Kyrgyzstan's vast, ancient walnut forest

(8 Nov 2016) LEAD IN:
Walnuts were first introduced to Europe from Kyrgyzstan during the time of Alexander the Great.
At least, that's according to growers from Arslanbob - a vast, ancient walnut forest that produces 1,500 tones of walnuts a year.

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This is Arslanbob, a walnut forest, located about 700 kilometres (430 miles) South-West of the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek.
According to local legend, Alexander the Great took walnuts from this land to Greece more than two-thousand years ago.
Two-thousand hectares of the 13,000 hectare forest are taken up by walnut trees.
Residents pay the forestry to collect the walnuts and then sell them.
"According to the 492 Kyrgyz Republic's government decree we lend it to local residents," Batyrbek Umetov, chief forester of the Arslanbob forestry explains. "Lessees sign an agreement with us, they pay us money and use it."
Some of the trees here are 1,000 years old.
At 30 metres (98 feet) tall, they grow on the banks of rivers and on mountain hills at an altitude of 1,000-1,800 metres (3,280-5,905 feet) above sea level.
Bakytbk Ermekov, the head of territorial administration of the Jalal Abad State Environmental Protection Agency and Forestry, says the walnut trees are protected.
"There are the first relics, unique walnut forests on the territory, the walnut genetic pool is under conservation by the states of Dashman villages, Arslanbob and Kyzyl Unkur of Jalal Abad region."
Locals say the trees are part of their heritage and want visitors to preserve and respect the natural wealth of the forest.
Abdulla, a student from Turkey, says he came here especially to visit the forest.
"I came from Antalya to see this beautiful landscape, those walnut forests, those waterfalls which are in Arslanbob. Arslanbob has very interesting and beautiful history. Alexander the Great was here himself. He took walnut fruits from here," he says.
Locals say that Arslanbob is the largest and only natural walnut source in the world, producing some 1,500 tones of walnuts per year.
The walnut industry creates employment for thousands of people, with some employed to crack the nuts and others working to sort the nuts ready for packaging and selling.
Up to 10,000 people may be employed in the walnut kernel industry in high season, according to an estimate by the Program on Forests (ProFor) at the World Bank.
The Institute for Walnut and Fruit crops is currently working on developing types of walnuts that ripen faster.
Nuridin Zhunusov is the director of the institute for the Southern National Academy of Kyrgyz Sciences Department.
He explains the different types of walnuts discovered in the area.
"This walnut (in left hand) is a Kyrgyz Giant discovered by our co-worker Akim Nurlayevich, this is the shape of a walnut. And this 9 inch (in right hand) is the Kyrgyz Bombasy type, which was found earlier. The difference between them is only that the latest Giant is bigger than the Kyrgyz Bombasy," he says.
"Lately we bred them through the mother plant of the Kyrgyz Bombasy. Also, we mixed with other types of walnuts and got types that ripen quicker," he says.
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