Regular readers will have noticed that I did not post a feature last week. In fact I was in southern Kyrgyzstan visiting the beautiful and remote walnut fruit forests that nestle in the Fergana Valley, among the south-western Tian Shan.
In 1997 I spent three and a half weeks in Kyrgyzstan, which is one of the most mountainous countries in the world. In places it has very high biodiversity and yet is devastatingly desolate in others. Fourteen years ago I was collecting walnut seeds as part of a scientific expedition (read more).
This time I was invited back to this fascinating country to give a presentation at an International Conference discussing the future of the walnut fruit forests. Both meeting and travel were inspiring and I have much to write and share. For now, here is a short slideshow highlighting some of my favourite photographs from the trip:
Gabriel Hemery
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial- NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.
Dear Gabriel
I have enjoyed your great slideshow today again. Its a very good way to forget my administration tasks (especially accounting tasks of the conference) for some minutes. Thank you and all the best Maik
Hi Maik and thanks for the kind comments. Are you in Kyrgyzstan still?
Gabriel
What an impressive slideshow, Gabriel! You’ve captured the sweeping landscapes and everyday life of the people in Kyrgyzstan very well!
All the best, Trish
Thanks Tricia. I’ve also enjoyed perusing your colourful and fascinating website.
Gabriel
This lively report calls back in my memory visions of walnut” forest trees bordering some of the Marocco high Atlas villages I used to go when living there.. noticing that most of this plant species was threatened in this area by a mysterious disease petrified in their bare foliage as if part of a still life painting…a sad view in such preserved nature….
Merci Frédérique