ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN TURKMENISTAN
Environment issues in Turkmenistan include desertification, soil erosion;, contamination of soil and groundwater with agricultural chemicals, pesticides; salination, water logging of soil due to poor irrigation methods; and Caspian Sea pollution. Diversion of a large share of the flow of the Amu Darya into irrigation contributes to that river's inability to replenish the Aral Sea. Turkmenistan has several major reserves: Badkhyz, Repetek, Krasnovodsky and Kugitang. [Source: CIA World Factbook]
Related to Turkmenistan’s desertification are a reduction the stock of arable land, intensifying shortages of water, which is an absolute requirement for the development of agriculture, industry, and large population centers anywhere in the country. The cult-of-personality dictatorship of former President Niyazov combined with a shortage of resources to limit citizen input on environmental issues. Turkmenistan’s participation in regional environmental programs has been stymied by government control of environmental information. [Source: Library of Congress, February 2007]
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, environmental regulation is largely unchanged in Turkmenistan. The new government created the Ministry of Natural Resources Use and Environmental Protection in July 1992, with departments responsible for environmental protection, protection of flora and fauna, forestry, hydrometeorology, and administrative planning. Like other CIS republics, Turkmenistan has established an Environmental Fund based on revenues collected from environmental fines, but the fines generally are too low to accumulate significant revenue. Thanks to the former Soviet system of game preserves and the efforts of the Society for Nature Conservation and the Academy of Sciences, flora and fauna receive some protection in the republic; however, "hard-currency hunts" by wealthy Western and Arab businesspeople already are depleting animals on preserves. [Source: Library of Congress, March 1996 *]
International environmental agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements. [Source: CIA World Factbook]
Murray Feshbach and Alfred Friendly, Jr. describe environmental and health conditions in Ecocide in the USSR.
RELATED ARTICLES:
DESERTIFICATION IN TURKMENISTAN AND DREAMS OF A GOLDEN LAKE factsanddetails.com
ENVIRONMENTAL AND WATER ISSUES IN CENTRAL ASIA factsanddetails.com
DISASTERS IN TURKMENISTAN: EARTHQUAKES AND BURNING HELL factsanddetails.com
GEOGRAPHY OF TURKMENISTAN: LAND, DESERT, MOUNTAINS factsanddetails.com
WATER IN TURKMENISTAN: RIVERS, CANALS, AMU DAYRU, INLAND SEAS, SHORTAGES factsanddetails.com
CASPIAN SEA: HISTORY, ECOLOGY, POLLUTION factsanddetails.com
CLIMATE OF TURKMENISTAN: SEASONS, RAINFALL, REGIONS factsanddetails.com
Animals in Turkmenistan
There are 91 species of mammals — including leopards, argalis, koulans and goitered gazelles — 372 species of birds, 74 species of reptiles and 60 species of fishes in Turkmenista. While fauna is relatively scarce in the desert, there is more biodiversity in the mountain river valleys. Flamingos are found in the Caspian Sea. The Kara-kum Desert is home to poisonous snakes such as cobras and vipers, “Varan” (sand crocodiles), goitered gazelles, Wild Asiatic asses, wild cats, tortoises, tarantulas, scorpions and other spiders, lizards and insects are also found there. . Some relatively and plants are protected in the Badkyz, Krasnodar and Repetek Reserves. [Source: advantour.com =]
The Kara Kum (Black Sea) desert covers most of Turkmenistan. Some herders raise goats, camels, and sheep in the desert where there ia access to some water. As of the arly 2000s, 4.2 percent of the country's total land area was protected. According to a 2006 report issued by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), threatened species included 12 types of mammals, 13 species of birds, 2 types of reptiles, 8 species of fish, and 5 species of invertebrates. Threatened species include Aral salmon, slender-billed curlew, and white-headed duck. Wild goats are listed as vulnerable animals. Cheetahs and tigers used to live in Turkmenistan. [Source: Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations, Thomson Gale, 2007]
Sand crocodiles are grey-striped monitor lizards that reach 1.8 meters in length. Found in the brutally hot Repetek Desert Reserve in the Kara-kum Desert in eastern Turkmenistan, they have sharp backward-pointing teeth and are regarded as fast runners. They live around eight years, reside in burrows, which they plug in the winter when they hibernate, and eat rodents, snakes, other lizards, insects and sometimes scorpions and tarantulas. When they bite something they often don’t loosen their grip until their prey is dead. Females lay up to 24 eggs, which are almost the same size as chicken eggs.
Turkmen consider it a good omen to have a sand crocodile burrow on their land. The lizards are believed to eat poisonous snakes and keep sandflies a way. In the old days they were hunted and their tough flexible skin was used to make leather shoes and a variety of luxury goods.
Plant Life in Turkmenistan
Plant life in Turkmenistan varies greatly between the country's deserts, mountains, river valleys, and coastal areas. Although much of the country is covered by the Karakum Desert, Turkmenistan supports more than 2,500 plant species. About 700 of these species are found in the desert. Biodiversity is generally highest in mountain regions and river valleys, where water is more readily available. [Source: Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations, Thomson Gale, 2007; advantour.com]
The vegetation of the Karakum Desert is dominated by drought-resistant plants adapted to extreme heat and limited rainfall. Common desert plants include sand sedge, acacia, and saxaul, a shrub-like tree that plays an important role in stabilizing sand dunes. During the spring, seasonal grasses and wildflowers can briefly cover large areas of the desert before drying out as temperatures rise. These grasslands provide grazing areas for sheep, camels, and other livestock.
Some of the dust may also rise from inland sources, which cannot be seen in this image; Sand seas stretch over much of Turkmenistan, including the very arid Kara Kum Desert; These all provide copious material for dust storms; The waters of the Caspian Sea are tinted tan and green with sediment and, most likely, a bloom of phytoplankton; Dust falling on water becomes suspended as sediment and, when floating near the surface, appears tan; As it sinks, the reflectivity of sediment changes and so the satellite “sees” it as green; When present in abundance, phytoplankton—microscopic plant-like organisms—may also give a green or blue tint to the water;
Mountain and foothill regions support a much greater variety of plant life. The Kopet Dag Mountains contain juniper forests, pistachio woodlands, wild fruit and nut trees, and a wide range of shrubs and flowering plants. About 1,700 plant species have been recorded in the foothills of the Kopet Dag, making it one of the most botanically diverse areas in Central Asia. River valleys and flood plains contain tugai forests, which are dense stands of trees and shrubs that grow along waterways.
Turkmenistan also contains several notable groves of ancient trees. Some juniper trees, known locally as archa, are believed to be hundreds or even thousands of years old and grow on remote mountain slopes. The Unabi Grove in the Kugitang Mountains contains trees more than 200 years old. Other well-known sites include the Shakhoz, or “King of Nuts,” a walnut tree estimated to be about 500 years old, and the pistachio savanna of Badkhyz, which contains many century-old pistachio trees.
Relict forests, subtropical plant communities, and isolated mountain habitats provide refuge for many rare and ancient plant species. Black saxaul forests, among the oldest forms of desert vegetation in Central Asia, survive in parts of the country and help prevent soil erosion. Together, Turkmenistan’s deserts, mountains, forests, and river valleys create a diverse range of ecosystems despite the country's generally arid climate.
Environmental Data and Rankings for Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan ranks 120th out of 180 countries in the 2024 Environmental Performance Index, with an overall score of 40.6 out of 100. The environmental performance index 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 75 measures including the number of children with respiratory diseases, fertility rates, water quality, overfishing, emissions of greenhouses gases, and the export of sodium dioxide, a key component of acid rain. [Source: Environmental Performance Index, Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy epi.envirocenter.yale.edu]
Particulate matter emissions: 28.1 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 estimate). Waste and recycling: municipal solid waste generated annually: 500,000 tons (2024 estimate); percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 15.3 percent (2022 estimate).
Land use: agricultural land: 84.2 percent (2023 estimate); arable land: 3.4 percent (2023 estimate); permanent crops: 0.1 percent (2023 estimate); permanent pasture: 80.8 percent (2023 estimate); forest: 5 percent (2023 estimate); other: 10.7 percent (2023 estimate). [Source: CIA World Factbook]
Carbon Dioxide and Methane Emissions in Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan ranks 14th in the world on the list of the highest average carbon dioxide emissions per person: 15.23 tonnes per person in 2019 The desert country has only around 6 million people but has the fourth-largest natural gas reserves in the world and abundant supplies of petroleum, gypsum and limestone. Turkmenistan's top industries — which include construction, cement and chemical — use up a lot of energy in addition to producing pollution. [Source: Trish Novicio, Insider Monkey, March 16, 2021]
Carbon dioxide emissions: 106.215 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 estimate); from coal and metallurgical coke: 100 metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 estimate); from petroleum and other liquids: 18.062 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 estimate); from consumed natural gas: 88.153 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 estimate).
Carbon dioxide emission from fossil fuel in 2019 was 90.523 million metric tonnes In 2012, Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy wer 64.98 million metric tons, which ranked 53rd in the world.
Methane emissions: energy: 5,451.4 kilotonnes (2022-2024 estimate); agriculture: 294.9 kilotonnes (2019-2021 estimate); waste: 44.1 kilotonnes (2019-2021 estimate); other: 1.1 kilotonnes (2019-2021 estimate).
Giant Methane Plumes from Turkmenistan
In 2019, satellite monitoring revealed a large methane leak from the Korpezhe oil and gas field in western Turkmenistan. The discovery was made by Montreal-based GHGSat Inc. while the company was studying emissions from natural mud volcanoes in Central Asia. According to research published in Geophysical Research Letters, the methane plume was likely caused by unlit gas flaring equipment at the oilfield. [Sources: Naureen S. Malik, Bloomberg, November 23, 2019; Hiroko Tabuchi, New York Times, December 16, 2019]
GHGSat detected the emissions in satellite images taken from early 2018 through February 2019. Company officials said the methane release was significant, with climate impacts roughly equivalent to the annual emissions from about one million passenger vehicles. The discovery was notable because it represented one of the first previously unknown industrial methane leaks identified directly from space.
Flaring is a common practice in the oil and gas industry in which unwanted natural gas is burned, converting methane into carbon dioxide, which has a lower short-term warming effect. However, if flare flames are extinguished by equipment failures or strong winds, methane can escape directly into the atmosphere. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and is considered a major contributor to climate change.
After identifying the leak, GHGSat used diplomatic channels involving the United States, Canada, and European countries to notify the operators of the Turkmen field. Although Turkmen authorities did not communicate directly with the company, later satellite images showed that the emissions had ceased by May 2019. Researchers said the incident demonstrated how satellite technology can detect previously unnoticed methane leaks and help prompt corrective action.
The satellite survey also identified two other methane sources in the area. One appeared to originate from a pipeline, possibly due to a valve release, while another smaller source was also linked to an unlit flare. Around the same time, researchers using other satellites detected a separate long-term methane leak at a natural gas compressor station in Turkmenistan. That leak also ended after scientists alerted authorities through diplomatic channels.
In February 2021, GHGSat tracked methane leaks from at least eight natural gas pipelines and unlit flares in Central Turkmenistan that released as much as 10,000 kilograms per hour. [Source: Aaron Clark and Jin Wu, Bloomberg, April 8, 2021]
Pollution in Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan has fewer critical water- and air-pollution problems than most of the other former Soviet republics because it has relatively little heavy industry, a low concentration of motor vehicles, and low population density.Turkmenistan’s major pollution problems are contamination of soil and groundwater by agricultural chemical and a complex of conditions resulting from water levels and industrialization on the Caspian Sea. [Source: Library of Congress, February 2007 **]
The most productive cotton lands in Turkmenistan (the middle and lower Amu Darya and the Murgap oasis) receive as much as 250 kilograms of fertilizer per hectare, compared with the average application of thirty kilograms per hectare. Furthermore, most fertilizers are so poorly applied that experts have estimated that only 15 to 40 percent of the chemicals can be absorbed by cotton plants, while the remainder washes into the soil and subsequently into the groundwater. [Source: Library of Congress, March 1996 *]
Cotton also uses far more pesticides and defoliants than other crops, and application of these chemicals often is mishandled by farmers. For example, local herdsmen, unaware of the danger of DDT, have reportedly mixed the pesticide with water and applied it to their faces to keep away mosquitoes. In the late 1980s, a drive began in Central Asia to reduce agrochemical usage. In Turkmenistan the campaign reduced fertilizer use 30 percent between 1988 and 1989. In the early 1990s, use of some pesticides and defoliants declined drastically because of the country's shortage of hard currency. *
Desertification in Turkmenistan
Desertification is a serious problem in Turkmenistan. One factor that contributes to it is overgrazing by livestock, a serious problem in all of the Central Asian countries. Too many animals on too little land has resulted in desertification and soil erosion. The number of animals in Turkmenistan doubled to 5.5 million between 1941 and 1991.
According to estimates, as a result of desertification processes and pollution, biological productivity of the ecological systems in Turkmenistan has declined by 30 to 50 percent in recent decades. The Garagum and Qizilqum deserts are expanding at a rate surpassed on a planetary scale only by the desertification process in the Sahara and Sahel regions of Africa. Between 800,000 and 1,000,000 hectares of new desert now appears per year in Central Asia. [Source: Library of Congress, March 1996 *]
The most irreparable type of desertification is the salinization process that forms marshy salt flats. A major factor that contributes to these conditions is inefficient use of water because of weak regulation and failure to charge for water that is used. Efficiency in application of water to the fields is low, but the main problem is leakage in main and secondary canals, especially Turkmenistan's main canal, the Karakum Canal. Nearly half of the canal's water seeps out into lakes and salt swamps along its path. Excessive irrigation brings salts to the surface, forming salt marshes that dry into unusable clay flats. In 1989 Turkmenistan's Institute for Desert Studies claimed that the area of such flats had reached one million hectares.
See Separate Article: DESERTIFICATION IN TURKMENISTAN AND DREAMS OF A GOLDEN LAKE factsanddetails.com
Environmental Activists in Turkmenistan
There are few environmental groups in Turkmenistan. One environmentalist told AFP she has been unable to register her NGO - an environmental protection group - despite promises of greater political freedom from the government. Catena is a Turkmenistan environmental group that has success persuading the government to ban open burning of trash and leaves.
Antoine Blua of Radio Free Europe wrote: “ President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, who came to power in late 2006 after the death of Saparmurat Niyazov, has pledged to implement reforms, but critics say little has changed so far. With the 2003 NGO law, there's no officially registered independent groups that are able to operate openly within the country. [Source: Antoine Blua, Radio Free Europe, November 6, 2009 |+|]
Farid Tukhbatullin and Andrei Zatoka co-founded the Dashoguz Ecology Club in 1992. The environmental NGO was shut down in 2003, when the Turkmen government cracked down on civil society. After spending several months in jail, Tukhbatullin left the country, and now heads the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights in Vienna, Austria. He tells Radio Free Europe's Turkmen Service that Zatoka continued campaigning on environmental issues in Turkmenistan. "As far as I know, he continued his [independent] activity on environmental education working with schoolchildren and farmers," Tukhbatullin says. "He tried to explain to farmers what is ecological farming, how to make fertilization in order to get better harvest." |+|
Turkmen Environmental Activist Escapes Jail
In January 2009, a harsh five-year sentence for assault given to environmental activist Andrei Zatoka's was overturned and replaced with an undisclosed fine. Antoine Blua of Radio Free Europe wrote: it marked the second time in three years the prominent Turkmen environmental activist has narrowly avoided going to prison for what he believes were trumped-up charges. A regional court in Turkmenistan's northern Dashoguz Province overturned the sentence handed down last week against Zatoka for assault, Radio Free Europe's Turkmen Service reported from the court hearing. The court ruled that Zatoka, 53, be freed upon paying an undisclosed fine. [Source: Antoine Blua, Radio Free Europe, November 6, 2009 |+|]
“Zatoka was found guilty on October 29 of attacking a man nine days earlier in a Dashoguz market, and received the maximum available sentence for the assault charge. Zatoka has denied the charges, claiming that he was the victim of an unprovoked attack at the market, and that he inflicted no bodily harm on the alleged assailant. When police arrived, Zatoka claims, they let the other man go and detained him in what he believes was a politically motivated setup. Both rights and environmental groups say the fact that Zatoka, whose environmental group was shut down by the state in 2003 and who is currently serving a suspended three-year sentence owing to another politically charged case, has been under pressure from the authorities for years.|+|
“Zatoka, a biologist by training who holds dual Russian and Turkmen citizenship, sent a letter to Russia's ambassador in Ashgabat ahead of last week's court hearing. In the letter, published by the Turkmen opposition website chrono-tm.org, Zatoka requested "diplomatic and legal support in connection with repression against me by the law enforcement bodies, which is politically motivated and is because of my Russian citizenship." He also said it was unclear why he was being targeted by the authorities, but that "I can only guess that it is linked to the fact that I was closely familiar with some Turkmen dissidents, particularly Farid Tukhbatullin." |+|
“Zatoka spent 1 1/2 months in prison in 2006-07 on charges of weapons possession and storage of poisonous substances. After he was taken into custody at Dashoguz's airport, three snakes, snake poison, and an unregistered weapon were reportedly found at his home. A letter posted by Russian human rights groups that came to his defense noted that, as a herpetologist, Zatoka had the "right to store the poison of studied reptiles and a light pneumatic weapon." Zatoka's case was followed closely by Russian rights groups and the Kremlin. The Russian and Turkmen foreign ministers discussed Zatoka's situation, and a rights watchdog under the Russian presidency took an active role in trying to secure his release. In the end, Zatoka was released after being handed a three-year suspended sentence, which effectively banned him from leaving the country.” |+|
Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons
Text Sources: CIA World Factbook, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Times of London, Lonely Planet Guides, Library of Congress, U.S. government, The Guardian, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Reuters, AP, AFP, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Monthly, The Economist, Foreign Policy, Wikipedia, BBC, CNN, and various books, websites and other publications.
Last updated July 2026