Village Life
Kok Jar village lies in the Kochkor Valley at an altitude of just over 2000 m. It’s about 10 km west of the district centre, Kochkor and 120 km north of regional centre, Naryn. Just over 2,300 people live in the village and almost all are from the same tribal group. Tolok village is more remote. Located at around 2300 m above sea level and above 50 km south west of Kochkor, the village is home to 1460 people from 17 different tribal groups. Both villagers populated entirely by ethnic Kyrgyz families. The climate in the region is dry and cold in the winter, hot and dry in the summer. Keeping livestock is central to the local economy. Both villages are heavily dependent on access to summer pastures higher up the mountain valleys.
Kok Jar and Tolok
Access
The climate in the region has been changing over recent years. Overall there has been little generalised increase in the temperature but periodic warming and and cooling have occurred out of season. Winter temperatures in Son Kul can drop below -35C, but in recent years the region has experienced significantly warmer weather in February, cold snaps in spring and warmer autumn conditions. The worsening condition of the roads, in part because local administrative agencies have few resources to support an annual maintenance programme, along with climatic conditions, has created problems for the herders in the area.
Kashka Suu Spring Pastures: Tolok Valley. June 2008
Winter, Spring and Summer Pastures
The herder communities in rural Kyrgyzstan have long established traditions of migration from the “Kyshtoo” (winter pastures) located in and near the village, to the “Jazdoo” (spring pastures) further up the valley and on to the “Jailoo” (summer pastures) higher up in the mountains. Villages in the locality depend on having access to the Jailoo surrounding the Son Kul lake. The Son Kul Jailoo is located at an altitude of 3015 m above sea level and between October and March, it is normally be covered with a deep layer of snow.
Traditionally, herder families from the villages move the animals, mostly sheep, cattle, horses, and yaks, to summer pastures in early May. This can take up to three days depending on weather and road conditions. Initially the men move with the animals to be followed when the weather improves, by the rest of the family.
Migration to the summer pastures is cause for celebration as it marks the end of a long cold winter during which the animals often struggle to find enough to eat in dryer winter pastures. For the last few years changing climatic conditions and the poor condition of the local roads, have delayed migration to the summer pastures. This year, because it had been a particularly cold dry spring, the migration was delayed for almost a month. The snow on the high mountain passes had not melted and the grasses had not grown back in the summer pastures. Access to the summer pastures was delayed for almost a month and as a result the pastures in and around the village were overgrazed and depleted. According to local shepherds, the animals were emaciated and there were higher levels of disease amongst the flocks and herds.
Tolok Village Pastures
