ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN KYRGYZSTAN

Environmental issues in Kyrgyzstan include increasing soil salinity from inefficient irrigation practices and air pollution due to vehicle traffic and the use of coal for heating. Water pollution is a problem in some places. Some people get their water directly from contaminated streams and wells. As a result, water-borne diseases are prevalent. Only 4 percent of Kyrgyzstan is classified as forested. All of that area is state-owned, and none is classified as available for wood supply. The main commercial product of the forests is walnuts. Kyrgyzstan does not have a significant fishing industry. [Source: CIA World Factbook =]

Kyrgyzstan has been spared many of the enormous environmental problems faced by its Central Asian neighbors, primarily because its designated roles in the Soviet system involved neither heavy industry nor large-scale cotton production. Also, the economic downturn of the early 1990s reduced some of the more serious effects of industrial and agricultural policy. Nevertheless, Kyrgyzstan has serious problems because of inefficient use and pollution of water resources, land degradation, and improper agricultural practices. [Source: Library of Congress, March 1996 *]

Gold and uranium mining operations have leached toxic chemicals into soil and water in the eastern half of the country, and salinization is a problem along the eastern stretches of the Naryn River. In the post-Soviet era, increased automobile use has made air pollution a problem in urban centers. Glaciers in the Tien Shan are melting. Global warming is believed to be a factor. [Source: Library of Congress, January 2007 **]

Soviet-era mines caused a great deal of environmental damage. The uranium mines in particular left behind radioactive tailing and contaminated water supplies. The full extent of the damage is unknown. Norway has pledged to help Kyrgyzstan remove a uranium waste dump in the mountainous, southern Mayly Suu area that threatens the Fergana Valley. Many wild rivers are dammed up. Soils in the Osh region are contaminated with DDT.

International environmental agreements: party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements. [Source: CIA World Factbook]

Environmental Data and Rankings for Kyrgyzstan

Eastern Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan from space

Carbon dioxide emissions: 11.389 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 estimate); from coal and metallurgical coke: 6.301 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 estimate); from petroleum and other liquids: 4.234 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 estimate); from consumed natural gas: 854,000 metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 estimate). Particulate matter emissions: 40.9 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 estimate). Waste and recycling: municipal solid waste generated annually: 1.113 million tons (2024 estimate); percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 14.6 percent (2022 estimate). [Source: CIA World Factbook]

Deforestation (in 1000 hectares): Forest cover in 1990: 836; Forest cover in 2000: 858; Forest cover in 2005: 869 Change in forest cover between 1990 and 2000; 2Change in forest cover between 2000 and 2005: 2 [Source: Mongabay mongabay.com]

Kyrgyzstan scored of 41.4 out of 100 in Happy Planet Index (HPI) and ranked 53rd out of 197 countries. Compiled by the British think-tank New Economics Foundation, the index measures people’s well-being and their impact on the environment through data on life satisfaction, life expectancy and the amount of land required to sustain the population and absorb its energy consumption.. happyplanetindex.org/countries]

Kyrgyzstan ranks 105th out of 180 countries in the 2024 Environmental Performance Index, with an overall score of 42.8 out of 100. The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) ranks countries on the basis of things like maintaining and improving air and water quality, maximizing biodiversity and cooperating with other countries on environmental problems. Prepared by researchers at Yale and Columbia in cooperation with the World Economic Forum, it is based on 47 indicators across 12 issue categories, including the number of children with respiratory diseases, fertility rates, water quality, overfishing, emissions of greenhouses gases, and the export of sulfur dioxide, a key component of acid rain. [Source: Environmental Performance Index epi.yale.edu ]

Natural Disasters and the Environment in Kyrgyzstan

Natural disasters are frequent and varied. Overgrazing and deforestation of steep mountain slopes have increased the occurrence of mudslides and avalanches, which occasionally have swallowed entire villages. In August 1992, a severe earthquake left several thousand people homeless in the southwestern city of Jalal-Abad. [Source: Library of Congress, March 1996 *]

Overuse of forest reserves also is an environmental issue. In 2004 an unusually high number of avalanches, floods, and landslides was attributed to the melting of glaciers in the eastern mountains. [Source: Library of Congress, January 2007 **]

According to the OSAC: “ Kyrgyzstan is located in an active seismic zone and is subject to frequent tremors and occasional strong earthquakes. Buildings and homes often do not meet U.S. seismic standards. It is highly recommended to store water, food, and medical supplies to last at least three days. [Source: “Kyrgyzstan 2015 Crime and Safety Report,” Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC), Bureau of Diplomatic Security, U.S. Department of State ]

Water Resources in Kyrgyzstan

Water is one of Kyrgyzstan’s primary resources. Its rivers provide water for irrigation of the Fergana Valley as well as in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. Dams on these rivers provide much of Kyrgyzstan’s electricity. The large and impressive Toktogul dam on the Naryn River produces 10 billion kilowatt hours of energy a year, enough to provide electricity for the entire Seattle area.

Total renewable water resources: 23.618 billion cubic meters (2022 estimate). Total water withdrawal: municipal: 224 million cubic meters (2022 estimate); industrial: 336 million cubic meters (2022 estimate); agricultural: 7.1 billion cubic meters (2022 estimate). [Source: CIA World Factbook]

Catherine Putz wrote in The Diplomat: “Kyrgyzstan, in comparison to some of its downstream neighbors, has a decent supply of water melting off the mountains, but crumbling Soviet infrastructure, rising downstream thirst, and climate change are setting the entire region up for increasing conflict over the vital resource. [Source:Catherine Putz, The Diplomat, June 8, 2015]

Although Kyrgyzstan has abundant water running through it, its water supply is determined by a post-Soviet sharing agreement among the five Central Asian republics. As in the Soviet era, Kyrgyzstan has the right to 25 percent of the water that originates in its territory, but the new agreement allows Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan unlimited use of the water that flows into them from Kyrgyzstan, with no compensation for the nation at the source. Kyrgyzstan uses the entire amount to which the agreement entitles it, but utilization is skewed heavily in favor of agricultural irrigation. In 1994 agriculture accounted for about 88 percent of total water consumption, compared with 8 percent by industry and 4 percent by municipal water distribution systems. According to World Bank experts, Kyrgyzstan has an adequate supply of high-quality water for future use, provided the resource is prudently managed. [Source: Library of Congress, March 1996 *]

Irrigation is extremely wasteful of water because the distribution infrastructure is old and poorly maintained. In 1993 only an estimated 5 percent of required maintenance expenditures was allocated. Overall, an estimated 70 percent of the nation's water supply network is in need of repair or replacement. *

More than 85 percent of arable land in Kyrgyzstan is irrigated. Irrigated land: 10,210 square kilometers (2005). Total renewable water resources: 23.62 cubic kilometers (2011). Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural): total: 8.01 cubic kilometers a year (3 percent/4 percent/93 percent); per capita: 1,558 cubic kilometers a year (2006) [Source: CIA World Factbook, Library of Congress, January 2007 **]

Overgrazing and Poor Land Management in Kyrgyzstan

Climate Change and Reproductive Health in Kyrgyzstan

Overgrazing and desertification are serious problems in all of the Central Asian countries. Too many animals on too little land has resulted in desertification and soil erosion. The number of animal quadrupled to 10 million between 1941 and 1991 while grazing land decreased by a third. An estimated 70 percent of pastureland suffers from erosion rates higher than normal.

Land use: agricultural land: 54 percent (2023 estimate); arable land: 6.7 percent (2023 estimate); permanent crops: 0.4 percent (2023 estimate); permanent pasture: 46.9 percent (2023 estimate); forest: 6.5 percent (2023 estimate); other: 39.4 percent (2023 estimate). Arable land is land cultivated for crops like wheat, maize, and rice that are replanted after each harvest. Permanent crops is land cultivated for crops like fruit trees oranges that are not replanted after each harvest. [Source: CIA World Factbook]

A key agricultural resource, pastureland, was degraded severely by the Soviet-era practice of mandating livestock populations too large for available pasturage on state farms and by post-Soviet transfer of livestock from inefficient collective and state farms to private ownership without limiting grazing rights on common pastures. By 1994 over-grazing had led to serious erosion of much pasture land. [Source: Library of Congress, March 1996 *]

The most important problems in land use are soil erosion and salinization in improperly irrigated farmland. An estimated 60 percent of Kyrgyzstan's land is affected by topsoil loss, and 6 percent by salinization, both problems with more serious long-term than short-term effects. In 1994 the size of livestock herds averaged twice the carrying capacity of pasturage land, continuing the serious overgrazing problem and consequent soil erosion that began when the herds were at their peak in the late 1980s. Uncertain land tenure and overall financial insecurity have caused many private farmers to concentrate their capital in the traditional form — livestock — thus subjecting new land to the overgrazing problem. [Source: Library of Congress, March 1996 *]

The inherent land shortage in Kyrgyzstan is exacerbated by the flooding of agricultural areas for hydroelectric projects. The creation of Toktogol Reservoir on the Naryn River, for example, involved the flooding of 13,000 hectares of fertile land. Such projects have the additional effect of constricting downstream water supply; Toktogol deprives the lower reaches of the Syrdariya in Uzbekistan and the Aral Sea Basin of substantial amounts of water. Because the Naryn Basin, where many hydroelectric projects are located, is very active seismically, flooding is also a danger should a dam be broken by an earthquake. Several plants are now in operation in zones where Richter Scale readings may reach eleven.

Environmental Policy and the Kyrgyzstan Government

The Ministry of Ecology and Emergency Situations is the national enforcement agency for environmental policy, which is summarized in the National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP). However, that plan is heavily subsidized and directed by international donors, and the president’s strong role in environmental policy has politicized some issues. [Source: Library of Congress, January 2007 **]

The NEAP, adopted in 1994, is the basic blueprint for environmental protection. The plan focuses on solving a small number of critical problems, collecting reliable information to aid in that process, and integrating environmental measures with economic and social development strategy. The initial planning period is to end in 1997. The main targets of that phase are inefficient water resource management, land degradation, overexploitation of forest reserves, loss of biodiversity, and pollution from inefficient mining and refining practices.[Source: Library of Congress, March 1996 *]

Because of severe budget constraints, most of the funds for NEAP operations come from international sources, including official institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank and numerous international nongovernmental organizations. Implementation is guided by a committee of state ministers and by a NEAP Expert Working Group, both established in 1994 by executive order. A NEAP office in Bishkek was set up with funds from Switzerland. *

The main environmental protection agency of the Kyrgyzstani government is the State Committee on Environmental Protection, still known by its Soviet-era acronym, Goskompriroda. Established by the old regime in 1988, the agency's post-Soviet responsibilities have been described in a series of decrees beginning in 1991. In 1994 the state committee had a central office in Bishkek, one branch in each of the seven provinces, and a total staff of about 150 persons. Because of poorly defined lines of responsibility, administrative conflicts often occur between local and national authorities of Goskompriroda and between Goskompriroda and a second national agency, the Hydrometeorological Administration (Gidromet), which is the main monitoring agency for air, water, and soil quality. In general, the vertical hierarchy structure, a relic of Soviet times, has led to poor coordination and duplication of effort among environmental protection agencies. *

In response to the internationally recognized environmental crisis of the rapid desiccation of the Aral Sea, the five states sharing the Aral Sea Basin (Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) joined together to develop a strategy to end the crisis. The World Bank and agencies of the United Nations (UN) have developed an Aral Sea Program, the first stage of which was funded by the five countries and external donors. That stage has seven areas of focus, one of which — land and water management in the upper watersheds — is of primary concern to Kyrgyzstan. Among the conditions detrimental to the Aral Sea's environment are erosion from deforestation and overgrazing, contamination from poorly managed irrigation systems, and uncontrolled waste from mining and municipal effluents. Kyrgyzstan's National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP) has addressed these problems as part of its first-phase priorities in cooperation with the Aral Sea Program. [Source: Library of Congress, March 1996 *]

Little Tolerance For Environmental Activists in Kyrgyzstan

Antoine Blua wrote in Radio Free Europe, “In 1998, a truck belonging to Kyrgyzstan's Kumtor gold mine overturned on a mountain road, spilling more than a ton of cyanide into a river that supplies water to many of the villages on the southern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul. [Source: Antoine Blua, Radio Free Europe, November 6, 2009 ^]

“The environmental NGO Karek has been campaigning for compensation for local residents and for the use of environment-friendly methods at Kumtor. Its head, Erkingul Imankojoeva, tells Radio Free Europe's Kyrgyz Service about the intimidations that members of the group, mainly women, have faced since 2002. ^

“Imankojoeva says the authorities "detained all the women activists, about 20 of them," and took blood from them using a single syringe. She says they were beaten, leaving some in serious condition, and that half of them left the area due to official harassment. "They even went to my family and my parents. They were from KGB, today's National Security Service. They shot our house with their video camera," Imankojoeva says. "They also told our neighbors that if they had a daughter like me, they would shoot her. And they forced the neighbors to tell this to us." ^

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Last updated July 2026