Independent work About my family

Nature of Uzbekistan

Nature in Uzbekistan is unique and incredibly diverse. Uzbekistan occupies a vast area in the very heart of Central Asia, with the largest part of the country lying between the rivers Amudarya and Syrdarya. The territory of Uzbekistan spreads from Ustyurt Plateau in the west to as far as Ferghana Valley in the east, and is 447,4 thousand square kilometers in area. Uzbekistan borders Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan.

The country is mostly flat with Turan plain being one of the major lowlands. The largest part of this plain is the Kyzylkum Desert, for 700 kilometers spreading between the two rivers from the Aral Sea to the foothills of the Western Tien-Shan and Gissar-Alay. An unforgettable impression is created by harmonious arrangement of numerous sand-dunes lying longitudinally and reminding of parallel wave crests. This ‘sand sea’ looks motionless, but it is not recommended to walk deep into it without urgent need. Over centuries only camel-driven caravans dared to travel here following the Great Silk Road routes.

Sand, clay and stony deserts cover about 40% of the country’s area. Despite rigorous conditions these deserts are full of life. In spring their vast expanses are covered with multicolour carpets of bloom – red poppies and tulips, violet malcolmias, blue and yellow irises. Their life span is short: in May they wither away, the green grass turns yellow. All the local plants have adapted in various ways to their desert lot. Predominating in the deserts and plains, there grow wormwoods, saltwort, sand acacias, haloxylons, tamarisks, camel’s thorns, and other herbs and bushes. Their roots reach as deep as the water-bearing layers of soil. People say about such plants: “their heads are in the sun while their feet are in water”.

The animals inhabiting deserts are modest in their need for food and water. Tortoises, snakes, small and 1.5-long giant lizards have almost the same color as that of the surface they crawl on. In the steppes there caper saiga antelopes. With the approach of scorching heat, Menzbir marmots and yellow gophers hide in their burrows and go into hibernation till the next spring.

In the mid-20th century the southern part of the Kyzylkum Desert became in a way the scene of a ‘geographical miracle’: in waterless desolate wilderness there appeared a lake whose water surface exceeded 2300 square kilometers in area! The lake resulted from overflow of the Syrdaryariver, when the surplus drain water in Jizak Steppe had to be sent to the Aydar inland basin. The drain water from the neighboring Golodnaya Steppe was also sent there. Thus came into being the blue Aydarkul Lake, with its waters full of fish and its beaches attractive to holiday-makers.

The south-east Kyzylkums are plains whose landscape is transformed by irrigation. Formerly it was a desert area traditionally called ‘steppes’ – Golodnaya Steppe and Jizak Steppe. Karshi Steppe to the south of the Gissar-Alay looks the same. These steppes are not arid deserts anymore. Today these are carefully cultivated plains with boundless cotton and wheat fields, orchards and gardens, mechanized farms and industrial towns.

One of the distinct features of Uzbekistan is its location in the very heart of the Asian continent, thousands kilometers away from the nearest seas; Uzbekistan has no coastlines except for the 420-kilometer-long Aral Sea shore line.

A dramatic fate was meant for the Aral Sea. For the past decades the sea has shrunk fivefold; in some places its waters have gone 80 kilometers away from the shoreline. In cooperation with the neighboring countries, supported by the international community, the government of Uzbekistan is now taking emergency measures to save the Aral Sea.

It is not without reasons that the climate of Uzbekistan is called ‘extreme’: day as well as year temperatures are characterised by sharp drops. One can experience these ‘temperature extremes’ particularly in the mountainous areas where during the day the heat is really scorching but after sunset the puddles get covered with ice crusts. In summer it is hot and dry here. Winters are short, relatively mild, yet with occasional frosts that are too hard for the latitude. Springs, on the contrary, slip by, with constant showers and thunderstorms – as if nature tries to hasten the blossoming time. And finally, there comes the autumn – the pleasant season in the country: the heat gradually goes away, decreasing by 1°C a day; the sun in the cloudless sky is shining gently; the stalls in the bazaars are crammed with fruits and vegetables.

In the tugai woods along the banks of the Syrdarya river herons can be met. One may be lucky to see beautiful pheasants through the willow and oleaster branches.

In the valleys and oases there grow poplars, willows, oleasters, mulberry-trees. On the foothills rather common are groves of walnut-trees, shrubs of dog-roses, hawthorns, almond-trees, pistachio-trees, wild apple-trees. In the high grass and in the shrubs live wild boars, wolves, hares, foxes, porcupines and badgers. Among the thick-growing branches there are nests of many kinds of song-birds. On the rocky mountain slopes pheasants, stone partridges, larks, owls, some birds of prey can be seen. In the Tien-Shan and Gissar-Alay mountains one can meet groves of Central Asian junipers. In the rapid mountain rivers, originating high in the glaciers, there live the local species of trout and cat-fish. In the sky there hover eagles and white-head vultures.

Among nature’s treasures of Uzbekistan of a special significance are nature reserves, the places unaffected by man’s activity. Today there are 9 nature reserves in the country. They embrace unique diverse landscapes from sand-dunes of the deserts to blossoming oases, from riverside tugai woods to alpine meadows.

 

One of the oldest and biggest nature reserves is Ugam-Chatkal National Park. It is located in the spurs of the Western Tien Shan, one of the most ecologically clean parts of the world. The place is incredibly rich in fauna. In the valley of the river Pskemthere lives the white-claw bear. In the area surrounding the tributaries of the Maidantal and the Oyigang one can meet stone martens, Turkestan lynxes and snow leopards. The reserve is also home to Siberian roes, mountain goats and Tien Shan wild rams. According to scientists there are 44 species of mammals in the reserve. Each reserve is remarkable in its own way. At a distance of 40 kilometers off Bukhara there was established the reserve ‘Jeiran’, the only one of such kind in Central Asia. Twenty five years ago there were brought here 42 jeirans. Now there are 700 of them. Besides jeirans, wild Prezhevalskiy horses and koulans (dziggetai) are bred in the reserve.