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The Aral Sea disaster is considered one of the worst ecological catastrophes in human history. Formerly the fourth largest lake in the world, the Aral Sea began shrinking in the 1960s after the rivers that fed it were diverted to irrigate vast agricultural fields.
Today, only a little more than 10% of the Aral Sea’s water is visible through satellites, while the remaining 90% is all sand, and now known as the world’s newest desert – the Aralkum Desert. As a result, local communities experience sand and dust storms for during the year, severely polluting the environment and affecting human health.
In Kyzylorda oblast, near the Aral Sea, USAID Central Asia’s Environmental Restoration of the Aral Sea Activity has created the “Oasis,” a 500-hectare demonstration site where USAID and the Executive Directorate of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (ED IFAS) are planting black saxaul under a variety of growing conditions to test this shrub’s potential for helping restore the ecosystem of the region.
To date, USAID and ED IFAS have planted 200,000 shrubs, which are showing a strong survival rate. Once mature, the black saxaul will help lessen the impact of destructive sandstorms on human health and the environment and contribute to increased carbon sequestration for mitigating the effects of climate change.