00:00Once a vital point along the ancient Silk Road, the Caspian Sea is now home to several major seaports.
00:09It remains one of Kazakhstan's greatest natural treasures and a grown environmental concern.
00:14Welcome to Kazakhstan. Welcome to Modern Nomads.
00:18We are beginning this episode in the Mangastao region, where the land meets the Caspian Sea.
00:31Over the past two decades, the sea level has dropped by more than two meters.
00:36How long is this distance?
00:44Well, it's about 300-400 meters. It's like this.
00:51With few other job opportunities, the town of Fort Shevchenko and nearby villages rely heavily on fishing.
00:58But as the water recedes, this vital source of livelihood is under threat.
01:03We are going to the sea. We are going to the sea. There's a sea where there's 50 kilometers.
01:08There's no fish in the sea. There's no fish in the sea.
01:11It's not just livelihoods that are vanishing.
01:17The crisis reshapes the entire ecosystem.
01:20The Caspian Sea, the only mammal native to this region and found nowhere else on Earth,
01:26has seen its population drop by 90% over the past century.
01:30Along just one kilometer of this shoreline, we counted nearly 60 dead seals.
01:35Each time the western wind blows in from the sea, it brings bodies to the land.
01:40For ecologists, the Caspian Sea is a key indicator of the sea's overall health.
01:46But as water levels continue to retreat, its habitat is disappearing.
01:53As we head down the Caspian coastline to the regional hub of Aktau, the scenery becomes less bleak.
01:59But despite the vibrant atmosphere, the signs of the shrinking sea are clear.
02:04We visit the regional hydrometeorological service to find out just how serious the situation is.
02:10The Caspian Sea, shared by five coastal countries, Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan,
02:37has experienced major fluctuations in sea level.
02:41In 1977, it reached its lowest level in more than 120 years, minus 29.01 meters.
02:50After that, there was progress, but then sea level started falling again.
02:55Experts say this decline is reaching a critical point.
02:58The Volga river flows entirely through Russia, and with rising regional temperatures,
03:21experts say real cooperation and deeper research from all Caspian countries are urgently needed.
03:27For us, it is important that the cooperation of the Tegernan Convention began,
03:32especially based on the Tegernan Convention, which has been working for 20 years.
03:40But for this period, the implementation of the Tegernan Convention is meant to protect the Caspian environment,
03:47prevent pollution, and ensure a sustainable use of its resources.
03:51Kazakhstan is calling for stronger regional cooperation to turn those goals into action.
03:56As for the marine inhabitants, local NGOs are stepping in.
04:25The Central Asian Institute for Environmental Research, together with local and international scientists,
04:31carried out 10 field missions to study the Caspian seal and assess its health.
04:36Their findings help place the seal on the red list, a key step toward its protection.
04:42From its side, the government is launching the Caspian Sea Research Institute.
04:46The new center will focus on studying sea level decline, protecting the Caspian seal,
04:51and working with other coastal nations to preserve the region's unique ecosystem.
04:56The Second Division of thehal catch-welling corpor Nicole should have a new system.
05:00Hoping with COVID-19
05:05You can use permanent conditions of the increasing
05:08the supply-written system on the parlament that has really been able to observe the absence of its fairness
05:14while supporting them in the solutions.
05:20The Salam River College of Tegernan News
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