Twenty years ago, when a Dutch cyclist named Rik Idema first passed through Mongolia on a round-the-world biking trip, the country struck him as the most pristine place he'd ever seen. Captivated by the steppe’s stark beauty, Idema later returned to explore the country with a Mongolian friend, Tseren Enebish. They started Tseren Tours together in 1994 and eventually married.
They may not appreciate it, but the host of wild animals who have shared encounters with Russian President-elect Vladimir Putin over the course of his political career enjoy a certain kind of celebrity.
There's Mongol the endangered snow leopard, who "frolicked" with Putin last year shortly after being rescued from poachers. He's now an official mascot of the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
At the northern edge of the vast Karachaganak gas condensate field sits a small village named Berezovka. Since 2002, residents have sought to be relocated, claiming that emissions from the field’s operations pose a health hazard.
Two new studies say that Kumtor, Kyrgyzstan’s largest gold mine, as well as a major government revenue source, routinely ignores national environmental legislation and restricts access to independent auditors. The mine’s operations could have a far-reaching, detrimental effect on Central Asia’s water supply, one of the reports suggests.
While hard economic times in Kyrgyzstan may prompt feelings of nostalgia among some for the Soviet era, few days pass in the remote mountain village of Orto Talaa when many residents don’t curse the calamity that was Communist central planning.
“These hills used to be covered with trees in Soviet times,” says Umedjon Baburforov, gesturing to the bare slopes around his village of Yanchob, near Dushanbe. “Now there are none.”
Under Soviet forestry regulations, if a goat wandered into the walnut grove, standard practice was to shoot it. “Goats will eat anything,” says Hayat Tarikov, raising his arms into shooting posture. Tarikov used to work as a forest ranger in Arslanbob, at a time when the walnut forest was protected and its usage regulated under Soviet central planning.
