Kyrgyzstan - Forest

Judging by climatic conditions and data of soil composition and also by studying historical documents, it can be supposed that long ago forests occupied a much larger area of the country. The most important reason for exhaustion and disappearance of forests has been anthropogenic impact.

Antropogenic impact

At the present moment, the state of the forest in Kyrgyzstan causes alarm.

Because of intensive use of forests in period from 1930 to 1988, their area has decreased almost 2 times (by 513.3 thousand hectares), including the following basic forest kinds: firs - 72 thousand hectares, and walnut - 16.3 thousand hectares.

Today, despite some increase of the areas covered with forest, their quality leaves much to be desired. There are several reasons for this:

a process of forest ageing is ongoing, a process of their restoration (old forests occupy 49.9%, or 350.3 thousand hectares from total 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 m³ of wood was felled only in 1994 as sanitary felling. No small amount of wood was cut down by the population for fuel and construction;
cattle grazing in forest leads to degradation of all kinds of forest species. The erosion parameters reach 10-14 tonnes per a hectare a year.

At present all forest ecosystems are in an extremely dangerous situation. For the last 50 years their area has been halved. Non-systematic and unwarranted felling, cattle grazing, conventionally dense felling for procurements of burl and high quality nut wood has led to this situation. Felling territory: in 1996 – 5,05; in 1997 – 4,12; in 1998 – 5,25; in 1999 – 6,25 thousand hectares

Among forest ecosystems, nut forests are of the greatest importance as a source of profits for forestries and partially for the population due to walnut, fruit and berry yields. These territories are unique due to their compactness and genetic variety.

These forests have valuable nut wood and during the recent years the cases of illegal felling of nut forest for the purpose of sale and utilisation as a kind of fuel, became more frequent.

The struggle measures do not give a proper result. Annually grown planting material of arboreal species in the number of 20 million units is supposed to provide forest increase by 10-15 thousand hectares. However, violation of growing technology, damages caused by cattle grazing and other factors of anthropogenic pressure promote an insignificant forest reproduction.

Juniper forests suffered greatly. Their forest reproduction is only 300 hectares a year, but there are 161 thousand hectares in the list, it means that only 0.2% of the planted forests is reproduced

Decrease of forest covered areas is stipulated by fires both of natural and anthropogenic factors. For the period from 1990 to 1997, 116 cases of forest fires have been observed. Forest area damaged by fires, accounts for approximately 0.57 hectares and the volume of burnt and damaged standing timber is 1.4 thousand m³

Decrease of forested areas, chemical treatment of forest plantations, forest fires, economic cultivation of mountainous forests and wild berry plantations led to infringement of their natural reproduction, decrease in the number of insects, birds and many species of animals and plants.

Decrease of forest covered area is accompanied by soil erosion, destruction of mountainous slopes and increase of landslides. Forested area damaged by fire: in 1997 – 1,82; in 1998 – 2,02; in 1999 – 0,48 thousand hectares