VZCZCXRO0389
RR RUEHIK
DE RUEHAH #1581/01 3421157
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 081157Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3865
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 5971
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 3665
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 3524
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 4213
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1299
RHMCSUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 4155
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 001581 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV SENV UN TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: POSSIBLE DEVELOPMENT OF A 
NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM 
 
ASHGABAT 00001581  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (U) Sensitive but Unclassified.  Not for Public 
Internet. 
 
¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY: Following a local media report on 
the government's efforts to implement its plan on 
national parks, Pol/Econ local staff member met with 
two environmental activists to discuss the issue. 
Both contacts confirmed the national parks to be the 
most effective form of nature protection for 
Turkmenistan, welcomed the government's efforts 
towards the implementation of the plan, and hoped that 
it will be done in accordance with a pending draft 
law.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶3. (U) According to the Ministry of Nature Protection, 
there are eight strictly protected nature preserves 
("zapovedniks") and thirteen nature preserves with 
limited public access ("zakazniks").  Generally, 
locals that live near zakazniks can get permission to 
continue using the land for hunting or livestock 
grazing.  However, other people are banned from the 
area.  The eight zapovedniks are Amudarya, Badhyz, 
Kaplankyr, Kopetdag, Koytendag, Repetek, Sunt- 
Hosardag, and Hazarskiy.  The Government of 
Turkmenistan ratified the UN Convention for the 
Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage 
and is preparing documents for Badhyz to receive the 
status of an international natural heritage site. 
This status would mean that Turkmenistan would receive 
money for the upkeep of Badhyz, but would also have to 
adhere to UN requirements and allow monitoring for 
compliance. 
 
¶4. (U) The organization and operation of zapovedniks 
and zakazniks is regulated by the law "On Nature 
Protection" (1991) and the law "On Specially Protected 
State Natural Territories"(1992), as well as 
additional regulations.  The laws and regulations 
provide a legal basis for preserving nature sites 
which have special ecological, scientific, cultural, 
educational, and recreational value.  The Ministry of 
Nature Protection is in charge of zapovedniks. 
Zakazniks are overseen by the Ministry of Nature 
Protection in conjunction with local governments. 
 
¶5. (U) Recently, local media reported on a government 
plan to create national parks, commenting that this is 
"the most effective method of managing Turkmenistan's 
nature preserves."  According to the report, the 
existing zapovedniks with their strict regime of 
protection will serve as the center of future national 
parks.  What are now the zakazniks will be 
incorporated, and in addition there will be land open 
to the public for recreation and ecological tourism 
that will serve as a buffer zone for the strictly 
protected areas.  All of these areas with their 
different levels of protection will constitute a 
national park. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Pol/Econ local staff member met with two 
local environmental activists to talk about the 
government's plan for the national parks.  Tatyana 
Rotaru, a specialist of the Kopetdag nature preserve, 
said that the Ministry of Nature Protection has 
already prepared a decree for establishing Archabil 
national park, which will include the Central Kopetdag 
zapovednik on the border with Iran, the recreational 
zone Geokdere, which is 30 kilometers to the west from 
Ashgabat, as well as late President Niyazov's Health 
Walk and the cable car in Berzengi, on the outskirts 
 
ASHGABAT 00001581  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
of Ashgabat.  Rotaru said that while the Kopetdag 
zapovednik will continue to be a strictly protected 
area, the remaining territory of the Archabil national 
park will be open for tourism and recreation. 
 
¶7. (SBU) However, the government has yet to adopt a 
law what will regulate national parks.  Rotaru noted 
that such a law should eliminate current interagency 
and territorial disputes between local and national 
governments.  One element of the law would be to 
establish a national park service that would take over 
the administration of the national parks from the 
local or national government bodies.  Rotaru said that 
the German Ministry of Nature Protection was assisting 
Turkmenistan's Ministry of Nature Protection in 
drafting the law on national parks. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Timur Berkeliyev, an environmental specialist 
and active member of a local NGO, said that strictly 
protected nature preserves proved not to be the most 
effective form of nature protection.  He said that 
some controlled human activity was needed to keep 
nature balanced.  As an example, he referred to the 
decrease of the underground water in wells in the 
Karakum desert due to the extensive growth of 
haloxylon, a desert tree, which the local population 
used to cut for firewood.  They stopped chopping down 
the trees after the Turkmen villages began being 
supplied with natural gas.  He also said that denying 
access to sheep for grazing in the desert resulted in 
extensive growth of "black moss," an aggressive plant 
which threatens endemic desert plants.  Berkeliyev 
took part in the development of the Ministry of Nature 
Protection's list of prospective territories for 
creating national parks, and welcomed the efforts of 
the government in drafting the required legislation 
for management of the national parks. 
 
¶9. (SBU) COMMENT: Local environmental organizations 
welcome the efforts of the government towards the 
implementation of its plan on national parks.  They 
hope that the opening of some parts of the nature 
preserves to the public as national parks and creating 
a clearer law will bring transparency in nature 
protection matters.  They also hope that the new 
system would stop illegal use of nature preserve 
resources by corrupt officials.  However, although 
better legislation might be a step towards better 
protection of nature, enforcement of the rules is the 
key.  END COMMENT. 
 
ECKSTROM