The Kyrgyz Republic is located in Central Asia, surrounded by Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, China, and Tajikistan. (See Attachment 11, "Administrative Map".) The border with Uzbekistan (1,374 kilometers) is Kyrgyzstan's longest border with another country. The highest point of elevation is Peak Pobeda (7,439 meters above sea level). More than 94 percent of the Kyrgyz territory is higher than 1,000 meters above sea level, and the average elevation is 2,750 meters. The total land area of the Kyrgyz Republic was 199,900 square kilometers in 1993. Currently, 5.1 percent of the territory is forest, 4.3 percent is water, 4.0 percent is glacier, 53.9 is agricultural land, and 32.7 percent is other land, including that which is unusable. (See Attachment 15, "Land Use Map".)

The population of the Kyrgyz Republic, according to data of the First National Census of 1999, was 4,822,938 people, of whom 34.8 percent live in urban areas and 65.2 percent in rural areas. From 1994 to 1998, the total population increased by 264,000 people (including a net natural increase of 361,000 people and a net migration decrease of 94,000 people).

The foothill valleys and intermountain valleys of Kyrgyzstan are mostly developed. The highland nature of the territory contributes to a highly uneven geographical distribution of the population. The highest density (90 persons per square kilometer) is in the lower-elevation agricultural rayons and the lowest density (2-3 persons per square kilometer) is in the highland mountains. (See Attachment 13, "Map of Population Density".)

The territory of the Kyrgyz Republic constitutes a highland ecological system that is vulnerable to both natural disturbances and anthropogenic influences. More than 90 percent of crops are produced on irrigated land. The amount of arable land per capita is not more than 0.37 hectares and is declining rapidly because of the growing population.

The environmental problems of Kyrgyzstan, like those of any country, are related to water, land, and air. The water supply affects productivity and the quality of output. The quality of water, the fertility of soil, and biological diversity affect both human health and the ecological system. Air pollution from dust and harmful substances affects human health.

Biodiversity
No natural ecosystem remains untouched by anthropogenic influences in the Kyrgyz Republic. This situation is reflected in changes in the number of species and the ratios among them. The acclimatization of alien species has changed the ichthyofauna of practically all water bodies; 21 of 54 fish species were delivered from outside Kyrgyzstan.

Steppe, desert, and semi-desert ecosystems of the foothill plains and intermountain valleys, and wood and shrub vegetation along the rivers, are subject to strong grazing degradation. After the transfer of cattle to private ownership, the owners of cattle have turned from distant-nomadic grazing to primitive shepherd cattle-breeding, amplifying the grazing of pastures near settlements.

Pasture vegetation is exploited by 1 million cattle, 5 million sheep and goats, and more than 300,000 horses. On 7-8 percent of the Republic's territory, people gather wild berries (buckthorn, ash berry, barberry, hawthorn, currant, raspberry, etc.), mushrooms (more than ten edible species), and medicinal plants (a few tens of species). In the south of the country, people gather and harvest walnuts, wild apples, pears, apricots, plums, and cherry plums.

A small proportion of the population is engaged in amateur hunting and fishing. The hunting fauna of Kyrgyzstan is estimated at about 30 kinds of birds and up to 20 kinds of animals (see Attachment 6). Their quantities are strongly undermined as a result of the deterioration of hunting land, over-hunting, and poaching. Fishing does not play an appreciable role in the national economy. But poaching is one of the main income sources for many families from the Issyk-Kul basin and the Kochkor and Ketmen-Dube valleys. The population traditionally uses natural products as raw materials for construction, handicrafts, and the manufacture of home utensils, dyes, etc. Edible mushrooms are used unevenly. The Kyrgyz people do not traditionally include mushrooms or fish in their diet. Russian migrants introduced the use of mushrooms after the colonization of Kyrgyzstan in the end of the 19th century.

Economic activity has resulted in the losses of many pants and animals and drastic changes in habitats. Eleven species have disappeared and others are under threat of disappearing: three species of large and average-size mammals have died out and 15 species are under threat of dying out; four species of birds have died out and 26 species are under threat of dying out; three species of medicinal plants and plants having decorative and technical value have disappeared and 54 species are under threat of disappearing. Out of 4,500 species of plants, 300 are rare and under threat of disappearing, 125 are endemic, and 200 are valuable medicinal plants. Sixty-four species of plants, 32 species of birds, three species of reptiles, one kind of fish, six species of insects, and nine species of mammals have been entered into the Red Book of the Kyrgyz Republic. Since 1985, when the Red Book was first issued, 10 species of plants, 1 species of fish, 11 species of birds, 4 species of mammals, and [1З] species of insects have been added to the Red Book.

A network of protected territories with total area of 672,900 hectares (see Attachment 5) was created to maintain biodiversity in the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic. Some "hot spots," including unique flora and fauna, are under threat of destruction as a result of excessive anthropogenic influence in important ecosystems (see Attachments 9 and 10).

International Waters
The hydrology of Kyrgyzstan is a complex pattern of rivers, lakes, glaciers, seasonal snow cover, permafrost, and wetlands. Of the country's territory, 76.5 percent belongs to the Aral Sea basin, 10.8 percent to the Issyk-Kul Lake basin, 12.4 percent to the Tarim basin, and 0.3 percent to the Balkhash Lake basin. Kyrgyzstan uses the terms "international waters" and "transboundary waters" with care because the country's water resources are considered national property: all rivers of Kyrgyzstan are formed within its territory and all the rivers originating in Kyrgyzstan eventually reach the ocean. The rivers are thus neither international nor transboundary water resources according to international law.

According to the definitions contained in GEF manuals, however, almost all the rivers of Kyrgyzstan can be considered international waters because their drainage basins belong to several countries. From a total of 47.2 cubic kilometers of water resources, Kyrgyzstan uses only 11.8; three cubic kilometers flow to Issyk-Kul Lake, and 32.2 flow to the territories of neighboring countries.

During Soviet times, ten large water reservoirs on the Rivers Chu, Talas, Naryn, Ak-Buura, and Kara-Darja were constructed to regulate runoff and to irrigate the lands of neighboring countries. Because of the difficult economic situation in the Republic and insufficient financing for the maintenance of hydro-engineering entities, the threat of ecological accidents has become real as a result of inundation, salinization, silting, eutrophication, and the destruction of dams.

Eutrophication processes cause destruction and damage to seaweed and fish. Wetland complexes have practically disappeared in Chu Valley. Pollution has degraded the ecosystems of river mouths and downstream areas. In many cases they have disappeared because of drainage for irrigation.

The deterioration of transboundary water quality is aggravated by the presence of waste from mining enterprises that utilize radioactive substances, heavy metals, and cyan-containing substances (see Attachment 16, "Map of Waste Deposit Sites").

Few cattle-breeding enterprises have systems of collecting, storing, processing, or recycling flows of water. Facilities and infrastructure for protecting the environment have become outdated, requiring overhaul and reconstruction. Water contaminated by manure and cattle-breeding wastes has become one of the most dangerous sources of the pollution of water ecosystems.

The agricultural sector is the largest consumer of water in the country. Agriculture accounts for approximately 90 percent of total internal water consumption. The irrigation system provides water to more than 1 million hectares of land. The annual usage of mineral fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, defoliants, and veterinary preparations has fallen to less than 10 percent of its level in 1990, yet the runoff from agricultural activity remains the main source of water pollution.

More than half of the small cities and rayon centers of the Republic, including those located in international drainage basins, lack centralized sewerage and water purification systems.

There are more than 3,000 lakes (covering more than 0.2 hectares each) in the territory of Kyrgyzstan. The lakes are primarily located in basins of tectonic, seismic, or glacial origin in highland areas between 3,000 and 4,000 meters above sea level. The largest are the Issyk-Kul, Son-Kul, and Chatyr-Kul Lakes. Issyk-Kul Lake is reported to be the world's second largest alpine lake (in area) after Lake Titicaca in South America. The former Soviet Union adopted the Convention on the Protection of Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention) in 1971. The Lake Issyk-Kul wetlands have been designated as a "Ramsar Site", i.e., wetlands of international importance. Unfortunately, Kyrgyzstan has not made legal arrangements to confirm its own participation in the Ramsar Convention after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Wetlands occur in the alluvial valleys of Kyrgyzstan's many rivers and high mountainous plateaus (syrty, landscapes very similar to arctic tundra). The total area of valley wetlands in the Republic is estimated at approximately 0.5 percent of its land area.

Сlimate Change
The climate of Central Asia is becoming warmer. This tendency is clear in the cold seasons. The warming is accompanied by growth in the intensity of evaporation, which in turn creates the threat of deglaciation and changes in the location of high-altitude growth belts for certain agricultural plants. The steady process of deglaciation also causes changes in surface runoff. According to scientific forecasts, the glaciation area will decline by 30-40 percent between now and 2025, decreasing surface runoff by up to 25-35 percent. Reducing atmospheric pollution by increasing the cleanliness of snow cover and consequently increasing glaciers' albedo is one method of preserving glaciation. But from the point of view of local micro- and mezo-climate mitigation measurements, changes in agriculture (such as changes in the ratio between water surfaces and land, new irrigation methods, and new vegetation and plant cover with proper evaporation capacity) seem to be more effective than combating deglaciation with reductions in air pollution or the use of renewable energy sources. In any case, this conclusion will not be used for the workplan or project priorities because there are not sufficient data relating such activities to global benefits.

The main sources of air pollution are power plants and enterprises, the building materials industry, municipal services, mining and food processing plants, private households, and transport. Industrial substances (soot, ashes, dust) account for 44.0-45.6 percent of total emissions, sulfurous anhydride accounts for 26.5-28.2 percent, and carbon oxides 9-12.1 percent. Carbohydrates and dust produced by the cement industry constitute the largest share of emissions of specific substances.

The transition from a command-administrative system to a market economy has resulted in rapid growth in emissions from transport, especially road transport. According to the National Environmental Report (1998-1999), about 87 percent of all atmospheric emissions are now vehicle emissions. The number of vehicles in Kyrgyzstan is increasing; data from 2000 indicate there are more than 300,000 cars, buses, and trucks in the country. Urban transport, though still moderate in towns and cities compared to other Asian cities, is a major cause of urban air pollution due to the widespread use of low-grade, leaded gasoline and old vehicles. It is estimated that the motor transport sector of Kyrgyzstan generates approximately 198,000 tons (1998) of harmful substances into the atmosphere annually, including carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, and lead. The Kyrgyzstan State Action Plan on Environmental Hygiene (1999) estimates that three-quarters of these emissions are in the form of carbon monoxide. Transport emissions have more severe impacts on human health in towns located in closed valleys surrounded by mountains. Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, located in Chui Valley, is a city where pollution levels are elevated due to its location.

The main reason for energy-related atmospheric pollution is that Kyrgyzstan lacks its own supplies of pure fuel (natural gas), compelling the power industry and private households to use fuels of local origin that have low caloric value and high ash content. Considering the low efficiency of mechanisms for cleaning atmospheric emissions at the large power plants, and the absence of cleaning mechanisms in small boiler-houses, the contribution of the power industry to air pollution can be expected to increase every year.

High atmospheric air pollution in Kyrgyzstan's cities results from the use of traditional sources of energy (coal, oil, firewood) rather than the Republic's enormous resources of nontraditional energy sources (solar, wind, biogas, etc.). Their share amounts to only 0.15 percent! Environmentally clean means of transport (electric locomotives, trolley buses, bicycle) are rarely used.

Land Degradation
Flat low mountainous deserts and semi-deserts occupy about 15 percent of the territory of Kyrgyzstan. The nival and subnival belt together with lifeless rocks, screes, rock debris, and mountain deserts occupy about 35 percent of the territory and make up loess, stony, halophilic, and cold high-mountainous deserts (syrt) and semi-deserts. The basic indicators of desertification in Kyrgyzstan are reductions in the efficiency of arable land, pastures, and woodlands. This is caused by unstable kinds of human activity, such as excessive land exploitation, excessive grazing, deforestation, and inappropriate irrigation methods. As a result of anthropogenic activity, more than 90 percent of agricultural land is tending toward desertification.

All forest ecosystems are threatened. The cutting down of trees and cattle grazing continue in the forests. The State Forest Fund of the Kyrgyz Republic extends to 2.86 million hectares, including 849,500 hectares covered by forests (see Attachment 14 "Map of Forests"). In the last 70 years Kyrgyzstan has lost 50 percent of its forest area. Coniferous forest area has been reduced to one-third of its level in 1930. This reduction is harmful to fauna habitats, increases slope erosion, and decreases water regeneration and water regulation functions. Walnut forest area has been reduced by one-half, threatening the unique genetic fund of relict walnut forms and damaging soil protection and water regeneration functions and the process of natural forest renewal. In the last 50 years, 36 percent of the Juniperus forest area has disappeared, and desertification of mountain slopes has started. Snow avalanches, landslides, and flashfloods have become frequent in the area of juniperus forest reduction in the Alai and Turkestan Ranges. The rates of forestation lag behind rates of deforestation. The main reasons for forest destruction are the use of wood for producing building materials and furniture, the use of wood as fuel, and grazing.

The territory of Kyrgyzstan is experiencing three primary types of erosion (water, pasture, and wind), four subtypes of water erosion (irrigation, flat, mixed, and gully), and two subtypes of wind erosion (dusty storms and local winds). According to data of the Land Cadastre of Kyrgyzstan, about 500,000 hectares of agricultural land are subject to water and wind erosion. Only 300,000 hectares of irrigated land in Kyrgyzstan have inclination of less than 0.01 and are, hence, not subject to water erosion. The share of land under the risk of erosion amounts to about 85 percent. Measures to prevent erosion should be directed primarily toward irrigation erosion on land with inclination from 0.01 to 0.05, where after one watering (by rainfall or irrigation) 2 to 10 tons of fertile soil is washed off each hectare of land.

Overgrazing. The total area of natural pastures of Kyrgyzstan is 8.9 million hectares (see Attachment 15, "Land Use Map"), and 2.136 million hectares of pastureland is located near settlements. The pastures are in poor condition, suffering from degradation and desertification as a result of the transfer from distant-nomadic grazing to primitive shepherd cattle-breeding.

Saline and solonetz-like soils cover 3.8 million hectares, including 774,000 hectares of arable land and 3 million hectares of pastures. Two hundred thousand hectares of land are saline in a flat zone of the Republic, and 0.03 million hectares are over-saturated with water. Out of 1.06 million hectares of irrigated land, 84.6 percent is in good condition, 6.8 percent is in satisfactory condition, and 8.6 percent is in an unsatisfactory condition.

Irrigation and Inundation. There are 632 irrigation systems in the Republic, providing water to 1.06 million hectares of land. The total length of all permanent canals is 25,300 kilometers, 6,200 kilometers of which are large state canals and 19,100 kilometers of which are farm canals (these canals previously belonged to collective farms, state farms, etc.). There are 34 water reservoirs for irrigation needs and 400 basins of daily and seasonal regulation, with total volume of 500,000 cubic meters. About 90 percent of field-crop cultivation is produced on irrigated land. Irrigated lands with close altitude of groundwater (less than 2 meters) cover 89,628 hectares. There are 133 settlements inundated by groundwater in the Republic.

One hundred thirty waste deposit sites are located in the territory of the Republic (see Attachment 16, "Map of Waste Deposit Sites"). The total volume of waste is more than 620 million cubic meters. The waste deposit sites contain radionuclides and heavy metals (cadmium, lead, zinc, chrome, etc.). Most of the waste sites lack modern protective constructions, so the substances within them penetrate the ground, soil, and air. People and cattle use vegetation growing in areas with such wastes. Four hundred twelve prospecting and mining enterprises work today in Kyrgyzstan. Most of them use explosives that harm the mountain environment.