Uzbekistan’s pastures are close to irreversible degradation

Livestock farming is one of the key sectors of the economy of Uzbekistan. According to the World Bank, it accounts for 13 % of the country’s GDP. The sector provides 45-67% of rural household income and employs almost a third of all agricultural workers. At the same time, given the population’s need for meat, Uzbekistan is forced to import it from other countries. This is also due to the fact that the country does not sufficiently use a scientifically based approach to the development of livestock farming, says zoologist Sergei Zagrebin . He told Gazeta.uz about proper grazing, pasture management and the consequences of overgrazing.

About the situation with cattle grazing

At the beginning of 2022, the total number of sheep and goats in Uzbekistan exceeded 23 million heads, and cattle  – 13 million. This is twice as much as the year before. These animals graze mostly on natural mountain and lowland pastures.

The number of domestic animals significantly exceeds the resources of the pastures on which they graze, as a result of which vegetation degradation occurs and pasture productivity decreases. The vegetation on pastures changes, and as a result, in large areas it is represented either by low-value forage plants or by plants that animals do not eat. It turns out that the productivity of pastures decreases significantly or they are no longer suitable for grazing at all.

Thus, overgrazing is a clear example of the irrational use of existing natural resources and has serious consequences in the long term, including for the country’s food security.

To understand the problem and see the risks that overgrazing leads to, we need to look at this problem from an ecological perspective. Most natural pastures are natural ecological systems. They took a long time to form, many of them appeared before humans. Like all life on Earth, the development and functioning of ecosystems is subject to the general laws of biology and ecology. The formation of the modern appearance of nature occurred as a result of the interaction of a number of factors, including terrain, climate, the presence or absence of water, etc.

 

Human development has increasingly influenced — usually negatively — the natural processes occurring in nature. While the planet’s population was small, the changes were unnoticeable. But today the situation has become critical, and one of the reasons is the development of animal husbandry.

The Impact of Overgrazing on Biodiversity

Overgrazing of livestock on natural pastures negatively affects the biological diversity of these areas.

Change in vegetation cover

Livestock, eating plants, do not allow them to reproduce themselves – plants do not bear fruit, and therefore cannot reproduce. This is critical for annual plants: if there are no seeds, the next year there will be no plant itself.

In natural ecosystems, the number of plant species eaten by livestock decreases, while other plant species that livestock do not eat increase. And the vegetation cover changes completely. At the same time, due to the greater number of livestock, the vegetation as a whole is simply trampled.

Competition with wild animals

Ecosystems used by humans for grazing livestock are home to wild animals whose diet also consists of plant food, such as ungulates and marmots.

The mountains of Tashkent region are home to the Menzbier marmot, an endemic species found only in the Western Tien Shan in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. The Menzbier marmot is listed in the national and international Red Books. These animals hibernate in September and emerge from hibernation only in March or April.

To hibernate for such a long period, the animals need to store up a significant amount of fat. But in the habitats of Menzbier’s marmots, livestock graze. They eat the grassy vegetation that the marmots were supposed to eat. This is one of the reasons for the decline in the species.

Illustrative photo. Mukimjon Kadyrov / UzA.

A similar situation with competition for food resources occurs between domestic animals and the Siberian ibex on high-mountain pastures. The latter simply does not have enough food left.

In places where livestock is constantly kept, there remain completely cut down, devoid of vegetation areas. They are clearly visible even on space images. Vegetation on them does not recover for several years.

Animal diseases

This is another important issue with grazing in natural ecosystems. If wild animals, such as Siberian ibex, and domestic cattle graze in the same areas, they can transmit various diseases to each other. And if humans monitor the health of domestic cattle, who monitors the health of wild animal populations?

Disturbance factors and poaching

The grazing of cattle takes place under constant human control. Each flock has shepherds, shepherd dogs, houses for shepherds, and pens for cattle. All this disturbs wild animals.

A separate issue that requires close attention is shepherd dogs. There are regulations that stipulate that there should be no more than two shepherd dogs per flock. They should not stray more than 200 meters from the flock they are guarding. But how well is compliance with these rules monitored? It is well known that shepherd dogs attack wild animals, especially young ones, and eat bird clutches.

Often shepherds also illegally hunt wild animals – they engage in poaching. It is quite difficult to control this, since, as a rule, cattle grazing occurs in remote and often hard-to-reach places.

Predator attacks on livestock

In recent years, we have heard more and more about attacks by wild predators on livestock. This is directly related to the increase in the number of livestock and the expansion of the areas on which they graze.

The increase in the number of livestock on natural pastures leads to competition with wild animals, a decrease in the population and a change in the habitats of the latter. In addition, local residents collect the entire harvest of wild fruit trees, which, for example, bears feed on: apples, nuts, hawthorn. As a result, predators more often attack livestock, which, among other things, is easier to obtain than wild animals.

And then we hear calls for the destruction of wild predators, including bears and wolves. But aren’t we to blame for reducing the numbers of wild, natural prey for predators by replacing them in ecosystems with livestock?

The impact of overgrazing on the hydrological regime of mountain sais and rivers

Degradation of vegetation or its complete destruction due to grazing affects the hydrological regime of mountain sais and rivers. Vegetation contributes to the accumulation of moisture in the soil during precipitation, and their root system strengthens the soil.

If there is no vegetation or it is degraded, then water flows during precipitation go down the slopes, carrying the soil with them. This is one of the important reasons for the occurrence of mudflows, landslides and the formation of gullies. In addition, mudflows and landslides cause significant economic damage, damaging roads, bridges, infrastructure facilities, houses.

Consequences of the flood in the Farish district of the Jizzakh region.

Thanks to the fact that the media has become more open recently, we hear about mudflows, landslides, floods, for example, in the Jizzakh and Samarkand regions.

But it is important to find out the reasons for the occurrence of such phenomena. To investigate whether their number has increased, whether the geography has changed, whether these phenomena are related to overgrazing of cattle? Perhaps it is more economically profitable to reduce the number of grazing cattle in such areas?

Another important point regarding animal grazing is their watering places. In mountainous areas, animals use natural springs. When 200-300 animals are driven to the sai every day, the herd compacts the soil, which ultimately leads to the drying up of the watering place. In addition, the animals pollute the source itself.

Change in herd structure

Overgrazing causes vegetation degradation and pasture productivity to fall. As a result, the structure of the grazing animal population changes – goats gradually replace sheep.

Goats are less picky about food and can even eat the root system of plants, branches and leaves of trees and bushes. They can penetrate hard-to-reach areas, such as rocky massifs and areas with scree, steep slopes. This further intensifies the degradation processes of pastures.

In my opinion, the ratio of sheep to goats in a herd can be used to judge how degraded the pastures are: the more goats in the herd, the more degraded the vegetation.

Fair distribution of natural resources and benefits from their use

Pastures are an important natural resource. If used skillfully, they can regenerate themselves. People have used pastures since ancient times, knew how to preserve them, and were able to do it. They understood that careful treatment of the land, including pastures, is the source of their well-being.

Photo: Dilrukh Isomiddinova.

But today the situation is changing. As before, the mountain dwellers graze their cattle in the areas adjacent to their villages. But cattle is driven to these same areas from other areas, where, for example, there are no summer pastures or they have degraded. The visiting shepherds are in no way interested in preserving the pastures – they need to graze the cattle this year to make a profit. They are unlikely to return to this territory next year.

This is how contradictions arise between the visiting shepherds and the locals, and the latter lose all motivation to preserve the pastures. The locals no longer see the point in caring for the pastures that will be used by foreign cattle. In general, this situation creates a consumerist attitude towards nature in society.

Why can’t cattle grazing be banned?

We are not talking about a complete ban on grazing – this is impossible and irrational. We are discussing how to make grazing sustainable, and pastures retain their productivity over a long period of time, so that grazing does not harm natural ecosystems, including their inhabitants.

There is nothing good in completely abandoning grazing either. In some cases, livestock can perform the functions of wild ungulates. Where there are no ungulates, livestock eat vegetation with little grazing and thus maintain the balance of nature. In addition, livestock participate in the reproduction of plants, carrying seeds from pasture to pasture.

All the problems associated with overgrazing and pasture degradation indicate that it is necessary to reconsider the current practice of using natural pastures and start managing them properly.

How to manage pastures?

In agriculture, there are grazing standards. They mostly apply to flat pastures. Pastures should be grazed by such a number of animals that do not harm the ecosystem. To do this, the productivity of specific pastures is determined. This is not easy to do for large areas, but thanks to space and digital technologies, it is much easier than 40-50 years ago.

After determining the productivity of pastures, specialists calculate the number of animals that can graze on a certain area. In addition, it is necessary to monitor pastures, that is, to assess their condition from year to year. If productivity decreases, appropriate measures must be taken, for example, prohibiting grazing or reducing the number of grazing animals.

In general, the use of modern information technologies allows us to assess the condition of pastures and the degree of their degradation and make appropriate management decisions, develop strategies and plans for pasture management. At the same time, a system of control over the use of pastures must be in place so that animal grazing standards are observed and flocks graze in areas allocated to them.

In addition to space images, unmanned aerial vehicles can be used to assess pastures and monitor animal grazing. They can not only assess the state of landscapes, but also record non-compliance with pasture use rules and other violations of environmental legislation.

Restoration of pastures

In previous years, a number of organizations were responsible for assessing the condition of pastures and their development. Among them was, for example, the Melioration and Pasture Association, whose tasks included increasing the productivity of pastures, introducing forage crops to depleted pastures, and providing them with water.

Unfortunately, such work is currently extremely limited. Restoring pastures is a labor-intensive and long-term process. They can be restored naturally by sowing wild plants that used to grow there — that is, trying to restore the ecosystem. At the same time, grazing should be excluded from these areas.

Photo: Jamshid Norkobilov / UzA.

Another way is to sow highly productive forage plant species in areas that can be used as pastures in the future. And the third way is to create forage plantations that can be harvested and used as livestock feed. In any case, degraded pastures must be restored.

Meat demand and supply

As long as we have demand for meat, the number of livestock will grow – this is the law of the market. But there are mechanisms that can restrain the growth of livestock. For example, a progressive tax depending on the number of animals kept by one owner.

Rational use of pastures can be facilitated by differential payment for the use of pastures. The more productive the pastures, the higher the payment should be collected from the owner of the animals. After all, on productive pastures, animals gain weight faster, which means that a person receives more profit.

The press service of the Ministry of Agriculture told Gazeta.uz that to date, livestock owners have not paid for the use of pastures. However, given the current situation, the ministry, together with specialists from Spain, Portugal, Japan and the United States, is developing an action plan to restore pastures.

These measures can also lead to more efficient livestock farming, where it will be more profitable to keep fewer, more productive, purebred animals that are suited to a particular region.

Before changing the current pasture use order, the current situation needs to be studied in depth from various points of view. It should be studied by biologists, ecologists, pasture specialists, economists and lawyers. Thanks to the joint work of these specialists, it will be possible to develop scientifically based, balanced decisions and realistic, sustainable economic mechanisms in the long term.

The issue of rational, sustainable use of pastures is the issue of the country’s future and its food security. Humanity has long been using the resources of its descendants. Will we leave anything to our children?

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