Women Lead the Way:
Environmental Activism in Central Asia
by Kate Watters
Soviet industrialization and "modernization" in Central Asia
took an enormous toll on the environment and population, especially women
and children. In the south, particularly in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan,
but also in southern Kazakstan and parts of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, the
cotton monoculture ravaed the enviroment through the excessive use of pesticides,
defoliants and herbicides, which saturated the soil and leached into rivers
and canals, and ultimately into the now-dying Aral Sea. Because the agricultural
workforce is primarily female, women and their children - who also pick
cotton during the harvest - suffer from respiratory diseases, malnutrition
and high levels of anemia. In parts of Karakalpakstan, infant mortality
rates are as high as 90/1000 and four-fifths of all women and children living
in the region suffer from anemia (DJ Peterson, Troubled Lands: The Legacy
of  Soviet Environmental Destruction, Boulder, San Francisco and Oxford:
Westview Press, 1993, p. 115). In northern Kazakhstan, nuclear testing has
caused contaminated land, radioactive rivers and airborne radioactive dust,
which led to increaed rates of mental retardation, fetal deformities and
genetic mutations.
Central Asia's population is overwhelmingly rural (two-thirds of the
population live outside of major cities) and many communities lack basic
amenities such as sewage systems and reliable sources of potable water.
As caretakers in these traditional communities, women try to protect their
large families (wich average from 4-6 children) from disease and exposure
to chemical and nuclear contaminants, the legacy left by Soviet colonization.
In stark contrast to images of women only as victims of environmental
degradation, women are plyaing key roles as activists, health professionals
and defenders of wildlife in the growing Central Asian environmental movement.
At a recent NGO conference held in Tahkent, Uzbekistan, women constituted
approximately half of the invited representatives of indigenous NGOs. They
have established and work in a variety of organizations in the fields of
biodiversity conservation, environmental health, environmental journalism,
independent scientific research and environmental education. Particularly
in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, environmental activists must carefully consider
their actions in order not to attract the attention of their repressive
governments. Each of the women and organizations described below has responed
to a severe problem or serious need within her community by education local
citizens and takind direct action.
Biodiversity Conservation: Elena Mukhina, form Bukhara, Uzbekistan, is
a member of the organization Ekolog, and a biologist by training. Since
1979, Mukhina has been involved in biodiversity protection in Central Asia,
primarily through her work in the zapovednik (nature preserve) system. Ekolog
has begun to broaden the communication networks among Uzbek NGOs and biodiveristy
specialists by dissmeinating progressive ideas about nature conservation,
biodiversity and protected aresas in Uzbekistan and neighboring republics.
Mukhina, and English speaker, brides the information gap between Western
conservation organizations and Uzbek zapovednink workers and activists by
accessing the Internet. She and other members of Ekolog travel to disseminate
important information to zapovednik workers to help counteract the pressure
they encounter to assist in or ignore poaching of endangered species.
Environmental Journalism: The magazine, Aral Kyzlary (Women of the Aral),
is the only one of its kind published in the Karakalpak longuague. Eidited
by Gulaisha Esemuratova, a Karakalpak natie from Nukus, and her colleagues,
Aral Kyzlary provides a forum for women and yought to publish information
not popular withing stante structures, and strenghens the environmental
and women's movements in Karakalpakstan. While focusing primarily on the
health of women and children in connection with wht environmental crisis
surrounding the Aral Sea, the journal also strives to support women writers,
artists, scientists and others by providing them with independent information
about a variety of subjects.
In addition to print media, women are actively working in film and television
to educate citizens about critical environmental issues. In Karaganda, Kazakhstan,
Gulnar Buketova, a member of the 7-member independent filmmakers' group
Shyrak, produced a series of programs for regional TV, entitled, "Polygon:
A Senseless Tragedy." The se ries aired in the fall of 1994 and
described the impact of nuclear testing at Semi-palatinsk on the health
of the local population. Shyrak now produces a weekly TV series, with more
in-depth news on the same topic.
Freedom of Information: Women activists in Kazakhstan have actively lobbied
the government for greater access to information about the legacy of nuclear
testing in Kazakhstan, where 468 nuclear tests were carried out between
the 1950s and 1990. In October 1994, a group of activists - many of them
women - from the Karganda and Semipalatinsk regions traveled to Almaty to
meet with representatives of the Kazakh Ministry of the Environment. They
demanded access to previously secret military documents including maps of
the test sites at Semipalatinsk. although they have not yet obtaied access
to the maps, they are in dialogue with the Ministry and have been invited
to attend committee meetings on nuclear and energy issues, effectively creating
the first public forum around this politically charged topic.
Environmental Educations: Women activists also play a critical role in
environmental education programs across Central Asia. From the Fergana Valley
to Tashkent, to cities throughout Kazakstan and Kyrgyzstan, many environmental
education groups run by women are teaching children about the critical links
between themselves and the environment. Their programs include workshops,
the publication of bulletins and brochures, and excursions into the countryside
to identify indigenous plants and animals. Elena Melnikova, of the Club
Eremurus in Tashkent, provides youth with both theoretical and practical
environmental knowledge. The goal of her school is to educate youth to be
ecologically leterate, to learn the make environmentally sound decisions
with regard to agricultural development and the social well-bring of their
communities.
Oral Ataniyazova, director of the NGO Perzent in Karakalpakstan, is a
doctor who focuses on eductation ghe public - especially women and children
- about environmental issues, hygiene and reproductive health. Perzent writes
and distributes educational brochures, produces TV programs and conducts
children's environmental summer camps.
Kaisha Atakhanova is one of the founders and most active members of Ecocenter,
in Karaganda, Kazakhstan, which studies the effects of nuclear testing at
Semipalatinsk. The Ecocenter also operates environmental education programs
to overcome the widespread ignorance of the population about health and
other environmental issues related to Semipalatinsk and the nuclear test
sites.
Women's participation in the environmental movement is critical to the
development of the NGO sector in Central Asia, and to the success of environmental
activism. Women activists are now participating not only in "typically"
women's spheres, but also in the public, male-dominated sectors of society.
Especially in the area of the environment, women are identifying and adressing
the problems that have severely jeopardized the health and economic viability
of their homelands. They defy the stereotype of traditional, passive Central
Asian women by taking responsibilbiy to solve problems despite repressive
political conditions and the overwhelming environmental degradation around
them. By educating, broadcasting, publishing - by speaking out - women activists
are gradually improving the quality of life in their communities and forging
a path of action for their daughters and granddaughters. In the words of
Elena Mukhina, "Each person on Earth has her own way, but the path
of Humanity is common to all. We try to conserve wildlife and nature not
only for the economic purpose of sustainable development, but for the peace
of mind of preserving nature - the cradle of our civilization."
Kate Watters is the environmental programs director
and coordinator of the Central Asia Project at ISAR.
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