China joins hands with central Asian countries in ecological governance of Aral Sea

China should use its wisdom, experience and strength to participate in the ecological governance of the Aral Sea, effectively promoting China’s scientific and technological cooperation with Central Asia, according to a paper released by the Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (BCAS, in Chinese), a think tank journal supervised and sponsored by the CAS, which focuses on strategic and decision-making research.

The Aral Sea is an endorheic lake lying between Kazakhstan to its north and Uzbekistan to its south which has been rapidly shrinking to nearly dry for more than 60 years since the 1960s.

Research data shows that the water volume of the Aral Sea has been reduced to 1/15 since the 1960s and the water level has dropped by an average of 29 meters. In addition, the salinity of the sea water has reached 150–300 G/L and the coastline has retreated by hundreds of kilometers.

The article notes that over-exploitation of the water resources of its supply rivers by human beings is the dominant and direct cause to the natural crisis.

The disappearance of Aral Sea has caused serious damage to the regional ecological environment.

The decrease of runoff results in the degradation of the delta and the loss of biodiversity. For example, the runoff flowing into the Aral Sea Delta decreased from 6.7 km³ /a in the 1960s–1970s to 0.7 km³ /a in 1981–1986 and a total of 12 species of mammals, 26 species of birds and 11 species of plants are endangered.

With the intensifying desertification, “the dried-up bed of the Aral Sea has become a new source of salt-dust storms in the region,” researchers said in the paper. It also has a great impact on the social and economic development and the health of local residents in this region.

Due to water shortage, the yield of cotton and rice in the region dropped by 30 percent and 84 percent respectively from 1981 to 2009. A study shows that the number of respiratory diseases in the adult population of the Aral Sea region increased from 9,467 per 100,000 to 10,744 per 100,000 from 1991 to 2016.

The article discloses that as a close, reliable and responsible neighbor, China has been promoting its scientific and technological cooperation with Central Asian countries in ecological governance of Aral Sea. This helps further the construction of the community with a shared future for China-Central Asia.

Having advanced knowledge and technologies in environmental protection, agricultural water conservation, ecological restoration, desertification control, biodiversity conservation and sustainable management of water resources, China can share its experience with Central Asia countries, which will benefit the world.

Nowadays, the Aral Sea is starting to be a global problem. “The toxic particles produced by the salt-dust storm have spread to hundreds or thousands of kilometers away.” It is possible for the storm to spread to the western part of China and other regions in the world. Therefore, active participation in the comprehensive ecological governance of the Aral Sea may prevent the negative impact on other parts of the world.

The paper then further explains why China can be involved into ecological management of the Aral Sea.

First, there is policy and institutional support. For example, the Belt and Road Anti-desertification Cooperation Mechanism was officially launched to promote the construction of the Green Belt and Road Initiative in September 2017. In June 2022, in the joint statement of the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of China and five Central Asian countries, cooperation on ecology, environmental protection, water resources and green development was one of its important content, which emphasized support for international cooperation in various fields, including saving the Aral Sea.

Second, China now has the ability to support Central Asian countries in terms of capital, technology and human resources. In 2020, China’s GDP reached about US$14.72 trillion, ranking second in the world. In the same period, the total number of R&D personnel in China has exceeded 240,000, ranking first in the world. By the end of July 2021, China’s total investment in SCO member countries has exceeded US$70 billion.

Third, China has cooperated with Central Asian countries in many projects that have achieved favorable results. In recent years, some local scientific and technological organizations and universities in China have carried out scientific research activities in the Aral Sea region in the field of ecological environment monitoring, salt-tolerant plants and demonstration of efficient water-saving technology in agriculture.

In the future, the article points out, China’s technological cooperation with Central Asian countries in ecological governance of Aral Sea will have broad prospects.

China and Central Asian countries can work together to study the output mechanism of salt dust in the Aral Sea desert, measures of desertification control and salt dust source control, and monitoring and assessment of the impact of the ecological disaster on regional and global climate, economy, society and human health.

In the field of livelihood and development, cooperation should focus on the use of windbreak and sand-fixation plants, monitoring and improvement of water quality, promotion and innovation of modern agricultural technology and “new energy + industry” technology.

Researchers emphasize that the right way forward is to follow the principle of win-win cooperation, which means the introduction of China’s experience, technology and capital should meet the needs of the region and the needs of China’s geopolitics, science and technology, and diplomacy.

Besides, it is suggested for China to avoid taking sides on affairs of cross-border river hydropower development, water allocation and nuclear power construction that have not yet been resolved among regional countries.