Bio-diversity

The greater part of Southeastern Kazakhstan is occupied by the arid and subarid landscapes particularly exposed to degradation through the anthropogenic pressure. A considerable disturbance of the biotic balance in ecosystems first of all affect the biodiversity of invertebrate animals; representing the most numerous component of the whole fauna (a total number of invertebrate species in region is more than 100,000 as compared with 835 vertebrate ones), they are an indicators of the biocenose welfare. One of the basic biocenose components are bees the main nucleus of which is represented in Kazakhstan by solitary ones having ancient pre-Palearctic and Palearctic origin. Among the total bee species (ca 600) 120 ones belonging to five families are endemics and subendemics of Kazakhstan and Middle Asia; in the Halictidae and Andrenidae families their percentage is 30% while in the Anthophoridae family ca 60-70%. Agricultural practices, road construction, and natural environmental changes are reducing the numbers of the ground-dwelling bees. As pollinators, these bees are very important components in local ecosystems, and also play a large role in the agriculture of southern Kazakhstan. The negative factors of anthropogenic pressure are especially disastrous owing to the total ecological ignorance of the local population and unproductive land use. An intensive weed control and a depletion of the flowering plants deprive the bees of their nutritive base. The irregular use of pesticides and absence of any invertebrate conservation arrangements result in the further apifauna degradation and undermine a genofund of the majority of bee species progressively becoming rare and dangerous ones. It is therefore necessary to take urgent measures on the conservation and restoration of these invertebrates, ecological education of the local population, a prospective field management propaganda favouring the wild bees preservation and their use as the agricultural pollinators. A primary Project objective is the achievement of stabilization of the degradation process of apifauna and the beginning of its quantitative and qualitative restoration by means of practical introducting the elaborated methods of wild bees enticement into the artificial nests allocated in the piedmont zone and in lower mountain belt of Trans-Ili Alatau combining with the possibilities of: (a), rendering assistance in the life-support and employment of the local communes (farmers, youth and gardeners` associations, etc.) and women by means of introduction the new ecological technology of agriculture productivity rise as well as the development of small ecological business; (b), practical involving of the local population in the solution of the biodiversity conservation problem.

Kazakhstan