CAIER FOUNDER ASELLE TASMAGAMBETOVA PROPOSES THE DEVELOPMENT OF A TARGETED TRANSNATIONAL POLICY
At the end of February, one of the biggest foreign excursions in the Caspian Sea was arranged by the Center for Research and Recovery of the Caspian Seal, led by its creator Aselle Tasmagambatova and the Norway Institute for Bioeconomic Research.
The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia, a collaborator of the Tasmagambetova Institute since 2022, also provided funding to the scholars.
Experts from the United States, Norway, Great Britain, France, Saudi Arabia, and Kazakhstan embarked on a trip to gather as much information as they could on the Caspian seal, a vulnerable type of animal mentioned in the Red Book.
These creatures are seriously threatened by pollution, unlawful shooting, global warming, illness, and other factors.
"Only on the ice do Caspian seals reproduce, give birth, nurse, and educate their pups. Aselle Tasmagambetova, the creator of CAIER, describes the worries of environmentalists: "Global warming, including in conjunction with the already recorded decline in water levels, will have a severe effect on the most important home for seals. The scientists expect to collect crucial data about how seals adapt to climate shifts through the use of specialized instruments supplied by collaborators in Saudi Arabia for the trip. "This is very significant. According to our calculations, the environment of the seal species has been poisoned by oil, industrial and heavy metals, farming chemicals, nuclear waste, sewerage, and domestic refuse, and up to 70% of the species' females may presently be unable to breed. In the future, the creatures might have to look for new homes, according to Tasmagambetova. The environmentalist claims that since the Aktau, Kazakhstan, seal recovery facility opened its doors two years ago, about 70 seals have been healed. According to Tasmagambetova, "About half of them were captured by illicit networks, so this is another significant issue that needs to be handled."
Dr. Tommy Nyman, a researcher at the NIBIO Svanhovd Genetic Center who joined the trip, observes that there are some parallels between the conditions of seals in the Caspian Sea and those found in Finland's Lake Saimaa. The Saimaa seal population, which went from 150 individuals in the 1980s to just over 400 individuals currently, is slowly growing while the Caspian seal population is decreasing. Most likely, this is because of new regulations goveing fishing nets, claims Norway activist Tasmagambetova.
Scientists will have to examine a sizable quantity of data gathered as a result of the trip regarding both the environment of the Caspian Sea's creatures and the illnesses and pathogens that animals are vulnerable to. But it is already obvious that all of the Caspian region's nations must come to an understanding in order for everyone to work toward protecting the Caspian Sea's ecosystem and aquatic life.
The Institute for Research and Restoration of the Caspian Seal in particular is prepared to assume an organizing role to save vulnerable species.
According to Aselel Tasmagambetova, the goal of such trips is to "create a focused inteational strategy within the scope of the Tehran Agreement geared at correcting the present drop in the seal population."