The Town of the XXI Century
Series of reports on ecological situation in Central Asia

THE BORROWED PLANET

HOW MUCH DO SHALLOW RIVERS AND GRASSLESS PASTURES COST?

Consequences of the expansion of deserts mainly include decreased variety or complete disappearance of plants, wind and water erosion of soils, increased hardness of soils and expansion of swamps, expansion of zones covered by sand, and, in the end, decreased productivity of soils and fertility of plants.

Such environmental changes are taking place in the Southern and Southeastern regions of Kazakhstan inhabited by 5,4 million people (about a third of the country's population).

Since ancient times people in these regions grew cattle and this business satisfied them for decades. Large herds of sheep find pastures in this region, at the same time the region is known for the high degree of degradation of the pastures: 45 million hectares have been strongly damaged and 15 million hectares have suffered moderate damage.

The pastures are exhausted as a result of the very high concentration of cattle (the amount of sheep is much higher than the amount of plants, which can be used as a source of food supply for the sheep).

Construction of dams in the upper parts of the rivers, consumption of water for watering the crop lands have changed the hydro regimes in the valleys of such rivers as Syrdaria, Ili, Chu, Karatal and other rivers located in Semirechie basin.

The square of water-supplied pastures has decreased to 68% of the total square of pastures and this has led to a decrease in the numbers of cattle grown and strengthened the process of expansion of deserts.

The lack of water delays exploitation of the rich mineral resources, slows down development of the production forces, which need water almost as much as energy and fuel.

Decreased water supply leads also to the decrease in the square of watered lands, which in Kazakhstan are used to grow cotton, sugar cane, vegetables, fruits, rice. Almost all watered crop lands are to a larger or smaller extent affected by the expansion of deserts, secondary accumulation of salt, expansion of swamps, and, in the end, by the process of loosing fertility of the lands. On some of these lands the frtility has reached the same level of fertility as on non-watered lands, which has a strong negative impact on the economy of the region.

The ecological crisis in Aral and Ili-Balhash zones, especially in the Ili river delta, has led to deterioration of living conditions of wild animals and their numbers has drastically fallen down. Fish resources of the regions have been strongly affected. More than three fourths of lakes in the Ili river delta have lost their productive capabilities. Out of 16 lake systems having the square of more than 100 thousand hectares, only 4 have been preserved till modern times; the rest have either dried out or turned into swamps. As a result, in Ili river basin and in the lake Balhash the amounts of fish caught every year have decreased by 50%; the annual losses are estimated to be at about 10 thousand tons.

In Aral and Ili-Balhash zones the expansion of deserts is caused by exhaustion of water resources, at the same time the expansion of deserts in the Caspian zone is a result of flooding caused by the increased level of Caspian Sea and by sand accumulations created by the winds blowing from the steppes. The level of Caspian Sea has risen by more than 2 meters since 1978; as a result, more than 357 thousand hectares of near-the-shore pastures have been flooded, and this has left 200 thousand heads of cattle without any source of food supply.

In the zone of steppes wind erosion has negative impact on the economy. During the period of intensive development of the "virgin" lands, which is approximately attributed to the years from 1956 till 1965, more than 25,4 million hectares were ploughed up, including 5 million hectares of sandy lands.

Development of "virgin" lands included ploughing up of the lands alongside river banks, on the slopes of ravines. The process was accompanied by cutting down forests and destroying places of massive concentration of various bushes. Melting waters carried large amounts of the fertile upper layer of soil, sulphur and potassium into ravines and lakes. Fertility of the soils was gradually lost. Deterioration of the physical conditions of soils led to a 15-20% decrease of productivity. Currently more than 5,6 million hectares of fertilized lands suffer from water erosion. As a side effect of construction of dams and electric power plants, river valley plains are turning into deserts, productivity of grass lands is constantly falling on hundreds of thousands hectares in Pavlodar and Semipalatinsk regions.

Development of plants and factories has a negative impact on agricultural lands located in the suburbs of large cities and around villages. Large plants and factories pollute the territories around the places of their location by side products. The same destructive role is played by the ore and coal mines, oil extraction spots and refineries. Significant losses are caused by activities of the military ranges. These installations destroyed about 10 million hectares of pastures and crop lands on the territory of Kazakhstan.

In accordance with the UN estimates the annual losses caused by expansion of deserts amount to 963,2 million USD.

20,5 million hectares of non-watered lands are affected by water and wind erosion, which leads to the loss of fertility of the affected lands. The income annually lost as a result of erosion adds up to 779 million USD.

Almost all of the watered lands are affected by secondary accumulation of salt or by expansion of swamps. 250 USD are lost on each hectare on the total square of 1,5 million hectares, which in total adds up to 375 million USD.

Within 40 years of exploitation of the "virgin" lands in Kazakhstan more than 1,2 billion tons of the fertile upper layer of soil were lost as a result of water and wind erosion. Annual losses caused by this process add up to 2,5 billion USD.

Plants have reached a significant degree of degradation on 14,7 million hectares of pastures. The cost of recovery of these lands is 1 thousand USD per one hectare, which in total will amount to 14,7 billion USD.

The amount of funds, which needs to be allocated for preservation of the normal living conditions of people in Aral Sea region is 14 billion USD; another 11,5 billion USD are required to raise the level of the river Syrdaria and to increase the level of Aral Sea. Actions, which must be taken to protect the people from the raising level of Caspian Sea, cost 2,85 billion USD, and if the actions are not taken, the losses may add up to 29 billion USD.

Consequently, it is possible to suggest that the losses caused by expansion of deserts add up to tens of billions USD. A developing country, which got its independence only 5 years ago, and which is currently suffering from an economic crisis, does not have the required funds. At the same time, if urgent measures are not taken, in the upcoming decade expansion of deserts may become much faster and its economic consequences will be much more serious.