One of Kyrgyzstan’s most picturesque places, the Saimaluu-Tash National Nature Park, may face serious environmental risks as parts of its territory may be used for the construction of a railway from China to Uzbekistan, mk.kg reported.
One of the key problems is the possible change in the category of land on which the park is located. To get permission for construction, the section of the Nature Park on which construction works are planned needs to be transformed from the category of “specially protected territories” to another category.
If the land in question loses the status of “specially protected area”, restrictions on construction and other economic activities would be lifted.
Environmentalists warn that construction work, such as blasting and the use of heavy machinery, can cause significant damage to local landscapes. Construction of engineering structures, such as bridges, can negatively affect mountain rivers and the entire ecosystem of the region, threatening the habitat of many local species of animals and plants.
The Saimaluu-Tash National Nature Park is located in the Jalal-Abad region of southern Kyrgyzstan, on the eastern slopes of the Fergana Range at an altitude of about 2,000 meters above sea level. The village of Kazarman is located there, through which the planned China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway is to run. The nature park occupies a total area of over 32 thousand hectares and is home to several dozen species of animals and birds, including endangered species.
But Saimaluu-Tash is known to the world not so much for its natural resources as for the famous petroglyphs carved on basalt boulders several thousand years ago. On the territory of the national park there are thousands of rock paintings from the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. This unique open-air museum attracts numerous researchers and tourists from all over the world.
Although Kyrgyz authorities have said that the State Environmental Inspection and the National Academy of Sciences will assess the impact of the railway construction project on the environment, the environmentalists warn that the assessment may not be objective, as the government may exert pressure on these organizations so that they recognize the unique territory of the national park as an area where construction work is possible.
For Kyrgyzstan, the economic benefits expected from the railway may outweigh environmental concerns.
