Dear friends,
We need your help and participation in the discussion that will help us to make the right decision. The matter is as follows:
Currently, a proposal of the botanical garden in Ellik Kala, Karakalpakstan, is submitted to the GEF SGP project.
introduce with the text of project proposal (in Russian)
The project idea is great. Everyone knows the difficult situation in the Aral Sea. We cannot fix the root problem - the problem of irrigation in Uzbekistan because it works at the state level. But we can somehow help to reduce the impact of the crisis in the Aral Sea. How? By restoring vegetation.
The problem of Aral landscaping is very complex and difficult to solve. It is a highly saline soil, drought conditions, harsh winters and high-lying ground water. In these circumstances, little can grow. But probably it still can.
The more plants are there, the healthier the ecosystem is, and the better it will be for everything. But, in order to grow something on rain-fed lands of Karakalpakstan, special skills are required, which currently people do not have. Rustam-aka Babadjanov who is the director of the botanical garden, gave me a simple example. People ask him: "We always treat our orchards with chemicals but the moth still hasn’t disappeared. Why? What shall we do? ". Rustam-aka inspected it and saw that they make cutting by axes, and small notches remain on the trunk and branches, where all the larvae settle. That is why they have this result. On the one hand, you are struggling with the parasites, on the other hand you are giving them a safe haven for breeding. And there are many such imperceptible nuances.
People do not know what to plant, how to plant, how to look after. This knowledge was always stored and transferred by the centers, where scientists worked. For example, by a branch of Schroeder Institute in Karakalpakstan or already mentioned botanical garden in Buston town. But the botanical garden is placed in the southern part of Karakalpakstan and for the present time there is no any center in the northern part, which could impart knowledge and planting materials.
In other words, there is no normal center in the north of Karakalpakstan where people
a) could take the necessary planting materials
and
b) could learn how to make the environment around us greener.
Hence there is a project idea - to create a nursery in northern Karakalpakstan, which could serve these purposes. It was decided to make 2 nurseries - on the right and the left banks of the Amu Darya. The one - in Kegeyli town, where fruit crops will be mostly cultivated the other one in Kungrad city where species for landscaping will be grown.
Rustam aka, Director of Botanical Garden with the Head of Kegeyli district on the lands which will be used for the nursery
And so, we have some questions about the second nursery, that we hope to solve with your help.
The Botanical garden offers to grow plenty of crops which should take root in the local conditions. Below is a list of these crops:
introduce with the list of crops proposed by Botanical Garden for the distribution in Karakalpakstan
Unfortunately, the problem is that most of these crops are imported, alien and/or invasive species. In other words, they are not local ones. The UN convention on biodiversity clearly specifies that we cannot let alien crops to root in Uzbekistan. This is what convention is saying:
Article 8. In-Situ Preservation
As much as possible and reasonable, each of the negotiating parties:
….
h) should prevent introduction of alien species, that are dangerous for ecosystems, inhabitations or species, and shall control or destroy such alien species
….
Article 9 Ex-Situ Preservation
As much as possible and reasonable, and in the first place for supplementing in-situ measures, each of the negotiating parties:
a) shall takes measures for preservation of ex-situ components of biological diversity, preferably in a country of origin of such components;
…
c) shall take measures for the restoration and rehabilitation of endangered species and for their reintroduction in the places of natural inhabitations under appropriate conditions;
…
In other words, we should prevent introduction and promote preservation of our species. Of course, the text of the convention is not so categorical. There are such words in the text, saying that “alien species that are dangerous …”, and the words “shall takes measures for preservation of ex-situ components of biological diversity, preferably in a country of origin of such components”.
Therefore, we cannot be so categorical. Most of the species have already been introduced here. Many of them gives good benefits for the nature. Another moment is that we must be sure that such species are not dangerous for our native ones and will not replace them.
So, we need your advice. We decided to select at least 10 species which meet the conditions of Karakalpakstan, which have high ecological and sanitation qualities (detect dust, give shade, an absence of smell etc.). They are the species that we are going to produce in the nursery. The preference is given to our native species. But if there any alien species that are no t dangerous for our species and are have all of these features and can help the nature of Karakalpakstan, they are also fine.
Please send your suggestions either directly to me - alexey.volkov@undp.org, or write a comment right here on the site.
We hope very much for your help.
And please, spread this information as widely as possible among people who you think might help us.
