Fragile Eastern Pamirs Threatened By Desertification

by Galina Melnikova Winter 1996

Tajikistan's Eastern Pamir region is a land of snowcapped mountains, blue lakes and rivers, and pure springs flowing down from glaciers. It is a land of wild, primordial nature, and the silence and calm so missed by city dwellers caught in the urban hustle and bustle. This land has always been a destination for romantics, brave people attracted by its natural beauty, isolated trails and mountain passes, and those interested in geography, geology, paleontology and archeology.

For all its beauty, Eastern Pamir is a harsh land, with a high mountain desert that reaches an altitude of almost 4,000 meters, and mountain peaks reaching as high as 6,300 meters. The climate here is arid and continental, with temperatures ranging from minus 50 to 28 degrees Celsius.

At altitudes of 3,500 to 4,000 meters, various types of steppe grains grow. Practically no trees grow in the Eastern Pamir. Rare willows can be found only in narrow canyons or deep mountain crevices where the fierce winds subside and winter frosts are not as severe.

With financial support from ISAR, we were able to organize an expedition to Eastern Pamir this year. (Our last geological expedition was cut short in August 1992.) Our objective was to perform an environmental assessment of the Western Pshart River Valley and to advocate giving this valley the status of a protected nature area.

At the end of June, when the local herders began to leave for summer pastures, the expedition prepared to leave for the valley. For two months, in July and August, we studied the environment of the Western Pshart River Valley and the lower reaches of the Murgab River, down to Sareskoye Lake. We also studied the northern tributaries of the Western Pshart River Valley, in particular the Sasyk, Dzhankaindzh and Sauksai river valleys, and put together a list and map of natural monuments in the river basin.

The Pamir greeted us with its beautiful mountains, valleys and lakes, but also with the concerned, confused, sad faces of the people who live here. Since the end of 1992, the native residents of Eastern Pamir, like all the inhabitants of the Gorno-Badakhshan region, have barely survived the difficulties that resulted from the collapse of the Soviet Union, the independence of Tajikistan, the civil war and the deterioration of the political situation. The area no longer receives supplies of food, fuel or consumer products. People have been deprived of the bare necessities: bread, warmth, electricity and work.

Assistance has come from the Aga Khan Foundation, a private, nonprofit organization that supports innovative programs in education, health care and agriculture. But in Eastern Pamir, the foundation has only been able to render humanitarian assistance in the form of staples such as flour, sugar, tea, vegetable oil and soap. The Aga Khan Foundation program is intended to run during the transition period, until the food situation returns to normal and the social welfare system begins functioning more independently. Unfortunately, our observations and conversations with local people and local government officials indicated that little is being done in the region to return the social welfare system to normal. The local government receives absolutely nothing from the federal government, a situation that has drastic consequences for the area's environment.

We were particularly saddened to see a vital desert plant, teresken, being used for fuel in large villages. Teresken and similar plants have become the only fuel available year-round to the residents of Eastern Pamir now that supplies of gas and coal have been cut and the villages receive only a limited amount of electricity. Yet these plants are the only thing preventing the complete desertification of Eastern Pamir. They protect the soil from erosion and help summer and year-round pasture lands grow to feed the cattle. Willows at the Madiyan estuary, near the village of Murgab, are also gradually being destroyed.

In mountain deserts, breaking natural links and upsetting the ecological balance can quickly lead to natural disasters such as drought, sandstorms, tornadoes, sharp drops in ground water levels and so on. Such disasters are dangerous, particularly in mountain deserts, because the damage is either irreversible or corrects itself only very slowly. Some of the plants here live to be 200 to 300 years old, and it is quite common for plants to live 70 to 100 years. A teresken bush requires 40 to 50 years to reach a height of 20 to 30 centimeters. This is typical of desert plants, a form of adaptation to the short vegetation period and to the extreme conditions of the high-altitude desert.

People using the teresken bushes for fuel are condemning their land to desertification. In the near future, they will turn Eastern Pamir into sand dunes, with sandstorms and tornadoes, similar to the Taklamakan and Gobi deserts of neighboring China. We believe that immediate, painstaking work must be done with the local population, government and environmental protection committee to explain the necessity of preserving and restoring the teresken population near large settlements.

In the village of Murgab, we lectured on environmental protection and possible routes for economic development in Eastern Pamir to local council officials, the regional environmental protection office, company directors, teachers and upper classes in schools. All interested parties were given a copy of our brochure, "The Living Valley in Eastern Pamir." The brochure aroused great interest and many people expressed interest in having it printed in large numbers. Similar discussions on these themes were held at the Murgab border post.

We hope to spur local residents and government officials to consider the problems of East Pamir, with the eventual goal of having the valley designated a protected area. Given the success of an environmental coalition that lobbied the government to increase the area of the Tigrovaya Balka reserve [See surviving together, Fall 1996], we believe the best way to achieve our goal is to establish a network of informed and concerned citizens.

Galina Melnikova holds a doctorate in geology and mineralogy and heads the Living Eastern Pamir Valley Project. Translated by Andrew Reese.

Living Eastern Pamir Valley Project: 267 Ainy St., Dushanbe 734063, Tajikistan; ph: (3772) 25-36-14