Kyrgyzstan — Environmental groups are aiming to rescue Kyrgyzstan's vast forests of fruits and nuts from the perils of overharvesting and climate change by improving the lives of the people who live and labor among the trees.
"Our fruit and nut forests cover [1.56 million acres] with more than 300 different species of tree," says Kaiyrkul Shalpykov of the National Academy of Sciences in Bishkek. "But the increasing numbers of people living in the forest and the economic situation in the country, as well as climate change, all impact the forests."
