VZCZCXRO8961
RR RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHLH RUEHLN RUEHNEH RUEHPW RUEHSK
RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHEK #1061/01 2611055
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181055Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY BISHKEK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2683
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1544
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 3596
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2989
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO BRUSSELS BE
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP
RUMICEA/USCENTCOM INTEL CEN MACDILL AFB FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BISHKEK 001061 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN (GORKOWSKI) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL SENV KG
SUBJECT: LOSING PARADISE: KYRGYZ BIOSPHERE RESERVE 
 
BISHKEK 00001061  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (U)  SUMMARY:  The Ambassador visited Sary Chelek 
Biosphere Reserve in Jalalabad Oblast, once home to a number 
of species found only in the Central Asian mountains. 
Hunting, fishing, and grazing are officially prohibited, but 
years of official indifference have resulted in a biosphere 
reserve almost devoid of wildlife, but with abundant cattle. 
Locals have taken over the non-mountainous areas for grazing 
livestock.  According to their supervisor, the Reserve's 
guards are infrequently paid, and will accept a bottle of 
vodka to overlook nearly any infraction.  According to the 
local governor, Wahabism is spreading fast in Kyrgyzstan's 
South.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (U)  In the company of the Korean and Pakistani 
Ambassadors, the Ambassador visited Sary Chelek Biosphere 
Reserve in Jalalabad Oblast.  Designated a Biosphere Reserve 
in 1978, the Reserve once was home to a number of species 
found only in the Central Asian mountains.  Now, 
unfortunately, although the emerald lake and snowy mountains 
provide a beautiful vista, the predominant features up close 
are smashed vodka bottles and cow patties:  The only species 
that appear to be at home here are cattle and humans.  The 
rules say the Reserve should be left in its natural state, 
with fallen trees left to rot.  In practice, however, 
"natural state" is interpreted to mean "with lots of 
livestock grazing on it." 
 
Voices From the Biosphere 
------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U)  The Reserve has a staff of about 40, who both guard 
the park and offer to show tourists around.  The first guard 
the Ambassador encountered, named Cosmos, had a Panglossian 
view of the park.  Questioned about the herds of cattle 
thronging the park, Cosmos said that they were just passing 
through the Reserve on their way home from summer pastures, 
and would be gone in a few weeks.  The vodka bottles 
similarly would disappear--Cosmos had just organized a group 
of environmentally-minded young people from Bishkek who were 
coming to clean up the park.  The Reserve's director shared 
Cosmos' sunny attitude--the Reserve was thriving, in his 
estimation. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Later in her explorations, the Ambassador met the 
Reserve's senior guard, Jakshykbek (protect), who had been 
working at the Reserve since Soviet times.  He painted a very 
different picture than his colleagues:  Since independence, 
everything has gone downhill.  The Reserve doesn't have any 
money, and the guards often do not get paid.  Almost all the 
fish in the lakes are gone, and the boar population, and 
almost everything else, has been hunted to near-extinction. 
There are still a few snow leopards, but they survive only 
because it's too much trouble for hunters to get up to where 
they live. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Cattle, however, are always abundant in the 
Reserve, Jakshykbek said. Since Kyrgyzstan's independence the 
restrictions imposed by the land's status as a biosphere 
reserve have lost all meaning.  Local villagers treat the 
area as just another pasture. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  With surprising forthrightness, Jakshykbek painted 
his guards as rent-seekers rather than agents of 
conservation.  When his guards come upon someone fishing, 
hunting, or doing anything else that disturbs the ecological 
integrity of the Reserve, they are supposed to take action. 
Instead, they normally take a bottle of vodka, and just walk 
away.  Since they have a penchant for drinking the vodka 
immediately, Jakshykbek ruefully admitted that many of the 
smashed vodka bottles lining the lake shore were probably the 
responsibility of his guards, and not rampaging German hikers. 
 
¶7.  (U)  The Ambassador spent the night at the only hotel 
facility near the park, a guest house constructed by an 
 
BISHKEK 00001061  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
international NGO in 2004, presumably with the general aim of 
increasing the local population's financial stake in 
maintaining Sary Chelek in its natural state.  Five years 
later, the NGO has left Kyrgyzstan, and through some 
mechanism that no one could quite explain, the guest house is 
now reserved for use by government officials only. The local 
Akim (Regional governor) made an exception for the visiting 
Ambassadors. 
 
Unlimited Horses, but No Dogs 
----------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  The next day, the Ambassador met the local Akim, 
Talantbek Orozov, in Kerben, the capital of Aksy Region. 
Mentioning some of the problems she had seen at Sary Chelek, 
the Ambassador suggested that more hotels might be a way to 
generate revenue for both the locals and the Biosphere 
Reserve.  Orozov acknowledged the Reserve's problems, but 
said that there was nothing he could do.  The Reserve is 
controlled by the Agency for Forestry and Tourism, and they 
pay the salaries of the guards and select the Reserve's 
director, and they need to build the hotels. 
 
¶9.  (SBU)  Orozov admitted that local families tended to 
treat the Reserve as a private pasture.  He disclosed the 
policy he had developed to prevent overgrazing in the 
Reserve, clearly viewing it as Solomonic in its wisdom:  Each 
family can graze no more than one cow and five sheep, but an 
unlimited number of horses, and, inscrutably, no dogs are 
allowed. 
 
¶10.  (SBU)  Changing topics, the Akim said that Aksy was 
considered one of the most difficult regions in the country 
to govern.  In 2002, Aksy was the site of a violent uprising 
inspired by the arrest of government opposition figure 
Azimbek Beknazarov, and the government continues to keep a 
wary eye on the region.  Orozov said that Wahabists are 
rapidly spreading throughout Southern Kyrgyzstan, enabled by 
the construction of Saudi-funded mosques (now terminated in 
his Region), but as yet they did not pose a threat in Aksy. 
 
¶11.  (SBU)  The Uzbek Government, however, is causing real 
problems, according to Orozov.  Much of the border has not 
been officially delimited, and the Uzbek Government has 
recently begun digging a trench to establish their view of 
the border.  Orozov said the trench has cut some 26 families 
off from the country in which they thought they lived. 
Orozov was careful to note that he had no problems with the 
five percent of Aksy's population who are ethnic Uzbeks. 
They are respected and well-treated, and classes are even 
taught in Uzbek for them in local schools. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶12.  (SBU)  The Soviets left behind a mixed legacy in Aksy. 
They recognized that Sary Chelek was worthy of protection, 
and while the Soviet Union lasted, that protection was worth 
something.  But they also left behind a governance system 
that looks to the top, and not to the people, for marching 
orders, resulting in absurdities like local officials 
permanently reserving the only hotel in a tourist town for 
their visiting bosses. 
GFOELLER