Forty years ago, Muynak, Uzbekistan, was a flourishing port city. Now it is a desert outpost.
The Aral Sea was the world’s fourth largest, until in the 1980s cotton farmers started diverting the rivers flowing to the Aral Sea to irrigate their fields.
Within a few years the sea had become the world’s fastest-growing desert, the Aralkum.
The Uzbekistan government is trying to remedy the situation. Ecologists are trying to prevent erosion and trap moisture by planting hardy ground cover.
“Today we are working on planting 16 different types of plants, which would be able to hold the water inside the ground, explains environmentalist Rafat Aimuratov.
“They will also help to reduce sandstorms. The most effective among them is the saxaul plant because it lives about 50-60 years,” he said.
Unfortunately, Muynak residents end up chopping down the plants for fuel and for sale.
“I have no gas at home and I’ve got little kids,” said Sharafiddin Yelamov. “I need to warm up my house and cook the food.”
Residents of the former fishing village are looking for new ways to earn a living.
Manzura Yerniyazova employs 15 women in her tailor’s shop, producing traditional hats and bags. he sells her goods in the regional capital.
Anuarbek Saimbetov, 76, trained to be a navigator. Now he paints pictures inspired by his life on the Aral Sea, “After school I was studying shipping and went to the sea for an internship. There was a very strong storm, the water went so high and even went on our ship, and our ship was swimming through all these waves. After that night I decided that one day I will draw this storm.”
His paintings evoke memories of times when the sea was the dominant factor of life in Muynak.
Beautiful though they may be, they cannot bring back the water.
