- The Aral Sea, once the lifeblood of peoples in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, is parched, shrouded in a layer of toxic salt and dust.
- Officials from both countries are working with locals to plant a new forest of drought-resistant plants in the dried-out lakebed, to prevent sandstorms and mitigate the health impacts of breathing in the toxic dust.
- The initiative in Uzbekistan has so far planted 1.7 million hectares (4.2 million acres) of forest, with up to 200,000 hectares (494,000 acres) of new forest planned for 2024.
- Forestry and climate researchers say the nature-based solution shows promise, but that the afforestation project must follow important steps to succeed and may struggle in the face of increased droughts.
Between the borders of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, the Aral Sea, once the lifeblood of peoples in both countries, is parched, shrouded in a layer of toxic salt and dust that’s now taking a heavy toll on the health and farmlands of these very communities.
Since the Aral Sea, technically a lake, began shrinking in the 1960s, governments on both sides of the border led initiatives to revive tiny fractions of it. But Soviet-era dams, diverting waters feeding the sea to cotton monocultures, squelched the dream. As the Aral Sea dried out, a desert, the Aralkum, emerged and continues to expand on what used to be the lakebed. Today, the bed is caked with a thick layer of salt and of pesticide runoff that crystallized, creating a toxic cocktail of sediment on the ground. When the wind blows, this salt and dust can coat entire communities.
Now, instead of trying to restore the lake, officials from the Uzbekistan Forestry Agency and locals are trying to plant a new forest where it once rested. The main purpose of the afforestation project it to curb the harmful sandstorms and improve the ecosystem by planting desert-tolerant plants like saxaul (Haloxylon ammodendron) on the lakebed.
The current plan is to establish forests covering a total area of 150,000 to 200,000 hectares (371,000 to 494,000 acres) in 2024. Karakalpakstan, an Uzbek region that’s home to the Karakalpak people, is one of the most sandstorm-impacted areas in Uzbekistan. More than 300 residents of Karakalpakstan and around 150 employees from the Forestry Agency are joining hands to plant seedlings on the Aral Sea bed.
“I could not believe it when plans were going to transform the dried Aralkum Desert into a forest,” says Gulzira, one of the locals now involved in the afforestation project.
“But when tractors passed by our doorways, I was surprised to see the project taking place.”
Over the past five years, 1.7 million hectares (4.2 million acres) of forest have taken root at the bottom of the Aral Sea, on the Uzbekistan side of the border. The Forestry Agency has gathered and prepared more than 190 metric tons of seeds for sowing — desert-tolerant plants like saxaul, saltwort (Salsola spp.), ephedra (Ephedra strobilacea) and tamarisk (Tamarix spp.), among others, across an area of 2,700 hectares (6,700 acres).
Creating an entirely new ecosystem
Highly resistant to salt and sand, saxaul is one of the important desert species used in the plantation. A 2023 study found that saxaul formation in desert landscapes helps strengthen mobile sands, slowing down the process of desertification.
Within the plantation area, the vegetation slows down the wind speed, curbing the rise of salt and sand particles in the air. According to the study, a single saxaul shrub that’s 7 to 10 years old can stop 2-4 metric tons of moving sand; and each hectare (2.5 acres) of saxaul releases 0.8 metric tons of oxygen per year while absorbing 1.1 metric tons of carbon dioxide, improving the composition of the air and preventing air pollution.
Local populations suffer from a high incidence of respiratory diseases, anemia, cancer and digestive diseases. The probability of an Uzbek citizen dying prematurely from cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases or cancer is higher than one in four, according to a recent published by the Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change.
Kazakhstan, home to the northern half of the Aral Sea, is also implementing plantation initiatives. The country is set to plant saxaul trees on 275,000 hectares (about 680,000 acres) of the dried-out lakebed to prevent dust storms in the region, eventually covering 1.1 million hectares (2.7 million acres) by 2025, according to the Kazakh ecology ministry.
As in Uzbekistan, locals have been brought in to help collect saxaul seeds every September to October, and paid as short-term workers for planting every November until the beginning of March.
“Saxaul is planted on cold days and the work is quite difficult in the winter,” Gulzira says. “But we can see better outcomes and our incomes have also improved in the last three to four years.”
While women in places like the Muynak area of Karakalpakstan lead the saxaul seed collection, men help with the planting in the Aralkum Desert. Apart from changes to the intensity of salt storms, they’ve also noticed social changes, Gulzira says.
“I see improvements in Muynak. Most men used to stay at home before or go to Russia during the winter season for work, but now most of them are engaged with the initiative as seasonal workers,” she says.
To try to cover the more than 6.8 million hectares (16.8 million acres) of dried-out lakebed in Uzbekistan, seeds are dispersed by planes while saplings are planted manually. Around 360 tractors were employed for this initiative.
“Since a vast area is covered, the use of a tractor for plantation is one of the efficient ways to plant the saplings. At a distance of 10-15km of stretch in the sea bed, channels about 1 meter deep are dug in every 10 meters to plant the saplings,” said Turaxon Ziyotov, a scientist at the Forest Research Institute in Tashkent.
Initially, the saxaul saplings are grown in lands of forestry committee and enterprises and later transferred to the Aral Sea area where they grow for an additional one to two years. The planting period is usually in the wet season, from December through February.
“Based on the amount of rain received in a year, the survival of saplings is determined. This means with more rainfall the survival rate varies from 50-70% but with low precipitation it reduces to 30%,” Ziyotov told Mongabay.
Saxaul, a desert plant for the sea
Low precipitation in Karakalpakstan is an emerging problem.
“In the five years since 2020, the data shows a temperature rise in Karakalpakstan and the area also saw 10 mm [0.4 inches] of precipitation, which is extremely low,” says Dildora Aralova, a forestry specialist and co-author of a 2018 report on drought in Central Asia.
Adapting to drought by growing a plantation is the primary and most significant measure to improve the health and livelihoods of people in Karakalpakstan, says Aralova, an expert on desertification. But it’s uncertain how such a drought will impact the sustainability of the project, even if the plants are native to desert areas.
“The resilience of a landscape to climate change in water-scarce areas is one of the core environmental problems nowadays for Central Asian countries,” Aralova tells Mongabay. Concerns especially arise as the desert forest being introduced is new to the region.
Aralova says there may be several ecological impacts, both positive and negative, of planting a new forest on a dried lakebed. Initially, the plantation could help stabilize the soil, reduce erosion and mitigate desertification. However, introducing a new ecosystem may disrupt existing species’ habitats and migration patterns, potentially leading to competition for resources.
Communities might also see mixed outcomes. The forest could provide new economic opportunities such as ecotourism and timber production. But the introduction of new industries in the area might also alter traditional land-use practices and access to resources for local populations.
“Proper consultation and involvement of local communities are essential to address their needs and concerns,” Aralova says. “Whether locals can access the area during afforestation efforts depends on various factors, including land ownership, conservation regulations, and community engagement in the project.”
In all, the Aral Sea crisis shows the importance of using nature-based solutions when faced with such extreme water loss and drought, she says. In this case, it means planting many different types of drought-resistant plants, with local people experimenting with plantations and participating in seed restoration.
“The alternatives that derive from nature are somewhat more easily accessible and close to local people,” says Daniel Tsegai, a program officer at the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). “It’s about making innovative use of the resources or reusing and rehabilitating one’s land. In some contexts, it’s about planting trees to revive the ecosystem.”
Banner image: Local and international organizations participated in the plantation. Image courtesy of Forestry Agency Uzbekistan.
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Related Mongabay podcast episode: Reforestation done right, from Haiti to Honduras and Ho Chi Minh City. Listen here:
Citations:
Farmonov, E., Kamilov, A., Gorlova, I., Sharipov, Z., & Ro’ziyev, D. (2023). Improving condition of desert pastures by planting saxaul and cherkez plants. E3S Web of Conferences, 401, 04004. doi:10.1051/e3sconf/202340104004
Anchita, Zhupankhan, A., Khaibullina, Z., Kabiyev, Y., Persson, K. M., & Tussupova, K. (2021). Health impact of drying Aral Sea: One Health and socio-economical approach. Water, 13(22), 3196. doi:10.3390/w13223196
Aralova, D., Kariyeva, J., Khujanazarov, T., & Toderich, K. (2018). Drought variability and land degradation in Central Asia: Assessment using remote sensing data and drought indices. In: Egamberdieva, D., & Öztürk, M. (eds) Vegetation of Central Asia and Environs (pp. 15-47). Springer, Cham. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-99728-5_2
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