"Forests precede civilizations, deserts follow after them"
French novelist Chateaubriand
In this article, I would like to talk about the importance of desert forests for the development of Uzbekistan. First, I will tell you that such forests do exist. Secondly, why such forests are very important for the population and development of the entire country, and they need to be protected and restored. And I will conclude with the announcement of a proposal from the Small Grants Program of the Global Environment Facility (PMGEF) in Uzbekistan to stakeholders on work in this direction.
In writing this note, I was prompted by a trip to the Jeyran eco-center, to the annual registration of wild animals. During the trip, when I was talking about interesting facts about the ecosystem of the Kyzyl Kum desert, my wife asked me in surprise: "What, do forests exist in the desert?" As soon as I returned to work, I immediately stumbled upon a wonderful opening speech at one of the sessions of the OON Convention to Combat Desertification, which is also dedicated to desert forests. And I understood - this is a sign! It is necessary to write about the forests of the desert.
Is there a forest in the desert?
I'll start by breaking the stereotype - there is an extremely erroneous opinion that there are no forests in the desert. Many people have a stereotype in their minds about the concepts of "forest" and "desert". Desert, for most people, is sand dunes or, at worst, just sand, and forests are solid tracts of trees. The stereotype continues and looks as if forests can only be somewhere far away: in the Amazon, in Russia, in Canada, where there are many trees and they are all tall and green. This is not true! Few people know that in deserts there are also various plant communities: woody, shrub and herbaceous. These are the forests of the desert. And this is a real forest that can be quite dense.
In the shade of a saxaul tree in Bukhara region
Moreover, in order to destroy the stereotype to the end, it should be noted that desert forests occupy the largest percentage of the planet's forest cover - more than 40% of all forests on Earth.
Indeed, here in Uzbekistan, in the deserts, you can see forests. They can still be found in the Bukhara region, and in Navoi, and in Karakalpakia. If you have been driving along the Bukhara-Karshi road, you can enjoy the views of the desert forest on both sides of the road in several places.
a piece of desert forest
Why are desert forests needed?
The main reason for people why desert forests need to be preserved and restored is simply because it is very beneficial economically. Desert forests are also extremely important for the health of the natural environment in general. Unfortunately, a full-fledged desert forest is now a rarity in our country. At the moment, the scaffolding is just being used. Unfortunately, it is not rational, without any investment in their restoration.
There are several reasons why desert forests are important to the life and development of the entire country. And these reasons are important not only for the population that lives near the deserts, but for the entire population of the country and the state as a whole. I will dwell on each of them in a little more detail, but for now I should just name them. Desert forests are:
• Extensive pastures
• Wood source
• Sandstorm Doctor
• Guarantor against damage to infrastructure
• and much more...
So, let's take a closer look at the applied value of desert forests in a little more detail:
Forests as a place for grazing
The presence of healthy desert forests is the key to a good forage base for livestock. Woody desert plants are the basis for the development of various forage grasses and shrubs around them. The more trees there are in the desert, the wider and richer communities of other plants around them will be, which can serve as good food for livestock.
The availability of pastures and fodder is strategically important for the country's food security. Everyone knows that thousands of heads of cattle from the Fergana Valley, from the Tashkent oasis are taken to the deserts for grazing, which are then turned into meat for the population. The meat diet is very strong in Uzbekistan. The population is growing. Space is needed to produce food for a growing population. This means it is necessary to create a situation where each hectare of land will produce the optimal amount of feed. Then it will be possible to say. that desert lands are used efficiently.
Desert pastures without trees are rapidly degrading
The efficiency of obtaining forage from desert areas directly depends on how healthy the ecosystem will be, how many plants there will be - the most diverse. Desert forests are needed. Unfortunately, no one invests in the development of desert forests. The management of these areas is rather neglected, because desert areas are mistakenly considered unproductive. Grazing norms are currently exceeded many times, there is no rotation of pastures and reclamation of desert lands. Deforestation of woody plants undermines the development of other plant communities. This means that there is less feed.
Forests as a source of timber
Desert forests can be a good source of fuelwood for both local people and for sale. Saksaul, for example, is a very good fuel with good heat storage capacity. It burns for a long time and gives a lot of heat.
The demand for such wood is huge. A simple search query shows prices for saxaul equal to more than $ 5 per box - in Alma Ata, $ 10 and more per box of 6.5-7 kg - in Moscow and St. Petersburg for wholesale buyers. Saxaul is used as fuel in various restaurants and cafes for preparing meat dishes.
The biggest problem now is that people are cutting saxaul, but not investing in its reproduction. Cutting down all vegetation for firewood, coupled with overgrazing are the main reasons for the decline in desert forests. People need to heat their houses, cook food - you can't argue with that. However, just come and cut down a tree in the desert. Planting a tree so that you have something to cut down tomorrow is more difficult.
Desert tree plantations can be a good business model. With the right selection of desert soil for plantations, with the right selection of desert tree varieties, you can get a good fuelwood plantation pretty quickly. Already in the 4th year saxaul can be taller than human growth. In saxaul, lateral branches die off every year, which can immediately go for firewood, without cutting down the tree itself. When a tree is cut to the root at a mature age, new shoots will go from the remaining living root, which means it is possible to collect wood without replanting the plantation within a certain period.
Young saxaul in Surkhandarya, planted during the PMGEF project
However, two attempts of the PMGEF in Uzbekistan to stimulate this business were unsuccessful. The point is, it’s very difficult to convince people that investing in the desert can be a source of income. There are no tested models for this business in Uzbekistan yet. They are found in African countries, and several million hectares have already been revived there through private investments in the restoration of desert forests. Now people prefer to cut down the trees that remain in nature. And if the business of creating plantations of desert woody and other plants begins to develop in Uzbekistan, desert forests will begin to be restored in our country.
Forests as a mitigation mechanism for sandstorms
The presence of desert forests is a good sand stabilizer. The more vegetation. the lower the surface wind speed. The weaker the wind, the less likely it is that sand particles will be lifted into the air and transported over long distances. Sandstorms are natural disasters, and having more desert forests is an investment in preventing a natural disaster, the economic losses from which are also high for the state.
Sandstorm movement in Samarkand
Forests as a mechanism to prevent damage to infrastructure
A large amount of money, both budgetary and private capital, is spent on preventing sands from filling up the road and other infrastructure in the desert regions of the country. I wonder if anyone has calculated how much money the state spends annually on this? Those who traveled along the Bukhara-Urgench road could see that part of the road is constantly covered with sand. It is constantly being cleaned. Large material resources from the budget are spent on this work. In Surkhandarya, in the Jarkurgan region, villages and agricultural lands are covered with sands. And this means, again, a waste of funds to prevent falling asleep and unearned income from the loss of productive land. Both the funds for restoration and the lost funds from the sand-covered land could go to more productive work and receive additional income. And there are a lot of such examples across the country.
this is how the Bukhara-Urgench road fills up all the time
Sometimes it happens. Photo - Alexandra Esipova - "The Desert is Coming"
Desert forests can avoid all of this. Trees, and plant communities around them, stop the movement of the sands, restrain them. By investing in forestry around endangered infrastructure once, we can protect the infrastructure from moving sands, avoid multiple annual spending, and a ton of other products in the form of a good grazing area and a potential fuelwood collection site for the local population.
Other Valuable Benefits of Desert Forests
The main benefit of having desert forests is, of course, a healthy environment, a healthy desert ecosystem. This trait, people, with their consumer attitude to everything, are not interesting at all. But people can also benefit from this.
A healthy desert forest is a habitat for wildlife. There will be a forest, there will be vegetation, and there will be animals that will live there, feed on plants, and be part of this system.
Inhabitant of the desert forest. Territory recently added to the Jeyran eco-center
Africa has done great business from having wildlife. When there is a lot of wildlife, people go to such places to look at it. This means that you can build a business chain on the provision of services. This includes transport services, accommodation services, meals, you can sell crafts made from local materials, souvenirs and much, much more. Having good desert forests can do all of this. But to be able to generate income from the provision of these services, you need to invest in the restoration and conservation of desert forests. We are trying to help create such a model based on the Jeyran Ecocenter.
Conclusions and proposal from the PMGEF
I hope, after reading the article, everyone can say with confidence that there are desert forests, and they are extremely important for the development of the country. We need to restore and save them.
The only way to restore desert forests is to make the investment in desert forests a profitable venture for people. It is best to involve private capital in this work. It is important to convince people who live in the desert who have leased land in the desert that the investment in the desert pays off handsomely.
In a country where more than 80% of the territory is occupied by deserts, it is impossible not to pay attention to the development of this industry. It is important for the PMGEF to advance work on creating a healthy ecosystem in such vast areas of the country. The PMGEF is ready to support the initiatives of active people to test, demonstrate and promote business models for the creation of desert forest plantations. This is an open proposal for cooperation from thePMGEF. Submit your ideas to us and we will discuss what support the PMGEF can provide to such initiatives.
I keep repeating over and over again: Nature is not a resource, it is a capital that is important to preserve. You invest, you invest in this capital - it gives in return income in the form of good dividends. If only to consume, then capital, like the flow of dividends produced, very quickly depletes and ceases to exist. We need to invest in our deserts, in desert forests. They will pay dividends.
