Kazakh mountain green campaigners start winning

The first court victory of Kok-Zhailyau Defenders

Green campaigners had vowed to fight on in Kazakhstan even after a recent court setback – now they have fought their case in court again and won an interim victory.

Their cause – Kok-Zhailyau -rising gently to flat meadows right above the center of Almaty, concealed from the city by a small, soft ridge, to the south of Almaty city, is one of the most accessible and favorite places of Almaty citizens and guests.

The judge listened both parties and arrived to the following judgment: the court decision of  Medeu District Court is to be annulled and returned to the new trial.

The public hearings were organized by the Tourism Department of Almaty and Centre for Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Systems "Terra". The representatives of community as participants of public hearings strongly believe that there were number of infringements of current legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan while carrying the hearings and formalizing the minutes.

But, despite the public protests and in violation of national and international legislation, the municipal officials of Almaty continue lobbying the ski resort project on the territory of the national park and claim that will commence the construction in the summer of 2014. However, the community strongly intends to keep protecting the national park.

And if the government has its way, it could be a massive mass tourism ski resort including lifts with the capacity to accommodate 10 150 skiers at one time, and 77 prepared ski slopes with a defined total slope length of 63 kilometers.

The planners Ecosign Mountain Resort have formed a consortium and along with their sub-contractors Horwath, ARUP, Engineerisk, CaspiEcology and KPMG have designed a detailed master plan for a resort village at 2 200 meters elevation at the top of the Kok Zhailau Creek.

The village would include 3 956 beds which are intended to be publicly available for rental to visiting guests and another 1 212 hot beds in the apartment zone directly below the village. The Master Plan proposes a total 5 736 tourist beds.

Kok-Zhailyau Gorge belongs to Ile-Alatau State National Natural Park and at the moment hundreds of people come here with their families to stay for a few hours or for several days. For hundreds of years locals have enjoyed the place as a prized summer pasture – "zhailyau" in Kazakh. Currently, Kok-Zhailyau is the only place near Almaty that is off-limits for cars. The atmosphere of this place is apparently very special and warm – people who never met before greet each other and talk. The place has its own traditions.

The flora of Small Almaty Gorge is represented by 811 plant species, including 17 species listed in the Red Book of Kazakhstan, 11 endemic species. Malus sieversii, the wild apples that are sole ancestor of most cultivars of apples are found in the Gorge. The species are now considered vulnerable to extinction. The building of such a ski resort will cut down the trees inevitably.

The protesters argue that there is no necessity for yet another ski resort in Kazakhstan and that the area is extremely sensitive. They say that Almaty is already one of the world’s most polluted cities – the project will only increase the pollution. And they vow to fight on.

The public campaign in the defense of national park was supported by the European Ecoforum, Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union of Germany (NABU),  German Alpine Association (Deutscher Alpenverein e.V.), UNESCO World Heritage, Convention on Biological Diversity Secretariat, IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas and also many prominent individuals worldwide  including Reinhold Messner, the traveler, writer and one of the most famous alpinists, who was the first climbed all 14 ‘Eight thousands’

For more information follow the link http://www.greensalvation.org/en/

Valere Tjolle

Want to find out more about sustainable tourism? Special offers here: This week’s FREE Vision special sustainable tourism report offer HERE  Sustainable Tourism Masterclass London & Berlin HERE Tell your story to our massive green travel trade audience HERE