TY - JOUR A1 - Mehta, Kedar A1 - Ehrenwirth, Mathias A1 - Missall, Siegmund A1 - Degembaeva, Nadira A1 - Akmatov, Kuban A1 - Zörner, Wilfried T1 - Energy Profiling of a High-Altitude Kyrgyz Community: Challenges and Motivations to Preserve Floodplain Ecosystems Based on Household Survey JF - Sustainabilty N2 - The floodplain areas along the Naryn River in Kyrgyzstan are essential as they hold the riparian (local) ecosystems because they provide firewood, pastureland, and areas for recreation and protection against erosion. Due to limited access to adequate, reliable, and sustainable energy services, the rural population usually derived their energy needs from multiple natural energy resources (i.e., firewood, charcoal, agricultural residues, animal dung, and wood branches). This is considered a common and predominant practice in rural Kyrgyzstan. This situation leads to a negative impact on local ecosystem services. In addition to that, the reliance on solid fuels contributes to indoor and outdoor air pollution, which is partially threatening the local ecosystem services. By contrast, the employment of renewable-based energy supply systems would substantially reduce the burden on the environment, which is mainly untapped. To integrate renewable energies, it is important to understand the energy behavior of floodplain communities. In that response, the presented article is the first attempt to capture the energy identity of the floodplain community of Kyrgyzstan based on a quantitative energy-based (on-site) household survey. Furthermore, the present research article synthesizes the driving factors that have a (direct or indirect) impact on the energy and local ecosystem services. In addition, the present article proposes a brief pathway for the sustainable energy transition. The article records the recommendation to integrate renewable energies to preserve the local ecosystems of Kyrgyzstan. KW - Central Asia KW - ecosystem services KW - energy pattern KW - energy profiling KW - floodplain community KW - high-altitude KW - household survey KW - Kyrgyzstan KW - renewable energies KW - Sustainability Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-2468 SN - 2071-1050 VL - 13 IS - 23 PB - MDPI ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Missall, Siegmund A1 - Welp, Martin A1 - Mehta, Kedar A1 - Degembaeva, Nadira A1 - Akmatov, Kuban A1 - Zörner, Wilfried T1 - In Search for the Optimal Forest Use Behaviour: Riparian Forest Use in Central Asia, Using the Example of Ak-Tal, Naryn, Kyrgyzstan JF - Forests N2 - Riparian forests are rare and valuable ecosystems in Central Asia, both due to their significance for biodiversity and to their provision of vital ecosystem services to local residents. However, the actual forest use behaviour is under-researched, official figures may not be trustworthy, and the question of over-use is up in the air. This paper sets out to shed light on riparian forest use behaviour by local residents using the example of Ak-Tal Village upon the Naryn River in Kyrgyzstan: Which economic use patterns do they practice (focusing on fuel wood and pasture)? Which other ecosystem services do they recognise? Is there forest over-exploitation? To answer these questions, this study builds on local knowledge, by applying the methods of focus group discussions and a household survey. Results show an extreme discrepancy between official wood consumption figures (50–60 m3 p.a.) and figures based on household wood consumption (310–404 m3 p.a.). The forest also serves as an important winter pasture over the seven months between October and April (stocking density 0.61 livestock units/ha), but payments for these ecosystem services are low, with annually 40 KGS/ha. Local residents are aware of additional material and nonmaterial ecosystem services of the riparian forest. Opinions diverge upon the question if there is forest over-exploitation, potentially because different stakeholders have different concepts of an optimal forest status. Consequently, optimal forest use behaviour can only be defined by the local users themselves, e.g., in a future stakeholder dialogue. KW - riparian forest KW - fuel wood KW - wood pasture KW - agroforestry KW - ecosystem services KW - Naryn KW - Kyrgyzstan KW - Central Asia Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-3508 SN - 1999-4907 VL - 13 IS - 8 PB - MDPI ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Missall, Siegmund A1 - Abliz, Abdulla A1 - Halik, Ümüt A1 - Thevs, Niels A1 - Welp, Martin T1 - Trading Natural Riparian Forests for Urban Shelterbelt Plantations—A Sustainability Assessment of the Kökyar Protection Forest in NW China JF - Water N2 - Cities at the fringe of the Taklimakan desert in NW China are prone to dust and sand storms with serious consequences for human well-being. The Kökyar Protection Forest was established in the 1980s as an ecological engineering project with the intent of protecting the city of Aksu, NW China, from these impacts. It is designed as a combination of poplar shelterbelts and orchards, irrigated by river water from the Aksu River, the main tributary of the Tarim River. Prevalent literature describes it as an afforestation project for combatting desertification with manifold positive effects for the economic, social, and environmental dimension of sustainable development. This paper sets out to challenge these claims by a sustainability assessment in which the plantation is examined from a broader perspective, embedding it to the wider context of social and environmental problems in South Xinjiang. Methods comprise evapotranspiration calculations, interviews, a socioeconomic household survey, stakeholder dialogues, and literature research. Results affirm its economic sustainability, but see a mixed record for the social sphere. From the nature conservation point of view, it has to be classified as unsustainable because its high irrigation water consumption results in the downstream desiccation and desertification of natural riparian forests along the Tarim River, causing a forest loss in the downstream area twice the size of the forest gain in the upstream area. There is a trade-off between artificial shelterbelt plantations for urban ecosystem services on the one hand side, and natural riparian forests and their biodiversity on the other hand side. The paper recommends restricting agricultural extension, and using locally adapted less water consuming agroforestry schemes to protect urban dwellers from dust stress. KW - Central Asia; Tarim River; shelterbelt; Tugai; desertification; sustainability; afforestation; ecosystem services; ecological engineering Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-5022 SN - 2073-4441 IS - 10(3) ER -