Update of the Information on the Status of Wetlands in Kazakhstan
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Update of the information on the status of wetlands in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan by collection and dissemination of good practices for conservation and sustainable use of wetlands by local communities Under the editorship of Professor E.A. Rustamov 3 All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval systems, or transmitted in any form or by any other means of electronic, mechanical, optical, photographical copying or recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of RRI-CA. © Ramsar Regional Initiative for Central Asia (RRI-CA), 2018 This publication has been made possible thanks to the implementation of the project “Update of the information on the status of the wetlands in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan by collection and dissemination of good practices for conservation and sustainable use of wetlands by the local communities”, supported by the Ramsar Convention Secretariat and funded by a voluntary contribution of the Government of Japan. Authors A.T. Davletbakov, A.M. Kozybakov, E.A. Rustamov, Z. Karina Translation into English A. Khlebnikov Corrector N. Kumambetova Correct reference E.A. Rustamov (editor). Update of the information on the status of the wetlands in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan by collection and dissemination of good practices for conservation and sustainable use of wetlands by local communities. Almaty, 2018. 3 Contents Summary ..............................................................................................................................................................................................................5 Abbreviations ....................................................................................................................................................................................................6 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................................... 7 1.1. The Ramsar Convention ...................................................................................................................................................................7 1.2. Objectives of the research ...............................................................................................................................................................9 1.3. Methodology ..........................................................................................................................................................................................9 1.4. General overview of wetlands in Central Asia .................................................................................................................... 13 1.5. Implementation of the Ramsar Convention provisions and management of the Ramsar Sites in the region ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 14 2. Guidelines and practices for wetland management in the region .................................................................19 2.1. General information on the guidelines for wetland management ............................................................................. 19 2.2. Definition and criteria of the practices for wetland management ............................................................................. 21 3. The existing and potential Ramsar Sites, whereupon positive practices for conservation and management are implemented .........................................................................................................................................23 3.1. Kazakhstan ....................................................................................................................................................................24 3.1.1. Tengiz-Korgalzhyn Lake system ......................................................................................................................................... 24 3.1.2. Alakol-Sassykkol Lake system ............................................................................................................................................. 31 3.1.3. Lesser Aral Sea and Delta of the Syrdarya River ......................................................................................................... 36 3.1.4. Karakol Lake ................................................................................................................................................................................ 39 3.2. Kyrgyzstan .....................................................................................................................................................................44 3.2.1. Issyk-Kul Lake ............................................................................................................................................................................. 44 3.2.2. Son-Kul Lake ................................................................................................................................................................................ 57 3.2.3. Chatyr-Kul Lake .......................................................................................................................................................................... 69 3.3. Turkmenistan ..............................................................................................................................................................77 3.3.1. Turkmenbashy Bay ................................................................................................................................................................... 77 3.3.2. Zeyit Reservoir named after the 15th anniversary of Independence of Turkmenistan and the Kelif Lakes ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 91 3.3.3. Lake Kurtli .................................................................................................................................................................................... 96 4. Improvement of the standards of best practices and recommendations for their inculcation ...... 100 4.1. Best practices on the Ramsar Sites of the region ............................................................................................................ 100 4.2. Recommendations for the management planning practices at the existing Ramsar Sites .......................... 102 4.3 The principles of the forthcoming planning for the potential Ramsar Sites ........................................................ 104 References ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 105 Annexes .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 107 4 Summary This publication is prepared to provide the relevant users with the information on the positive experience in the Ramsar Sites conservation and management practices in the countries of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan). The methods of collecting and analyzing materials, including obtaining the information from the local population, are described. The general information on the wetlands in Central Asia and the implementation of the Ramsar Convention is presented along with the practices of wetland conservation and management in each mentioned country. Particular attention is paid to ecosystem services and benefits. The main part represents a review of the existing Ramsar Convention guidelines in the field of wetland management and conservation by the local communities. It consists of essays on the wetlands in three countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan), where best practices of management and conservation are implemented. The document provides an analysis of the management plans, developed earlier for the Ramsar Sites in each of the above countries, highlighting their positive aspects, and presents views of the local communities as the main users of these water resources. Short recommendations are presented for wetland conservation and development of the best available practices for sustainable use of wetlands in Central Asia. In particular, it is recommended to delineate more precisely the borders of wetlands, to expand the network of specially protected natural territories, to provide ecological corridors for migration and stopover of wetland birds, to carry out long-term scientific researches and to pay special attention to the analysis of the archival data, to involve the local population in the tasks of conservation and sustainable use of wetlands, including the provision of new opportunities for the employment in the sphere of tourism, to spread the information on the importance of wetlands conservation in mass media and social networks, and to continue involving young people in the development of environmental projects on wetlands. This publication is intended primarily for the local communities, using economic and environmental services of wetlands, and employees