EcoPark

The EcoPark Project focuses on protection of an area in Bishkek’s famous Elm Grove. The Elm Groove, one of Central Asia’s biggest and oldest urban forests, was established over a century ago, but has since shrunk in size due to the expansion of the city’s territory, as well as illegal cutting of trees. To date, the EcoPark project has protected about 10,000 trees – and that’s just one of the many amazing things it does.

The Project was created with the joint work of AUCA, the Town Hall of Bishkek and French-Kyrgyz Association of Ecotourism (AFKE).

Apart from saving trees from cutting, the EcoPark project actively promotes the park’s usage for public recreation: the park is equipped with benches and other utilities to make your stay as comfortable as possible. Moreover, the park is protected with the help of 24/7 surveillance cameras.

The park is being cleaned regularly from garbage left by previous and current visitors; in the past years, activists removed 200 tons (tons, Carl!) of garbage from its territory.

In order to aid restoration of the park’s flora, the initiative plants trees; over the years, students of AUCA and TSI, as well as compassionate volunteers, have planted 1600 trees.

Like any green area, EcoPark is much more than a static collection of trees – thanks to environmental protection, the park is now a home for various species of wild animals: from pheasants and owls to turtles. Woodpeckers, which have not been seen here for a long time, have also recently returned to the park.

The significance of EcoPark is crystal-clear in wake of an ever-increasing number of environmental problems, such as air pollution and climate change. Since urban trees help tackle greenhouse emission and can decrease the temperature of air, it is important to implement projects like EcoPark in more areas around Bishkek.