TURKMENISTAN: POSSIBLE DEVELOPMENT OF A

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 001581

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV SENV UN TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: POSSIBLE DEVELOPMENT OF A
NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM

ASHGABAT 00001581 001.2 OF 002



1. (U) Sensitive but Unclassified. Not for Public
Internet.


2. (SBU) SUMMARY: Following a local media report on
the government's efforts to implement its plan on
national parks, Pol/Econ local staff member met with
two environmental activists to discuss the issue.
Both contacts confirmed the national parks to be the
most effective form of nature protection for
Turkmenistan, welcomed the government's efforts
towards the implementation of the plan, and hoped that
it will be done in accordance with a pending draft
law. END SUMMARY.


3. (U) According to the Ministry of Nature Protection,
there are eight strictly protected nature preserves
("zapovedniks") and thirteen nature preserves with
limited public access ("zakazniks"). Generally,
locals that live near zakazniks can get permission to
continue using the land for hunting or livestock
grazing. However, other people are banned from the
area. The eight zapovedniks are Amudarya, Badhyz,
Kaplankyr, Kopetdag, Koytendag, Repetek, Sunt-
Hosardag, and Hazarskiy. The Government of
Turkmenistan ratified the UN Convention for the
Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage
and is preparing documents for Badhyz to receive the
status of an international natural heritage site.
This status would mean that Turkmenistan would receive
money for the upkeep of Badhyz, but would also have to
adhere to UN requirements and allow monitoring for
compliance.


4. (U) The organization and operation of zapovedniks
and zakazniks is regulated by the law "On Nature
Protection" (1991) and the law "On Specially Protected
State Natural Territories"(1992),as well as
additional regulations. The laws and regulations
provide a legal basis for preserving nature sites
which have special ecological, scientific, cultural,
educational, and recreational value. The Ministry of
Nature Protection is in charge of zapovedniks.
Zakazniks are overseen by the Ministry of Nature
Protection in conjunction with local governments.


5. (U) Recently, local media reported on a government
plan to create national parks, commenting that this is
"the most effective method of managing Turkmenistan's
nature preserves." According to the report, the
existing zapovedniks with their strict regime of
protection will serve as the center of future national
parks. What are now the zakazniks will be
incorporated, and in addition there will be land open
to the public for recreation and ecological tourism
that will serve as a buffer zone for the strictly
protected areas. All of these areas with their
different levels of protection will constitute a
national park.


6. (SBU) Pol/Econ local staff member met with two
local environmental activists to talk about the
government's plan for the national parks. Tatyana
Rotaru, a specialist of the Kopetdag nature preserve,
said that the Ministry of Nature Protection has
already prepared a decree for establishing Archabil
national park, which will include the Central Kopetdag
zapovednik on the border with Iran, the recreational
zone Geokdere, which is 30 kilometers to the west from
Ashgabat, as well as late President Niyazov's HEALTH
Walk and the cable car in Berzengi, on the outskirts

ASHGABAT 00001581 002.2 OF 002


of Ashgabat. Rotaru said that while the Kopetdag
zapovednik will continue to be a strictly protected
area, the remaining territory of the Archabil national
park will be open for tourism and recreation.


7. (SBU) However, the government has yet to adopt a
law what will regulate national parks. Rotaru noted
that such a law should eliminate current interagency
and territorial disputes between local and national
governments. ONE element of the law would be to
establish a national park service that would take over
the administration of the national parks from the
local or national government bodies. Rotaru said that
the German Ministry of Nature Protection was assisting
Turkmenistan's Ministry of Nature Protection in
drafting the law on national parks.


8. (SBU) Timur Berkeliyev, an environmental specialist
and active member of a local NGO, said that strictly
protected nature preserves proved not to be the most
effective form of nature protection. He said that
some controlled human activity was needed to keep
nature balanced. As an example, he referred to the
decrease of the underground water in wells in the
Karakum desert due to the extensive growth of
haloxylon, a desert tree, which the local population
used to cut for firewood. They stopped chopping down
the trees after the Turkmen villages began being
supplied with natural gas. He also said that denying
access to sheep for grazing in the desert resulted in
extensive growth of "black moss," an aggressive plant
which threatens endemic desert plants. Berkeliyev
took part in the development of the Ministry of Nature
Protection's list of prospective territories for
creating national parks, and welcomed the efforts of
the government in drafting the required legislation
for management of the national parks.


9. (SBU) COMMENT: Local environmental organizations
welcome the efforts of the government towards the
implementation of its plan on national parks. They
hope that the opening of some parts of the nature
preserves to the public as national parks and creating
a clearer law will bring transparency in nature
protection matters. They also hope that the new
system would stop illegal use of nature preserve
resources by corrupt officials. However, although
better legislation might be a step towards better
protection of nature, enforcement of the rules is the
key. END COMMENT.

ECKSTROM