‘The Caspian Sea is shrinking. It is visible with the naked eye’

Aktau, Kazakhstan – During his childhood, Adilbek Kozybakov’s parent ever kept a jar of sturgeon caviar successful the fridge.

Each day, she would spoon it connected tiny pieces of breadstuff and food for him and his siblings. Caviar would support them successful bully health, she believed.

Kozybakov did not similar it.

It was salty and “smelled similar the sea”, said Kozybakov, an ecologist, present 51.

He grew up successful Aktau, a metropolis successful occidental Kazakhstan connected the shores of the Caspian Sea.

But now, much than 40 years later, helium looks backmost astatine this household ritual with nostalgia. Today, determination is nary much earthy caviar near successful Aktau’s shops. Sturgeons are an endangered taxon owed to overfishing and the degradation of their habitat. And soon, the oversea mightiness beryllium gone, too.

Adilbek Kozybakov, an ecologist and biology activist, fears for the destiny of the Caspian Sea [Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska]

According to a study published successful Nature mag successful April, the Caspian Sea level is apt to diminution by up to 18 metres (59 feet) and could suffer up to 34 percent of its aboveground by the extremity of the century.

Water diminution of adjacent 5 to 10 metres whitethorn disrupt cardinal ecosystems successful the area, including habitats for endemic Caspian seals and sturgeon, the survey says.

For residents similar Kozybakov, who is simply a subordinate of a civilian advisory assemblage connected the situation astatine the Ministry of Ecology, this has been wide for years.

“We don’t person to behaviour immoderate studies to cognize that the oversea is shrinking. It is disposable with the bare eye,” Kozybakov told Al Jazeera.

Located betwixt Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Azerbaijan, the Caspian Sea is the world’s largest landlocked assemblage of water, portion of the “Middle Corridor” – the fastest way from China to Europe bypassing Russia, and a large root of lipid and gas.

Many fearfulness that the Caspian Sea whitethorn stock the destiny of the adjacent Aral Sea, located betwixt Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, which began to shrink successful the 1960s arsenic the rivers supplying it were extensively utilized by the Soviets to irrigate fabric fields.

Currently, the oversea occupies lone 10 percent of its archetypal surface, and its diminution has had a tremendous effect connected the section ecosystem and people’s health.

As successful the lawsuit of the Aral Sea, the Caspian’s woes are not been driven lone by clime change.

‘Polluted by lipid companies’

The Volga, Europe’s largest and longest stream located successful Russia, has been the root of 80 to 85 percent of the Caspian water.

According to experts, Russia’s h2o absorption has affected the sea.

“Over the years, Russia has built a batch of dams and h2o reservoirs connected the Volga and has utilized its h2o for agriculture and industry. As a result, overmuch little h2o has been flowing into the Caspian Sea,” Kozybakov told Al Jazeera.

“A 100 years ago, the sturgeon would unrecorded for galore decades, and nary 1 would interaction it. It grew to immense sizes which we tin spot astatine humanities photos. Today, the colonisation of sturgeon has been destroyed by poachers and its situation polluted by lipid companies.”

Kazakhstan’s 3 large lipid fields, discovered successful Soviet times, are operated by overseas companies.

In February this year, Vadim Ni, an biology lawyer from Kazakhstan down a run to “Save the Caspian Sea” decided to writer his ain government.

He argues that the state’s contracts signed with the multinational lipid and state companies person been kept secret, which makes it intolerable to find their existent interaction connected the situation astir the Caspian Sea.

In the 1990s, Kazakhstan was recently independent, emerging aft the illness of the Soviet Union. When it became wide that its lipid and state reserves could beryllium extracted and transported to different countries, ample vigor companies and their lawyers flocked to the state to unafraid deals.

They negotiated their contracts with the Kazakh authorities to beryllium taxable to planetary backstage law, ensuring details of the deals remained confidential. As a result, successful lawsuit of struggle betwixt the signatories, planetary arbitration courts would request to resoluteness disputes.

Ni said that this is unjust and against planetary law, arsenic per the Aarhus Convention, which ensures unfastened entree to biology information.

“Oil companies bash not privation to trim their revenues and summation their liability and work for the environment. While they often behaviour biology probe to show owed diligence, determination is simply a crushed to question the objectivity and reliability of these results, fixed their vested interests,” said Ni.

“In addition, we are discussing vigor modulation and German investments successful hydrogen vigor connected the Caspian. But it volition beryllium greenish vigor for Europe, not for us. Hydrogen requires immense magnitude of energy produced by renewables and we volition person to woody with the discarded and h2o pollution,” helium told Al Jazeera.

The tribunal has not admitted the case, claiming that determination are nary grounds to motorboat a lawsuit. But Ni said if his entreaty fails, helium volition prosecute the lawsuit nether the planetary ineligible system.

Meanwhile, the combat to prevention the Caspian Sea has already begun.

In Aktau, Kozybakov works with the section administration, residents and civilian nine groups, portion raising the alarm astatine the nationalist level by joining biology initiatives.

“We privation to rise these issues from the bottommost to amusement the authorities that radical are concerned,” said Kozybakov. “Not lone ecologists but besides mean citizens, residents of Aktau who grew up present and who are disquieted astir the aboriginal of their children and grandchildren.”