FOREST RESOURCES.
Anthropogenic Action on Forest Resources
The ecological well-being of
any territory is based on ability of its biota steadily to reproduce life
conditions.
This ability, in turn, depends on preservation of ratio between the
manufacturers and consumers of primary biological production. With it is
the points of view, a forest community is the most valuable and major component.
Forests of Kyrgyzstan are the main regulators of climate, water regime
and prevention of a soil erosion.
The general area of the
state forest fund of Kyrgyzstan is 2861.3 thousand ha, 843 thousand ha
from which are the grounds covered with forest. Afforestations occupy 101.6
thousand ha of ground covered with forest. Woodinity is 4.2% from the whole
territory of the republic. The basic part of all wood fund of the republic,
which is 89.9% (2573.3 thousand ha), is attached to the State Agency on
Wood Economy.
The majority of forests
are in a high-altitude interval from 1300 up to 2400 m above a sea level.
The greatest area of forests is
located in Jalal-Abad (9%) and Osh (5.1%) regions; further go Talas (3.6%),
Issyk-Kul (2.3%), Narin (2.2%) and Chu (2.1%) regions.
More than 120 kinds of trees
and bushes grow in natural forests of Kyrgyzstan. Many of them are related
to relict and endemic.
Characteristic kinds for
the northern Kyrgyzstan are a fir, poplar, willow, and other.
In the southern Kyrgyzstan
with drier territories, protected from northern winds, nut, maple, apple
forests, almond trees grow. The unique relict nut forests have not equal
in the world on their area, compactness, and genetic variety of kinds and
forms.
To the present moment, forest
state in Kyrgyzstan causes an alarm.
Because of intensive use
of forests in period from 1930 to 1988, their area have decreased almost
in 2 times (on 513.3 thousand ha), including the following basic forest
kinds: firs - 72 thousand ha, walnut - 16.3 thousand ha.
Today, despite some increase
of the areas covered with forest, their quality leaves to wish best. There
are several reasons for this:
-
a process of growing old of forests outstrips a process of their restoration
(old forests occupy 49.9%, or 350.3 thousand ha from general stock) that
results in loss of the basic protective functions and strengthened development
of the centres of a defeat by vermin and illnesses;
-
despite prohibition of industrial felling of forest, 34.9 thousand cu m
of wood was felled only in 1994 as sanitary felling. Not smaller amount
of wood was felled by population on fuel and construction;
-
a cattle herded in forest leads to degradation of all kinds of forest kinds.
The erosion parameters reach 10-14 tons on hectare in a year.
Planting material of wood kinds
in amount 20 million pieces per year should provide a gain of the wood
areas on 10-15 thousand ha. However, infringement of technology of growing,
damage by cattle and other factors of anthropogenic influence result only
in their insignificant restoration.
Such state of forest riches
in the republic requires a development of national strategy, which will
assist to restoration of forest fund of Kyrgyzstan.
