Aral Sea:
Aral Sea desert expedition
31st August 2021
Klere is delighted to be sponsoring celebrated polar and arid region explorer Rosie Stancer, on her 600km trans-Aral Desert walk. Accompanied by Pom Oliver, she set out on 21st August with the aim of drawing attention to the environmental disaster of the Aral Sea – formerly the fourth largest lake in the world but which has shrunk since the 1960’s (photo a) to just 10% of its former size (photo f), caused by the diversion of feed rivers for cotton irrigation. This has created the world’s newest desert, the Aral Kum. The Aral Sea is considered one of the world’s most significant human-caused environmental and social disasters, resulting in pollution, reduced water access and a loss of livelihoods for millions who depended on the lake for their basic survival.
This is a cause of particular interest to Klere. We are looking to support environmental restoration projects in the Aral region, in particular planting saxaul tree seedlings, a hardy cold desert tree that is drought and salt tolerant. The projects will help to slow climate change: tree cover increases atmospheric moisture, and saxaul has a particularly extensive root system which reduces wind erosion, improves soil carbon and biodiversity gain.
For more information on how Klere are supporting the environmental damage to the Aral Sea, please get in touch.
