Future Proposals & Ideas
Билимдүү көп, билген аз, күйүмдүү көп, күйгөн аз

1. Plastic Pollution 

In Bishkek, environmental practices such as reducing, reusing, and recycling (the 3Rs) were not widely established until a team of environmental activists from the American University launched a plastic recycling program on campus in the 2014-2015 academic year (The New Star). At that time, we were still students studying in the old building located in the city center, which interestingly was the first government house in the country.

Fast forward nearly a decade, and when I returned to the university in 2025, I was pleased to see that the program is still active. Back then, there were very few plastic separation bins and limited facilities for returning materials. Today, however, environmental activism in Bishkek has seen some improvements. Although some people still remember me as the individual who collected plastic, these challenges have become more pronounced in rural areas where I conduct my fieldwork. 

Organizations like Tazar KG and Move Green are making commendable progress, yet local communities require additional support to understand what they can do with the collected plastic. This need is particularly pressing in a country where corporate social responsibility is largely absent, especially among beverage companies.

I am eager to collaborate with aid agencies, development organizations, and companies to address these plastic-related issues in Kyrgyzstan. 

2. Inland Fisheries

Over the past years, I have conducted a comprehensive literature review on inland fisheries in Central Asia. However, this project has not yet been fully published due to time constraints and lack of support from donor organizations.  I hope to continue this work in the future, ideally in collaboration with both the academic community and development agencies or international partners such as Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Finish aid organizations, to address issues related to livelihoods and the sustainable use of natural resources such as in-land fisheries in Asia.  The draft in Kyrgyz language can be found here. 

3. Foraging Medicinal Plants

Anthropogenic and ecological changes in the Tien-Shan Mountains of Central Asia are receiving increasing attention, not only regarding wildlife conservation but also in revitalizing local knowledge of medicinal wild plants and animals. In the wake of global and institutional environmentalism in Central Asia, informal economies surrounding wildlife extraction, the collection of endemic plants as a livelihood strategy, and other forms of smuggling practices are often overlooked. Beyond the rise of increasingly international and institutionalized conservation and sustainability efforts in the country, this research aims to better understand the informal smuggling of wild endemic plants from the Naryn and Issyk-Kul provinces.  For more details, see here.