Baikonur

Aral Sea S Aktau

Chu

Zhanaozen

ar ya

Derbent

Ku ra

Kara-BogazGol

Dashoguz

Uchkudukk

TURKMENISTAN

Turkmenbashi

Tashkent n

arya uD Am

Baku

Shirvan

Balkanabat k

Navoiy v

Bukhara

Ashgabat

Karaj

r Arak

62

Gorgan

Neyshabur Qom

I R A N

Challenges for Biodiversity

Mary

Mashad s

Katta-Kurgan

Bishkek B Balykchy a

Toktogul

Ysik-Ko

KYRGYZSTAN

Naryn

Jalalabad Osh Kashgar

Kujand Kujand u n

Karshi a Korug

Termiz

b gha Mur

Hamadan

Sari

Tehran

Gonbad-e Kavus Bojnurd A trek

Jizakh

Kara-Balta

Angren Ferghana Kokand K

U Z B E K I S T A N

Turkmenabat Rasht

Taraz

Shymkent

Urganch

Almaty

Zh Zhanatas

Kentau

Turkestan

Nukus N

a S e

Mingachevir

T

Kyzylorda rD Sy

n p i a C a s

Makhachkala

Lake Balkhash

Mazar-e Sharif

Kunduz

AFGHANISTAN

Gilgit

PAKISTAN Mingora

A Visual Synthesis

Ob

Novokuznetsk

Barnaul n

Increased river flow Reduced river flow Risk of flooding due to sea level fluctuation Reduction of ice cover

Semey

Increased productivity of wheat crops and pastures

en Oskemen

Severe drought impacts

a Zyryanovsk

Ayagoz o

Increased risk of natural disasters in the mountains Hazardous waste sites and industries potentially affected by disasters

Lake Zaysan Tacheng

Environmental crisis area

Karamay K Kuytun

Taldykorgann

ol

Climate change

Novosibirskk

Bushfires

Shihezi

Locust invasions Potential risk of cross-border spread of invasive species and new diseases

Ghulja 0

100

200

300 km

Map produced by ZOÏ Environment Network, September 2011

Karakol

Kuqa Aksu

C H I N A Hotan

im Tar

He

The changing climate, especially since the 1950s, has had a negative effect on glaciers, snow cover and permafrost. Numerous small glaciers (smaller than 0.5 square km) at lower altitudes have totally melted. The high altitude glaciers appear more stable and have shrunk only a little. Today’s rate of glacier loss in Central Asia is 0.5–1 per cent per year. In the last 50–60 years, between 15 per cent and 35 per cent of the Tien Shan and Pamir glaciers have melted, depending on their location, size and elevation.

Climate change is increasingly becoming a factor defining the future conditions of the region’s ecosystems and adds to environmental stress on sensitive flora and fauna. Vegetation succession can be observed at many alpine sites of Central Asia, which were covered by ice and permanent snow until recently. Mountain species see their ecosystems changing. Droughts, a more arid climate and the reduction of water flow in the rivers strongly affect aquatic and tugai floodplain forest ecosystems.

The areas annually affected by locusts (mainly in southern Central Asia) have significantly increased. Pest attacks in southern Tajikistan in 2003-05 halved the cotton harvest in the worst-hit districts. They have also brought challenges to Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

The risk of forest fires and of spreading forest diseases has amplified. Scientists warn that the forests and steppes of Kazakhstan are exposed to higher fire risk due to climate warming.

Certain agricultural crops may not adapt to a more arid climate. On the other hand, climate warming could be potentially favourable for some types of agricultural activities, including wheat production and grazing in northern Central Asia. However, extreme weather events may outweigh these positive effects. For example, Kazakhstan in 2011 harvested a record 29 million tonnes of grain. In contrast, in 2010, the severe drought reduced the crop to 12 million tonnes, almost a record low.

63

Biodiversity in Central Asia

Ufa

Samara

lga Vo

Saratov a

Chelyabinsk

R U S S I A

y ya Tolyatti

Penza

Buzuluk r Kumertau

Balavoko o

Kokshetau o

Kostanay

Magnitogorsk r

Orenburg

Atbasar Orsk

Ural

Arkalyk

Semeyy

Temirtau Karaganda

K

A

N

Ay

Trans-Asia Balkhash k Gas pipeline L Balkhash Lake Taldykorgan

Chu

rya Da

S e

a

Kara-BogazGol Trans Caspian Gas pipeline

Dashoguz

v Navoiy ara Bukhara

Sari

Tehran

Gorgan

Gonbad-e Kavus Bojnurd

Neyshabur

I

R

Challenges for Biodiversity

A

N

Jizakh

Samarkand Karshi

Ysik-Ko

KYRGYZSTAN

Angren Namangan A An

Kujand

Bishkek B Balykchy a

Toktogul

Shymkent

U Z B E K I S T A N

Kara-Balta

Taraz

Tashkent

a ary uD Am

TURKMENISTAN

k Balkanabat

Uchkudukk

Urganch

Almaty

h Zhanatas

Kentau Turkestan

N Nukus

Rasht

Qom

T

Ili

Zhanaozen

Turkmenabat

Ar Arak

S

Sy r

Turkmenbashi

Hamadan

H

Kyzylorda yy

Mingachevir

Karaj

K

Baikonur

Aral S Sea

Aktau Aktau

Baku Ba aaku

A

Aral

Derbent

Shirvan Sh

Z

Zhezkazgan

a n p i C a s

Makhachkala

A

Atyrau

Astrakhan

64

Irty sh

Astana A

Aktobe

g go Volgograd

Pavlodar Ekibastuz ib Stepnogorsk

Rudniy

Oral Volgodonsk

Omsk

Petropavlovsk ov

Ferghana

Naryn p Kamparata Jalalabad

Osh Kashgar

Rogun

Projected r Kyrgyzst

TAJIKISTAN N Nurek

Dushanbe a

Ashgabat a Termiz

Mary

Mazar-e Sharif

M Mashad Serhetabad TAP Gas project

Qurghonteppaa

Korug

Kunduzz

AFGHANISTAN

Gilgit

PAKISTAN Mingora

y

A Visual Synthesis

Infrastructure and pollution

Novosibirskk Novokuznetsk

na Barnaul

Ob

Railway Projected railway

Biysk

Major roads Oil or gas pipeline Projected oil or gas pipeline Oil or gas field Coal mining

Oskemen

Mining in sensitive areas

Zyryanovsk an

Recently constructed new tunnels Thermal power plant (coal, oil, gas)

Lake Zaysann

Hydroelectric power plant

yagoz o

Projected hydroelectric power plant

Karamayy Kuytun

Projected nuclear power plant

Concentration of industrial pollution

0

C H I N A Kuqa Aksu

Radioactive contamination and limitations for landuse

Shihezi

Ghulja

ol Karakol

railway link tan-China

Nuclear power plant

Tacheng

100

200

300 km

Map produced by ZO� Environment Network, September 2011 Sources: Pipeline Infrastructure Map of Europe & the CIS, The Petroleum Economist Ltd., London (→ www.petroleum-economist.com); Resources and Energy Atlas of Russia

Habitat Fragmentation There is extensive mining across much of Central Asia - in steppes, deserts and in mountainous areas - for coal, uranium, gold, mercury and other minerals. There is also the highly-developed and still growing oil and gas industry in the Caspian Sea. Mineral and hydrocarbon extraction is never riskfree, and the ravages of past accidents and neglect still disfigure parts of Central Asia. Examples are the damage to Caspian seals and sturgeons and the high concentrations of hazardous pollutants found in slag, sludge and tailings from uranium and mercury mining in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. These may significantly affect the surrounding farmlands, natural waterways and the health of people and wildlife.

Soil compaction, reduction of vegetation and increased erosion of mountain slopes also contribute to higher sediment formation and silt loading of the rivers with implications for the useful life and effectiveness of the reservoirs and irrigation canals and the operation of hydroelectric turbines.

The improvement of national roads and the addition of new international roads has increased accessibility to remote mountain areas. This new accessibility has brought both additional pressures from visitors and from business development, and new income opportunities in terms of tourism and hospitality and the trade of native products. The increase in the number of people who have cars has improved mobility and connectivity, but has also brought increased risks to previously unreachable mountain ecosystems, and the additional traffic has contributed to environmental noise and air pollution.

65

Biodiversity in Central Asia

R U S S I A Volga

sh Irty

Astana Ural

K

A

Z

A

K

H

S

T

A

Syr Darya 5

a n p i C a s

Arall Sea

Ili

(70.2)

KAZ 10

Amudarya 15.4

Karakalpakstan 7.9

UZBEKISTAN Horezm 4.4 (UZB)

Tashauz 6.5

a Ashgabat High water losses along Karakum Canal

Tehran

Challenges for Biodiversity

R

A

N

Tashkent

Chirchik-Charvak 9

Bishkek k

KYRGYZSTAN

UZB 10

(37) TJK JK 2 UZB 55.3 AmuZarafshan 5.3 Bukhara 5.2 UZB 10 n 1 KYR 0.1 Ahangaran h Kashkadarya 1.2 0.3 TJK 6.6

TURKMENISTAN

I

Arys 1

Prospective Collector

Kara-BogazGol

a 3.9 Lebap

66

Lake L Balkhash

(38)

Chu

S e Baku Ba B

N

Murgab 1.5

Tejen 1.0

Karshi 4.2

0.6

1.55

h 13.3 Vakhsh e 0.2 Karakum Sherabad Canal 11.0 Panj 31.9 P Surhandaryaa 3.4 Prospective ex expansion r Kafarnigan 5.0 of irrigation Other rivers: 6.2

AFGHANISTAN

Kara Darya 4 Rivers of F Ferghana Valley: 8

TAJIKISTAN

Dushanbe UZB 1.4 0.5

Naryn 15 KYR 3

PAKISTAN

Is

ssyk-Kul

A Visual Synthesis

Water-land management Impacts from intense grazing and land cultivation in sensitive soils or steep slopes

Ob

Croplands in the former steppes and virgin lands of northern Kazakhstan Mountain regions above 2000 metres Major decline in fisheries

Aral Sea basin Average outflow of branch (km3/year) 15

Lake Zaysan

Theoretical average flow without outflow (km3/year)

(70)

70 30 10 5

30 Average flow (km /year)

Pollution

3

Irrigation runoff from fields to rivers Environmental crisis area Aral Sea basin Irrigated lands

C H I N A 0

100

200

300 km

Map produced by ZOÏ Environment Network, October 2011 Source: CAWATERinfo (→ www.cawater-info.net); Interactive Agricultural Ecological Atlas of Russia and Neighboring Countries (→ www.agroatlas.ru/ru/ content/vegetation_maps/Arable)

Over-exploitation Water management affects water-dwelling species, but can also affect terrestrial wildlife at some distance. The diversion of the rivers which fed the Aral Sea to serve large-scale irrigation projects led to the drastic shrinkage of the Sea itself, and also exposed huge quantities of salt and chemicals which have devastated human health and ecosystems across the entire region. The Aral Sea fishing industry, which had reportedly produced onesixth of the Soviet Union’s entire fish catch, has been ruined.

Concerns over food security promoted the growth of rainfed crop cultivation in the mountain areas, especially in Tajikistan. This cultivation often increased soil erosion on steep slopes. With the abrupt end of the Soviet era, the people in the mountains faced sudden poverty and the risk of famine, and responded by hunting wild animals for meat and trophies.

The increase in hunting caused a corresponding increase in the pressures on wildlife. The cessation of Soviet supplies of solid and liquid fuels to the Tien Shan and Pamir mountain communities had similar consequences – woody biomass and dried dung became major sources of energy for cooking and heating, and the widespread collection throughout the 1990s and into the early 2000s of slow-growing shrubs, such as artemisia and teresken, as well as forest cuttings, diminished mountain forests, soil cover and biodiversity.

67

Biodiversity in Central Asia

Spread and impacts of invasive species comb jellyfish ( Mnemiopsis lediyi ) in the Caspian Sea Atyrau

Atyrau

Atyrau

Astrakhan

Astrakhan

Astrakhan

RUSSIA

RUSSIA

RUSSIA

KAZAKHSTAN

Makhachkala

KAZAKHSTAN

Makhachkala

Tulka ( Clupeonella ) catch in the Caspian Sea thousand tonnes 300

KAZAKHSTAN

Makhachkala

Unidentified

250

C. caspia C. engrauli Anchovy tulka

200 AZERBAIJAN Baku Lenkoran

Turkmenbashy TURKM.

Rasht IRAN

AZERBAIJAN Baku Lenkoran

Turkmenbashy TURKM.

Rasht Ramsar

2000

IRAN

AZERBAIJAN Baku Lenkoran

Turkmenbashy TURKM.

2002

IRAN

100 50

Rasht Ramsar

150

Ramsar

2004

0

2000 01 02 03 04 05

Sources: Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis of the Caspian Environmental Programme (2007); Environment and Security in the Eastern Caspian (2008); Vital Caspian Graphics II (2011)

Invasive Alien Species Alien species which invade new habitats are thought to be a main direct driver of biodiversity loss across the world. Water ecosystems of Central Asia in the heart of Eurasia are especially vulnerable to aliens because they are naturally isolated from strong competitors. They often have ecological niches that have remained empty because of their distance from possible colonists. In much the same way, mountains have a diverse but geographically narrow range of habitats, and invasive species may bring great disturbance to them.

Increasing travel, trade, and tourism associated with globalization and the growth in human numbers have made intentional and unintentional movements of species beyond natural biogeographical barriers much easier, and many aliens have become invaders. They can change the community structure and species composition of native ecosystems directly by out-competing indigenous species for resources. Alien species in the Caspian Sea include comb jellyfish and others, which in the past decade have severely affected local commercial fish species such as tulka. Issyk-Kul Lake in Kyrgyzstan has also suffered from the past intentional release of non-native fish species into its sensitive water ecosystem.

68

Challenges for Biodiversity

Biosafety and Living Modified Organisms The most common genetically modified organisms (GMOs and LMOs) are crop plants which are altered to resist pests, diseases or herbicides. They include soya, wheat, corn (maize), cotton, sugar beet, walnuts, potatoes, tomatoes, peas and salad crops.

Supporters of GMO technology argue that engineered crops can improve nutrition, that those resistant to drought or salt can flourish in poor conditions, and that crops able to resist insects help to protect the environment by reducing the use of pesticides.

Critics fear that GMOs could adversely affect the health of those who eat them, producing toxins or transferring antibiotic resistance and other genetic material into the human gut. So far little evidence to support them has been reported. There are also fears that GMOs could become superweeds or that they could accidentally breed with wild plants or other crops. Plants that are insect-resistant are thought likely to hasten the development of pests able to resist insecticides. GMOs may help to grow more crops and so could be part of the answer to world hunger. But in an increasingly globalised world they could, their critics say, help the agricultural industry to create monopolies. Detecting the presence of genetically-modified material in seed imports is possible, though it needs specialist equipment and trained staff.

A Visual Synthesis

Unsustainable Use and Consumption: Implications for Biodiversity However efficiently an economy is managed and run, there will still be a potential risk for biodiversity. The most careful irrigation methods, the most modern energy efficiency approaches and energy production technologies, cannot eliminate the human factor. And while that remains the ultimate determinant of the fate of habitats and systems there will always be a need for stringent protection of biodiversity.

In Central Asia this universal difficulty is compounded by the region’s acknowledged poor record of wasteful water use in agriculture and energy inefficiency in households. Many grasslands have been affected by the overgrazing of 20 years ago. During the economic transition, the number of livestock initially declined, and herding practices centred around settlements. This development led to overuse of so-called winter and autumn pastures in the lower mountains near populated areas as the regular fodder supply was no longer available or affordable to most households.

At the same time, the condition of summer pastures in the high mountains improved, but the growth of unpalatable grasses increased. The conflicts over pasture use in the near-border areas have increased.

One way forward for Central Asia could be the recognition and enforcement of cooperative, integrated and efficient water, energy and pasture use as a way to serve the interests of the economy, society and nature. Growing populations, demands for better living standards and more water, energy and food, and a less predictable climate mean biodiversity requires stronger protection and consideration.

Productivity of pastures in Kyrgyzstan Yield, kilogramme per hectare

350 Summer pastures

300 250

Spring-autmn pastures 200 150 Winter pastures 100 50 0

1950-1955

1980-1985

1997-2004

Source: FAO 2010

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Safeguarding Biodiversity

Biodiversity in Central Asia

Ufa Penza

R U S S I A

Tolyatti y Samara Volga

Saratov a

Omsk sk

Chelyabinsk C helyabinsk

Buzuluk r Kumertau

Petropavlovsk o

Kostanay

Magnitogorsk n

Kokshetau Ko Stepnogorsk

Rudniy

Oral

Atbasar Orsk

Astana A

Aktobe

Ural

Volgograd g

Pavlodar ys h

Irt

Orenburg

Arkalyk

Temirtau Karaganda

K A Z A K H S T A N Atyrau

Zhezkazgan

Astrakhan

Lake Balkhash

Baikonur

Ili

n p i a C a s

Kyzylorda

Aktau

rD Sy

ar ya

Kara-BogazGol

Dashoguz

Uchkudukk

Baku

U Z B E K I S T A N

arya uD Am

Shirvan

TURKMENISTAN

Turkmenbashi

Balkanabat k

Navoiy v

Bukhara Turkmenabat

Ashgabat a

Rasht

Karaj

r Arak

72

Gorgan

Tehran

Neyshabur Qom

I R A N

Safeguarding Biodiversity

Mashad s

Jizakh

Katta-Kurgan

Tashkent

Kara-Balta Toktogul

Ysik-Kol Bishkek h Balykchy

K Y R G Y Z S T A N Naryn Angren Ferghana Kokand K

Jalalabad Osh Kashgar

Kujand Kuja ujan

Karshi a Qurghonteppa Termiz

Mary

b gha Mur

Hamadan

Sari

Gonbad-e Kavus Bojnurd A trek

Taraz

Shymkent

Urganch

Almaty

Z h Zhanatas

Kentau

Turkestan

Nukus N

a S e

Ku ra

T

Chu

Zhanaozen

Derbent

Mingachevir

Balkhash

Aral

Aral Sea

Makhachkala

A

Mazar-e Sharif

Korug

Kunduz

AFGHANISTAN

Gilgit

PAKISTAN Mingora

A Visual Synthesis

Ob

Biodiversity conservation

Novokuznetsk 2000 1000 500 ys Biysk 200 100

Protected areas

Barnaul n

Reforestation initiatives Zoological parks Botanical parks Wildlife sanctuaries and nurseries

Semey

Ridder

RAMSAR sites (Convention on wetlands of international importance especially as waterfowl habitat)

a Zyryanovsk

Ayagoz o

0

Lake Zaysan

100

200

300 km

Map produced by ZOÏ Environment Network, October 2011

Tacheng Karamay K Kuytun

Taldykorgann

l

Elevation in metres

Novosibirskk

As the map (left) shows, there is an encouraging trend in much of Central Asia towards extending the network of protected areas and forests inherited two decades ago after independence from the Soviet Union - and in the countries which have recorded little actual increase (Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan), at least there has been no loss of protection. But it is a matter of more than the simple extent of the areas under protection. To show effective concern for biodiversity and forests, governments need to improve the efficiency with which they are managed, the enforcement of the legislation designed to secure their future, the engagement of the communities of which they are a part, and the effectiveness of financing mechanisms.

Source: Protected Planet (→ http://protectedplanet.net); UNESCO World Heritage Conventon (→ http://whc.unesco.org) ADB Nature Atlas (→ http://beta.adb.org/publications/central-asia-atlasnatural-resources); Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (→ www.ramsar.org)

Shihezi

Ghulja

Karakol

Kuqa Aksu

im Tar

He

C H I N A Hotan

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Global Environment Facility in Central Asia

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is the largest funder of projects to improve the Earth’s environment.

The GEF was established in 1991 and since then has allocated $9.5 billion, supplemented by more than $42 billion in co-financing, for 2,700 projects in more than 165 developing and transition countries. The GEF projects cover not only biodiversity, but also climate change, international waters, land degradation and other global environmental priorities. All these projects benefit the global environment, linking local, national, and global environmental challenges and promoting sustainable livelihoods. The GEF supported more than 40 biodiversity-related projects in Central Asia over the past 15 years and allocated more than $50 million. In addition to national projects, several regional initiatives supported by the GEF are helping to build cross-border cooperation and efficient nature resource management. Selected examples of recent GEF projects and their accomplishments are described below.

The goal of the Sustainable Land Management in the High Pamir and Pamir-Alai Mountains GEF project (known locally as “PALM”) is to restore the productive and protective functions of the transboundary mountain ecosystems in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The project is improving rural well-being through better management of pastures, sustainable land management, and lessening land degradation’s causes and consequences.

The West Tien Shan GEF project initially assisted three countries - Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan - to strengthen local and cross-border mountain ecosystem and watershed conservation. The new phase of the GEF project aims to improve forestry and biodiversity management and increase local peoples’ access to biodiversity resources and earnings from ecotourism.

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A Visual Synthesis

The biodiversity of Kazakhstan’s steppes is threatened by habitat degradation. Protected areas have a significant role to play, but they cover only a limited part of steppe ecosystems and their management effectiveness is limited. The GEF project is currently working to expand protected areas containing representative samples of steppes, to integrate buffer zones into the protected areas network, to introduce wildlife corridors, and to promote community-based conservation areas. New approaches to ecological monitoring are also tested in the project. In spring 2011, a new national park, Buiratau, covering 89,000 ha was established. Another GEF project in the mountains of southern Kazakhstan that harbour more than 75% of the country’s agrobiodiversity is assisting in conservation efforts targeting wild crop relatives, namely wild apples (Malus sieversii) and wild apricots (Armeniaca vulgaris).

GEF’s project to sustain agricultural biodiversity in the face of climate change in Tajikistan recognises that many local species of plants and their wild relatives may offer resistance to or tolerance of pests, diseases and severe weather shocks. Tajikistan’s agricultural biodiversity is important for rural communities’ well-being, for ensuring their food security and for the conservation of globally significant genetic diversity and crop varieties. The project is testing how rural communities can benefit from agrobiodiversity conservation and how they can adapt to climate change. The project catalyses international research collaboration in soil and plant modelling and assists local communities in diversification of crops and other coping strategies.

Fish in mountain lakes of Kyrgyzstan are threatened by alien species and overfishing. The GEF project addresses these problems through legal and institutional reforms in fishery management, introducing biodiversity-friendly fishery management regimes, conserving endemic fish species and controlling introduced species in IssykKul Lake and addressing socio-economic root causes.

Restocking of native species is another important priority. Natural pastures play a key role in Kyrgyzstan’s rural economy. The ongoing GEF project on sustainable pasture management in the Suusamyr Valley aims to demonstrate how scientific and traditional knowledge and community involvement can reduce pressure from overgrazing.

Another GEF project aims to lock biodiversity into Uzbekistan’s oil-and-gas sector policies and operations in the Ustyurt Plateau. The few surviving strongholds of dry temperate grasslands are threatened by growing hydrocarbon exploration and pipeline infrastructure and the country’s protected areas cannot safeguard the vast area remaining outside. The long-term goal is for all oil-and-gas operations to minimize their adverse impacts on biodiversity, including ecosystem fragmentation. An ongoing GEF project in the Amu Darya delta region is helping tugai forest conservation through more efficient biodiversity protection combined with community-based forestry and energy and water-efficient agricultural activities. The recently completed Nuratau-Kyzylkum GEF project improved national regulations, promoted modern approaches for nature conservation involving local communities, and contributed to sustainable pasture, forest and tourism development. Awareness-raising among children, farmers and tourists is continuing with GEF support.

Protected areas covering nearly 4% of its territory safeguard Turkmenistan’s biodiversity. But the protection is not comprehensive, the protected areas network is fragmented and planning management is under-developed.

The ongoing GEF project assists Turkmenistan in improving efficiency of the existing protected areas system and enabling conditions for - developing a network of national parks as part of the country’s protected areas system.

National parks are not only meant for strict biodiversity conservation, but also for environmental education and eco-tourism. The project covers a range of desert and mountain ecosystems and slows threats to biodiversity, such as cutting woodlands, draining water meadows, overgrazing, and over-exploiting species. The recently completed Hazar nature reserve GEF project on the Caspian Sea coast has improved biodiversity conservation and monitoring efficiency, and helped to alleviate population pressures on the local ecosystem.

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Biodiversity-related Initiatives Supported by Switzerland The project designed to explore the potential of Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) is centred on the ChonAksu small river basin of Lake Issyk-Kul, in Kyrgyzstan. It aims to show the feasibility of applying the PES concept in integrated water resources management. The project activities which started in 2010 by the Regional Environmental Centre include: improving the practice of land use within a small river basin; reconstructing a water pipe-line network and cleaning up irrigation facilities to save water; developing a biological filtration scheme for water; identifying how many livestock pastures a small river basin can support; and modernising a village’s access to water.

Switzerland seeks to help Central Asia’s countries in sustainable development, transition from authoritarian rule and central planning to pluralism, democracy and a market economy. Its projects in Central Asia are in five main areas: public institutions and services, basic water and energy infrastructure, private sector development, water management and disaster risk reduction, and health care reform. Currently, Switzerland supports over 20 projects in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan (plus 10 more implemented regionally) where it spends about US$ 14-15 million annually per country.

Forest depletion by individuals and business groups jeopardizes rural livelihoods in Kyrgyzstan and threatens the world’s largest natural walnut forests. Since independence two decades ago the Kyrgyz Government has invested less in conserving these forests, lacking resources and an effective legal framework. So Switzerland has been financing the KIRFOR project based on the idea that farmers, foresters, government authorities, local communities and business should decide jointly how to manage and sustainably use the forests. The project aims also to support research and training and to contribute to the new forest law and inventory.

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In 2000 Switzerland launched the Central Asian Mountain Partnership initiative (CAMP) in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan with the aim of promoting sustainable mountain development that should lead to better living conditions for the poor majority of mountain people. CAMP activities promote group learning and action on priority topics related to pasture management, water resource management, integrated local risk management, energy efficiency, conflict over natural resources and other topics. Mountainfocused NGOs, initially supported by Swiss researchers and collaborators, involve various levels of stakeholders from central governments to village institutions and the general public. They often communicate “mountain voices”, advocate interactive and open processes of policy formulation and act to bridge any gaps between new legislation and strategies and the realities in mountain communities.

Cotton is starting to regain its importance in Kyrgyzstan.

In selected areas, it is now grown with far fewer chemicals than during Soviet times, and organic cotton is seen as an opportunity to enter a new niche market and to increase incomes. The BioCotton project promotes organic farming in Central Asia and the trade in organic products on the international and domestic markets. The project has developed a system to ensure that organic cotton complies with international standards.

A Visual Synthesis

Other Initiatives There are many other initiatives on biodiversity conservation and sustainable use, as these examples show. Some concentrate on top predators like the big cats, the creatures at the apex of the food chain whose wellbeing is essential for an entire ecosystem. Others focus on species which are commercially important or which bestow other benefits on the environment, like the saiga antelopes whose long migrations help to disperse seeds across the steppe. Many aim to help local people to recover skills which were undervalued in previous decades and to use natural resources sustainably.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is working in Central Asia to develop and promote the ECONET, which links core nature protection and priority areas with transit areas (ecocorridors) and buffer zones. Combining all three elements should guarantee the long-term sustainability of ecosystem development. WWF has also helped to research the possible reintroduction of tigers in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan (something it considers feasible in a few years’ time), the conservation of cheetahs in Turkmenistan, and Bukhara deer in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan.

The German international development organization GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit) is working with governments, NGOs and academia in Central Asia in a programme on sustainable use of natural resources. In Kyrgyzstan it is working to encourage sustainable pasture management; in Tajikistan and Turkmenistan it is also promoting sustainable forest management. GIZ is also supporting water resource and water ecosystem projects, including reforestation in the dry Aral Sea. The German Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) is supporting wildlife centres in Kyrgyzstan’s IssykKul province. Germany’s Michael Succow Foundation is assisting Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan in planning buffer zones for nature reserves and introducing new management concepts that involve the local population. Another GIZ-supported project in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan is focusing on ibex, markhor, urial and Marco Polo sheep.

The project collaborates with traditional hunters, private conservancies, hunting concessionaires, scientists, NGOs and state nature protection authorities. The project is helping to manage hunting grounds and wildlife stocks in a sustainable way and to monitor biodiversity.

The Central Asian region stands at the crossroads of several flyways and hosts at least 530 bird species. With support from the UK Government’s Darwin Initiative, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and German Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union, more than 230 sites covering over 20 million hectares of steppes, deserts, mountains and wetlands have been mapped and incorporated into a comprehensive Important Bird Areas (IBAs) list of Central Asia. In Turkmenistan the IBA initiative was a driving force behind the country’s signing of the Ramsar Convention.

Fauna & Flora International’s (FFI) work in Kyrgyzstan aims to protect the snow leopard at the Sarychat-Ertash and Naryn state nature reserves in the central Tien Shan mountains.

FFI helps the reserve’s staff to combat poaching, monitor the animals and involve communities, with input from the Snow Leopard Trust. FFI helps to conserve fruit and nut forests, and has recently prepared the Red List of Trees of Central Asia.

The Saiga Conservation Alliance (SCA) works in Central Asia to conserve these critically endangered antelopes in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. SCA monitors saiga numbers, identifies poacher profiles and motives, and in Uzbekistan has successfully negotiated a consensus and an action plan between the Government and local people.

It aims to establish local ranger groups to monitor saiga populations and raise public awareness and increased support from communities for the plight of the saiga.

The Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan and Frankfurt Zoological Society focus on the recovery of saiga in central Kazakhstan.

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References Main background documents: ADB. 2010. Central Asia Atlas of Natural Resources.

Kyrgyzstan’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. 1998.

Ministry of Environmental Protection.

Pivnev I. 1990. Fish of Kyrgyzstan.

Birdlife International. 2009. Central Asia factsheet. Available at: http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/userfiles/file/sowb/flyways/7_Central_Asia_Factsheet.pdf

Safarov, N. and Novikov V. 2003. Tajikistan’s State of the Environment Report 2002. Electronic publication of the Research Laboratory for Nature Protection (Tajikistan) and GRID-Arendal (Norway).

Chelpakova J. 2011. Animal world of Kyrgyzstan.

Tajikistan’s Fourth National Report on Implementation of the UN CBD. 2009. National Biodiversity and Biosafety Centre and the Governmental Workgroup.

Chemonics International. 2001a. Biodiversity Assessment for Kazakhstan –––. 2001b. Biodiversity Assessment for Kyrgyzstan –––. 2001c. Biodiversity Assessment for Tajikistan –––. 2001d. Biodiversity Assessment for Turkmenistan –––. 2001e. Biodiversity Assessment for Uzbekistan IUCN. 2005. World Heritage Thematic Study for Central Asia. A Regional Overview. Ed. Ch. Magin FAO. 2010a. Global Forest Resources Assessment: Kazakhstan –––. 2010b. Global Forest Resources Assessment: Kyrgyzstan –––. 2010c. Global Forest Resources Assessment: Tajikistan –––. 2010d. Global Forest Resources Assessment: Turkmenistan

Tajikistan’s National Biosafety Framework. 2004. National Biodiversity and Biosafety Centre.

Tajikistan’s National Strategy and Action Plan on Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity. 2003. National Biodiversity and Biosafety Centre and the Governmental Workgroup.

Turkmenistan’s Fourth National Report on Implementation of the UN CBD. 2009. Ministry of Nature Protection.

Turkmenistan’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan.

2002. Ministry of Nature Protection.

Convention on Biological Diversity. 2010. Global Biodiversity Outlook-3.

UNDP GEF. 2008. Project document. Strengthening policy and regulatory framework for mainstreaming biodiversity into fishery sector of Kyrgyzstan

–––. 2010e. Global Forest Resources Assessment: Uzbekistan

UNDP GEF. 2009. Project document. Strengthening the management effectiveness of the protected area system of Turkmenistan.

FFI. 2009. The Red List of Trees of Central Asia. Eastwood A., Lazkov G., Newton A (eds.)

UNEP WCMC. 2011. UK National Ecosystem Assessment. Synthesis of the Key Findings.

Kazakhstan National Environmental Center. 2000. State of the Environment in the Republic of Kazakhstan 2000. Electronic report facilitated by GRID-Arendal. Esekin, B., V. Bogachev, K. Duskaev, A. Rodionov, N. Medvedeva, S. Daukeev, and A. Bekeev (eds.)

Uzbekistan’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. 1997.

State Committee for Nature Protection.

Kazakhstan’s National Strategy and Action Plan on Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity. 1999. Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection.

Kyrgyzstan’s Fourth National Report on Implementation of the UN CBD. 2008. State Agency on Environmental Protection and Forestry

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Uzbekistan’s Third National Report on Implementation of the UN CBD. 2006. State Committee for Nature Protection.

Zoï Environment Network and the University of Central Asia. 2011. From Rio 1992 to 2012 and beyond: Sustainable Mountain Development in Central Asia. Hughes G., Dear Ch., Simonett O., Novikov V. (eds.)

Zoï Environment Network. 2009. Climate Change in Central Asia: A Visual Synthesis. Novikov V., Simonett O., Berthiaume Ch. (eds.)

A Visual Synthesis

Additional references: Kazakhstan’s Initial National Communication under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 1998. Ministry of Environmental Protection of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Available at: http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/natc/kaznc1.pdf Kazakhstan’s Second National Communication under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 2009. Ministry of Environmental Protection of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Available at: http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/natc/kaznc2e.pdf Kyrgyzstan’s First National Communication under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 2003. Ministry of Ecology and Emergencies of the Kyrgyz Republic. Available at: http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/natc/kyrnc1.pdf Kyrgyzstan’s Second National Communication under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 2009. State Agency for Environmental Protection and Forestry under the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic. Available at: http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/natc/kyrnc2e.pdf RECCA (Regional Environmental Centre of Central Asia). 2004.

Central Asia Mountain Ecosystems.

RECCA-ICSD (Regional Environmental Centre of Central Asia and Interstate Commission on Sustainable Development). 2001.

Regional Environmental Action Plan for Central Asia.

Tajikistan’s First National Communication under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 2002. Main Administration on Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring under the Ministry for Nature Protection of the Republic Tajikistan. Available at: http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/natc/tainc1.pdf Tajikistan’s First National Communication under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Capacity Building in Priority Areas. 2003. Main Administration on Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring under the Ministry for Nature Protection of the Republic Tajikistan. Available at: http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/ natc/tajnc1add.pdf

Tajikistan’s State of the Environment Report. 2002. Eds: Safarov N., Novikov V. Laboratory for Nature Protection under the Ministry for Nature Protection of the Republic Tajikistan. Available at: http:// enrin.grida.no/htmls/tadjik/soe2001/eng/index.htm Tajikistan’s Second National Communication under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 2008. State Agency on Hydrometeorology under the Committee for Environmental Protection. The Government of the Republic Tajikistan. Available at: http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/natc/tainc2.pdf Turkmenistan’s Initial National Communication under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 1999. Ministry for Nature Protection of Turkmenistan. Available at: http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/natc/tkmnc1.pdf Turkmenistan’s Initial National Communication under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Capacity Building in Priority Areas. 2006. Ministry for Nature Protection of Turkmenistan. Available at: http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/natc/tkmnc1a1.pdf UNECE. 2009. Second Environmental Performance Review: Kyrgyzstan. Available at: http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/epr/ epr_studies/Kyrgyzstan%20II%20En.pdf UNECE. 2010. Second Environmental Performance Review: Uzbekistan. Available at: http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/epr/ epr_studies/uzbekistan%20II%20e.pdf Uzbekistan’s Initial National Communication under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 1999. Main Administration of Hydrometeorology under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Available at: http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/natc/uzbnc1.pdf Uzbekistan’s Second National Communication under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 2008. Centre of Hydrometeorological Service under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Available at: http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/natc/uzbnc2e.zip

Tajikistan’s National Action Plan on Climate Change Mitigation.

2003. Main Administration on Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring under the Ministry for Nature Protection of the Republic Tajikistan. Eds: Makhmadaliev B., Novikov V., Kayumov A., Karimov U. Available at: http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/nap/tainap01e.pdf

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Online databases and information sources Biodiversity Indicators Partnership: http://www.bipindicators.net/ Central Asia Environment and Sustainable Development portal: http://www.caresd.net Central Asia Water Information portal: http://www.cawater-info.net Climate Wizard: interactive web tool developed by The Nature Conservancy, The University of Washington, and The University of Southern Mississippi http://www.climatewizard.org Convention on Biological Diversity: http://www.cbd.int/ Convention on Migratory Species: http://www.cms.int/ CITES Convention: http://www.cites.org/ FAO GLADIS Global Land Degradation Information System: http://lprapp11.fao.org:8080/glad_res/ FAO Stat: http://faostat.fao.org Forest Encyclopaedia: http://forest.geoman.ru/ Global Biodiversity Hotspots: http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/resources/Pages/maps.aspx Kazakhstan Ministry of Natural Resources: http://www.eco.gov.kz Kazakhstan’s Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity: http://acbk.kz/ Kyrgyzstan State Agency for Environmental Protection and Forestry: http://www.nature.kg Kyrgyzstan’s ecological movement “BIOM”: http://www.biom.kg/ Tajikistan Committee for Nature Protection: http://www.hifzitabiat.tj/ Tajikistan National Biodiversity and Biosafety Centre: http://www.biodiv.tj Turkmenistan Ministry of Nature Protection: http://www.natureprotection.gov.tm Uzbekistan State Committee for Nature Protection: http://www.uznature.uz/ Uzbekistan Clearing House Mechanism under the CBD: http://www.cbd.uz/ UNEP GRID-Arendal: http://www.grida.no/ UNEP-WCMC World Protected Areas Visual Database: http://www.protectedplanet.net/#5_44.25_65.25_0 UNESCO World Heritage List: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list World Bank development indicators: http://publications.worldbank.org/WDI/ WWF’s ECONET of Central Asia: http://www.wwf.ru/about/where_we_work/asia/closed/econet/maps/

Note: In Central Asia: Strict Nature Reserves “zapovedniks” are equivalent to IUCN category (I); National Parks are equivalent to IUCN category (II); Natural Monuments are equivalent to IUCN category (III); Species Management Areas (botanical, zoological, complex reserves) “zakazniks” are equivalent to IUCN category (IV); the protected zones of strict nature reserves, “reservates” and water protection zones are equivalent to IUCN category (V).

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A Visual Synthesis

Photo Sources Cover page: Wild apple forests, Central Tajikistan © V. Novikov Back cover page: Nura River meandering through the steppes of Kazakhstan © A. Koshkin P6: Agama lizard in the desert of Turkmenistan © A. Veyisov P8-9: Horses on a high mountain pasture, Kyrgyzstan © used under license of Shutterstock.com P30-31: Jungar-Alatau National Park, Kazakhstan © R. Vagapov P32: Family of marmots in the steppe, Kazakhstan © A. Koshkin P33: Desert landscape, Kazakhstan © V. Novikov P36: Saxaul forest, Repetek State Nature Reserve, Turkmenistan © A. Veyisov P36: Tugai forests, Amu Darya river delta, Uzbekistan © V. Novikov P36: Juniper forest, Tajikistan © V. Novikov P37: Wild apple (Malus Sieversii), southern Kazakhstan © L. Valdshmit P37: Walnut forests, southern Kyrgyzstan © V. Ushakov (www.photo.kg) P37: Pistachio forest, southern Tajikistan © V. Novikov P40: Kyrgyz yurts © V. Ushakov (www.photo.kg) P41: Water towers, Tien Shan Mountains, Kyrgyzstan © V. Ushakov (www.photo.kg) P45: Issyk-Kul Lake © V. Ushakov (www.photo.kg) P46: Tulipa gregeii © L. Valdshmit P46: Tulipa regeli © D. Unshikov P47: Tulips field, Aksu Jabagly Nature Reserve, Kazakhstan © L. Valdshmit P49: Snow leopard © S. Michel P49: Marco Polo Sheep © B. Wald P49: Markhor © V. Shakula P49: Bactrian Deer © N. Beshko P49: Saiga © A. Koshkin P49: Caspian Seal © P. Erochin P49: Desert Monitor © P. Erochin P49: Steppe Eagle © A. Koshkin P50-51: Crops, Uzbekistan © used under license of Shutterstock.com P53: Dry fruits and nuts © V. Novikov P56-57: Summer pastures, Song-Kul Lake, Kyrgyzstan © V. Novikov P70-71: Saiga antelopes, Kazakhstan © A. Koshkin P83: Lonely pistachio tree, Tajikistan © V. Novikov

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• Zoï Books • Publications produced in 2009 -12 by Zoï staff and associates for the United Nations, GRID-Arendal and a growing community of readers world-wide.

Available on • www.zoinet.org •

Desertification A visual synthesis 121 p. English UNEP, UNCCD, 2011

Central Asia A visual synthesis of Climate Change 80 p. English, Russian (2010) Zoï, Swiss Government 2009

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Amu Darya River Basin Environment and Security 98 p. English, Russian UNEP, ENVSEC, 2011

Coalland - Faces of Donetsk 43 p. English UNEP, ENVSEC, 2011

Eastern Europe

Khaidarkan mercury

A visual synthesis of Climate Change 60 p. English, Russian Zoï, 2011

Addressing primary mercury mining in Kyrgyzstan 34 p. English UNEP, Zoï 2009

South Caucasus A visual synthesis of Climate Change 60 p. English ENVSEC, Zoï, 2012

Vital Caspian Graphics 2 Opportunities, Aspirations and Challenges 80 p. English, Russian GRID Arendal, 2012

A Visual Synthesis

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People hunted the saiga in Moyunkum desert. Before they came on horseback, dressed in skins, armed with arrows; then they came with guns, galloped to and fro, and antelope crowds rushed first one then another way... the time passed and people switched to motorised raids, intensifying attrition like a pack of wolves, shooting the saiga on the run... then they began to use helicopters to search for the saiga herds in the steppe, and ground-based snipers racing at a hundred kilometres per hour to pursue the animals, giving them no chance to escape. Cars, helicopters, rapid-fire rifles, all turned life in the Moyunkum desert upside down.

Chingiz Aitmatov, “The Executioner’s Block�, 1987