CBCGDFer on Arid Biodiversity Field Research: Exploring the Desolate Landscape of the Aral Sea

In mid to late February 2024, the Arid Biodiversity Project research team of the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) embarked on a research expedition from Bukhara, Uzbekistan. The journey included a train ride from Bukhara to Khiva, a transfer to a four-wheel-drive vehicle in Nukus, covering 400 kilometers to the northwest, passing through Kungrad and Muynak, and finally reaching the Aral Sea.

This field visit is part of the Arid Biodiversity Scientific Project led by the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation.

The Aral Sea disaster stands as one of the most severe ecological catastrophes in modern history. Fifty years ago, it ranked as the fourth-largest lake globally, almost equivalent to the size of Sri Lanka, jointly owned by Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

The lake primarily relied on the inflow of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers. In the 1960s, due to extensive Soviet development in the river basin, diverting excessive water from the upper and middle reaches of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya for agricultural purposes, mainly cotton production, and large-scale agricultural colonization in Central Asia, the water inflow into the Aral Sea drastically reduced. The Aral Sea's area shrunk annually, leading to its near-complete disappearance in just half a century. During this shrinkage, the Aral Sea became divided into two separate regions known as the North Aral Sea and the South Aral Sea. Later, the South Aral Sea quickly dried up, leaving two lakes in the east and west. The largest lake, the East Aral Sea, has also vanished! Today, the coastline of the Aral Sea is still retreating at a rate of 300-500 meters per year.

Muynak was originally a fishing port on the shores of the Aral Sea. As the Aral Sea continued to recede, it has moved over 160 kilometers away from Muynak in just a few decades, appearing as a yellow-white expanse on the map. Traveling northwest from Muynak by off-road vehicle is equivalent to driving on the former seabed!

The desiccated Aral Sea has given rise to a new desert, the "Aral Sea Desert," covering an area of 5.5 million hectares of saline-alkali desert. In this "man-made desert," the landscape is dominated by gray-white alkaline Gobi, low gray desert vegetation, and cracked mud with scattered white shells.

Researchers from CBCGDF walked on the southwest coast of the West Aral Sea, where the so-called "beach" has turned into a 10-15 cm thick salt flat. Stepping on it, the white salt submerged the instep, and beneath the salt lies soft mud, resembling a walk in a swamp. While the coastal area is shrinking, the salt concentration in the Aral Sea has tripled. The black-blue lake water foams with white bubbles at the shore, portraying a scene of desolation and lifelessness.

The dried-up Aral Sea bed releases 150 million tons of salt and sand dust annually. When the strong winds blow, carrying high concentrations of salt, "salt dust storms" sweep into the surrounding farmland, causing land salinization, and the toxic salt has far-reaching effects on the health and future of the nearby residents.

(Please note: This article is a routine work record. It is based on field records and is for information only.)

Ariticle by Shuiyunjian 

Translated by Linda

Editor: Daisy

Contact: v10@cbcgdf.org; +8617319454776

Contribution

Do you know? CBCGDF is a non-profit organization. We rely on crowd-funding and donations. You have the opportunity to help us to advance biodiversity conservation. Donate TODAY to power up the movement to make it a better world for all life.

Donation(501C3)Paypal: intl@wbag.org 

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=2EYYJJZ8CGPL