Tajikistan Environment - The Times Of Central Asia

Viewing results 13 - 18 of 145

Flood Risk

Tajikistan Warns of Mudslides as Central Asia Expands Flood Cooperation

Authorities in Tajikistan say heavy rain could trigger mudslides in parts of the country in the coming days and have warned people to be extremely careful when traveling on roads near mountains and riverbanks. The warning was issued on Wednesday, days after government officials, scientists, and other delegates from across Central Asia met in Bishkek to discuss ways to address cross-border mudflows and floods. The three-day meeting, which ended on Friday, was organized by Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Regional Environmental Center for Central Asia, a group that gets support from the World Bank and other international partners. Mudslides and flooding often hit parts of Central Asia in the spring and early summer, when rainfall, rising temperatures, snow and glacier melt, and increasing water levels threaten communities that scientists say are more vulnerable because of climate change. In the spring of 2024, flooding in Kazakhstan displaced thousands of people and damaged many homes and other buildings in what the government called the worst natural disaster in the country in 80 years. Central Asian governments are increasing cooperation on mitigation measures, including early warning systems, data sharing, and other projects to better protect their populations. As temperatures rise faster in Central Asia than the global average, Tajikistan is especially vulnerable because it is a mountainous country where glacier melt is a growing concern. Heavy rains and mudslides are possible through Friday, July 3, in mountainous and hilly areas across the country, as well as in Sughd Region in northwest Tajikistan, which borders Uzbekistan, and in Khatlon Region in the southwest, which borders Uzbekistan and Afghanistan, Tajikistan’s Ministry of Transport said. Citing meteorological experts, the ministry also warned of dust storms in Khatlon and the capital, Dushanbe, because of strong winds blowing from the south. “As a result of rising temperatures, glacier melt, and increasing water levels in the Panj, Vakhsh, Varzob, and Zeravshan rivers, there is a risk of mudflows in these areas,” the ministry said. It added that it had “instructed all road maintenance departments and institutions to monitor the condition of highways around the clock.” The possibility of flooding from glacier melt and rising river levels is not only a problem in mountainous areas in upstream countries such as Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, but also in downstream countries, including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, that rely on cross-border water supplies but are also vulnerable to natural disasters. Turkmenportal, an online news site, said the recent meeting in Kyrgyzstan on water cooperation in Central Asia was important to Turkmenistan because it “is located in the lower reaches of Central Asia's largest rivers and is directly dependent on the quality of transboundary cooperation in water management and flood risk reduction.”

Water Management

Tajikistan and ADB Discuss Modernization of Tajik Sea Reservoir

Tajikistan is planning a major modernization of the Tajik Sea reservoir, known until 2016 as the Kayrakkum Reservoir. The project is a strategic water initiative for the country and the wider Central Asian region. Prospects for the project were discussed during a meeting between Tajikistan’s officials and representatives of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Ulaanbaatar, according to the Tajik state news agency Khovar. According to Tajikistan’s Ministry of Energy and Water Resources, the talks involved Presidential Economic Adviser Ne’matullo Hikmatullozoda, Energy and Water Resources Minister Daler Juma, ADB Director General for Central and West Asia Leah Gutierrez, and Regional Head of Regional Cooperation and Integration Asad Aleem. The meeting focused on the “Efficient Management of Water Resources of the Bahri Tojik Reservoir” project. Hikmatullozoda described the initiative as one of Tajikistan’s key infrastructure priorities, aimed at adapting to climate change and addressing transboundary water challenges. The work would reinforce the reservoir’s protective dams to reduce flood risks and modernize its pumping stations. It also covers upgrades to irrigation, drainage, and collector systems, along with a digital monitoring system used to control and track water infrastructure. Officials said the project is expected to improve water resource management under changing climate conditions. It is also intended to make irrigation supplies more reliable and expand hydropower generation capacity. A preliminary feasibility study has already been prepared with ADB support. The Tajik Sea is located in Tajikistan’s Sughd Region on the Syr Darya River. The reservoir was created following the construction of a dam and hydropower station to regulate the river’s flow, with filling beginning in the 1950s. Today, the Tajik Sea remains one of the country’s largest reservoirs and an important site for energy production and irrigation. The adjacent Kayrakkum Hydropower Plant generates electricity, while the reservoir supplies water for agriculture across the region.

Glaciers

Tajikistan Renames Central Asia’s Largest Glacier

Tajikistan has officially renamed the country’s largest glacier, previously known as the Vanchiakh Glacier, as the Tajikistan Glacier, according to a government decree signed on June 3. The glacier, also widely known internationally as the Fedchenko Glacier, is the longest glacier outside the polar regions. Stretching approximately 77 kilometers and covering about 700 square kilometers, it forms part of a vast glacial system that includes around 100 smaller glaciers. The glacier is one of the largest in Eurasia, surpassed in area only by the Siachen and Baltoro glaciers in the Karakoram mountain range. Siachen extends roughly 76 kilometers and covers about 750 square kilometers, while Baltoro stretches 62 kilometers and covers a similar area. The newly renamed Tajikistan Glacier plays a critical role in the hydrology of Central Asia, serving as one of the region’s most important freshwater reserves. Last year, the glacier became the focus of a major international scientific expedition conducted under the Research on Climate and Cryosphere in the Pamirs (RECAP) project. Between July 19 and August 23, 2025, researchers from Tajikistan, Germany, and France carried out extensive fieldwork aimed at establishing a permanent monitoring system to track climate change and glaciological processes in the Pamir Mountains. Scientists faced challenging conditions during the expedition, transporting heavy equipment by hand to elevations exceeding 5,000 meters above sea level. Despite low oxygen levels, freezing temperatures, and difficult terrain, the team successfully installed an autonomous monitoring station capable of transmitting real-time data to a central database. Researchers said all planned monitoring stations were successfully deployed. Data collected from the glacier will now become part of an international climate observation network, providing scientists with new tools to assess glacier retreat and better understand the long-term implications for Central Asia’s water resources. The Tajikistan Glacier remains not only one of the region’s most significant glacial formations, but also an important indicator of the future availability of freshwater resources upon which millions of people across Central Asia depend.

UNDP

UNDP Opinion: Central Asia – Shared Wildlife, Shared Landscapes, Shared Responsibility

As global leaders gather for the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Assembly in Samarkand, Central Asia has an opportunity to send a clear message to the world: protecting biodiversity is not only about saving species — it is about securing water, livelihoods, resilience and long-term stability for millions of people across our region. From the glaciers of the Tien Shan and Pamir mountains to the deserts, steppes and river basins downstream, Central Asia’s ecosystems are deeply interconnected across borders. Rivers flow between countries. Wildlife migrates through shared landscapes. Mountain ecosystems regulate water systems that sustain agriculture, energy production and communities far beyond the highlands themselves. Among the most powerful symbols of this shared natural heritage is the snow leopard — the silent guardian of Central Asia’s mountains. The snow leopard represents far more than a rare and iconic species. Its survival reflects the health of entire ecosystems that millions of people depend upon every day. Healthy mountain landscapes help secure freshwater resources, reduce disaster risks, sustain pastures and agriculture, preserve biodiversity, and strengthen resilience to climate change across the region. But today, these ecosystems are under growing pressure. Climate change is accelerating glacier melting and intensifying water stress. Land degradation, unsustainable grazing, habitat fragmentation and biodiversity loss are placing increasing pressure on fragile mountain environments and rural livelihoods. Communities living closest to nature are often the first to feel the consequences — through declining water availability, degraded pastures, reduced agricultural productivity and increasing climate-related risks. These challenges do not stop at national borders. And neither can the solutions. Only a coordinated regional response can match the scale of the challenge. Protecting Central Asia’s mountain ecosystems requires countries to work together to conserve ecological corridors, strengthen transboundary protected areas, improve water and land governance, and invest in climate-resilient livelihoods for communities whose futures are closely tied to nature. There are already successful examples of regional agreements. For example, a highly successful transboundary nature conservation agreement in Central Asia protects the Ustyurt Plateau and the Turan Temperate Deserts. Spanning across Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, this initiative has successfully safeguarded vulnerable ecosystems and migratory species like the saiga antelope and snow leopard. [caption id="attachment_50004" align="aligncenter" width="1774"] Photo: Saiga calf. Kazakhstan/UNDP Kazakhstan[/caption] It is encouraging that transboundary cooperation has already taken shape across the region. Across Central Asia, governments, communities and development partners are already demonstrating that conservation and development can advance together. While each country's experience is unique, the lessons are remarkably similar: when communities benefit from healthy ecosystems, nature and people both thrive. In Kazakhstan, the snow leopard has become one of the clearest examples of how coordinated conservation efforts can help restore fragile ecosystems across borders. The species inhabits mountain systems that extend beyond national boundaries into China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Uzbekistan, making its protection inseparable from regional cooperation. Over the past decade, habitat countries have strengthened efforts to protect the species through national conservation strategies, expanded protected areas, and improved ecosystem monitoring. Supported by cooperation between the Government, UNDP, the Global...

El Niño

El Niño Could Bring Unusually Heavy Summer Rains to Central Asia, WMO Warns

Central Asia could face unusually heavy rainfall during the summer of 2026 as the climate phenomenon known as El Niño is expected to return in the coming months, according to forecasts from the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The WMO estimates there is an 80% chance that El Niño conditions will develop between June and August and a near or above 90% chance that they will persist until at least November. The organization says the event could contribute to a rise in extreme weather around the world, including heatwaves, droughts, and intense rainfall. According to the WMO, temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean have been steadily increasing and are approaching the thresholds typically associated with El Niño. Scientists have also detected a large reservoir of unusually warm water below the ocean’s surface, with temperatures more than six degrees Celsius above normal in some areas, providing additional energy for the phenomenon to intensify. For Central Asia, El Niño is often associated with higher-than-average precipitation. While the region is better known for its arid and semi-arid climate, past El Niño events have brought increased rainfall to parts of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said countries should prepare for the possibility of stronger droughts and heavy rains, as well as elevated risks of heatwaves on land and in the oceans. “We need to prepare for a potentially strong El Niño event, which will exacerbate drought and heavy rainfall and increase the risk of heatwaves both on land and in the ocean,” Saulo said. UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the developing conditions as an urgent climate warning, saying El Niño would “pour fuel on the fire” of global warming and could accelerate the impacts of extreme weather worldwide. Seasonal forecasts released by the WMO also indicate that temperatures from June through August are likely to remain above normal across most regions of the world. Scientists note that while there is no evidence that climate change is making El Niño more frequent, a warmer atmosphere and warmer oceans can amplify its effects. The previous major El Niño episode, in 2023-2024, ranked among the five strongest on record and contributed to record global temperatures in 2024. The WMO says improved seasonal forecasting gives governments time to prepare for potential disruptions to agriculture, water resources, and disaster response systems before severe weather develops.

Waste Management

Dushanbe Considers Waste-to-Energy Plant as Part of Green Development Strategy

Authorities in Tajikistan’s capital are considering the construction of a modern waste-to-energy facility that would process municipal solid waste while generating electricity, as part of efforts to develop more sustainable urban infrastructure. The proposal was discussed during talks between Tajikistan’s minister of energy and water resources, Daler Juma, and Environmental Protection Committee chairman Bahodur Sheralizoda, and representatives of the Chinese company Wangneng Environment, which specializes in waste treatment and energy recovery technologies. The parties explored the possibility of introducing municipal waste-processing technologies, including electricity generation through waste incineration and other forms of energy recovery. Such systems are used in a number of major cities in Asia and Europe as part of broader waste-management and urban sustainability policies. For Dushanbe, the project is gaining importance as the city’s population continues to grow and household waste volumes increase. Experts note that the existing landfill-based waste-management system is gradually becoming inadequate for the needs of a rapidly expanding urban center, particularly amid rising environmental pressures and limited land resources. If implemented, the facility could address several challenges at once by reducing the volume of waste sent to landfills, improving environmental and sanitary conditions, and adding to the capital’s electricity-generating capacity. The initiative is also being presented as one element of Tajikistan’s push to promote environmentally sustainable economic growth and expand the use of green technologies. In recent years, the country has supported international initiatives focused on climate adaptation, sustainable resource management, and cleaner energy development. Environmental and economic specialists note that waste-to-energy projects can help reduce pressure on landfills while providing an additional source of electricity for fast-growing cities. At the same time, they say strict environmental safeguards, modern filtration systems, and transparent monitoring would be essential to minimizing air pollution and ensuring compliance with international standards. Following the discussions, the parties expressed their willingness to continue consultations on the project. Key parameters of the proposed facility, including waste-processing capacity, electricity generation volumes, environmental requirements, and financing mechanisms, are expected to be determined during the next stages of negotiations.