Memory of the World; 2012 - unesdoc - Unesco

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Aral Sea archival fonds
Inscribed 2011
What is it
The documents provide a unique record of the tragedy
of the Aral Sea, of how it came to shrink to 10 percent of its
size in the 1960s and the attempts to fight this.
Why was it inscribed
The archives document one of the biggest
man-made ecological disasters with both local and
international consequences.
Where is it
The Central State Archive of Kazakhstan,
Almaty, Kazakhstan
The Aral Sea catastrophe has created ecological, social
and economic crises not only for the Aral basin and
the territories adjacent to it but also to areas beyond
Kazakhstan. Up to 1960 the level of the Aral Sea had
remained historically almost constant. Thereafter it shrank
rapidly as a result of the intensive use of the Amu-Darya
and Syr-Darya rivers that drain into the Aral Sea for
irrigation of the vast areas of former desert for cotton and
rice cultivation. The scale of irrigation was determined
by the availability of land, the technical ability to deliver
water from the source of irrigation, the economic viability
of the irrigated land and the production capacity of the
organizations engaged in water supply. However, as a
result of the irrigation, the water balance of the Aral Sea
changed, which led to the lowering of the sea level and
a reduction in its area. In addition, poor design of the
irrigation systems led to the flooding of some fields and
the silting and salting of vast areas that could no longer
be used for cultivation, forcing rice and cotton growers to
cultivate more land and to use more fertilizer and more
water to meet central plans for their crops.
These changes, in turn, led to the climatic changes in the
region, with the winters becoming colder and the summers
drier and hotter, and the appearance of the salt wind
storms. This, in turn, caused the disappearance of local
flora and fauna, the ending of the Aral Sea fishing industry
(previously the major provider of food in the region), the
deteriorating health of the local people from poor water
quality and salt and dust in the atmosphere, and major
530 Aral Sea archival fonds
social and economic dislocation caused by loss of jobs,
emigration from the area and isolation of settlements
once linked by the Aral Sea.
The archives contain documents mainly from the 1970s
and 1980s that reflect the causes and consequences
of the Aral tragedy, the attempts to save the Aral Sea
and the activities undertaken to attempt to reverse the
ecological disaster and its consequences in the region.
They come from a number of Kazakh Soviet socialist
republic ministries, prior to Kazakhstan’s independence
from the USSR in 1991. The documentary heritage
characterizes the strengths and weaknesses of the socialist
system in managing the use of natural resources. The
available documents are the sole source for international
research and for implementing activities dedicated to the
revival of the ecological, social and economic prospects
of the region.
An abandoned boat at the former Uzbek
fishing village of Moynaq, now 18 km
from the shore of the Aral Sea. �