Māris kļaviņŠ, azamat azizov, JĀnis zaļoksnis environment, pollution, development: the case of uzbekistan

Figure 2.7. 
Overgrazed 
foothills in southern 
Uzbekistan
 
(Photo by Adriana 
Dinu by United 
Nations Development 
Programme in Europe 
and CIS UN)

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2. UZBEKISTAN: A COUNTRY WITH HISTORY, PRESENT AND FUTURE
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pollution in a number of regions have limited the full use of agrarian 
land resources. Besides cotton, cereals, gardens, and vineyards are 
planted in the foothills. Astrakhan sheep and camels are bred on vast 
desert and semi-desert areas. Only 20% of the total area for natural 
pasture lies in the foothills and the mountains. The saline lands 
occupy 174 800 km
2
 of the area of the Republic, 241 000 hectares 
of which are extremely saline. The processes of salinization are 
progressing in Karakalpakstan, as well as in Bukhara and Syr Darya 
regions. The territories are subject to irrigation, and wind erosion 
also takes place. During the last 20-30 years the humus content in 
soil (the main indicator of soil fertility) has been reduced by 30-50%. 
The soils with very low humus content occupy about 40% of the 
whole irrigated territory.
Desertification  is  a  loss  of  natural  vegetation  which  causes  a 
rapid decrease in soil fertility and an eventual total extinction of 
the soil cover due to the soil erosion. This process involves changes 
in the soil moisture regime, and soil gets salinised and compacted. 
It  is  commonly  believed  that  desertification  is  most  characteristic 
for desert and temperate desert zones. Regular burning of savannas 
ranks  among  the  major  desertification  causes.  Natural  fires  are 
characteristic of savannas; however, nowadays most of them are 
consciously started by humans. The burning of vast grass and 
shrubland territories has affected soils in savannas, they are often 
depleted,  and  fire  in  the  regions  adjoining  deserts  and  temperate 
deserts has facilitated the advance of sands.
Figure 2.8. 
Soil with 
high salinity
 
(This photo is part 
of IFPRI’s Economics 
of Land Degradation 
project. 
Photographer: 
Milo Mitchell)

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