Bishkek with a population of almost a million people is one of the ten cities in the world with the highest level of air pollution. Every year, with the onset of the winter season, the level of air pollution in the city increases dramatically.

The main causes of air pollution are gas emissions from transport, the use of low-quality fuel in settlements located near the capital, and fires at landfills.

Ecologists say that the atmosphere in Bishkek is even more polluted than the air in large industrial cities, which could create a dangerous situation.

There is also a search for ways to raise funds to improve the solid waste management system in Bishkek.

A member of the Green Alliance – MoveGreen, led by our colleague Maria Kolesnikova, is working to ensure that citizens are aware of the dangers of air pollution and that local authorities take action to change this situation.

Kolesnikova said that MoveGreen has prepared a mobile application called AQ.kg (Air Asia) for instant air quality monitoring in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan. Last December, she was awarded the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Champions of the Earth honorary award for her work on “monitoring air quality in Bishkek and the effects of fog on human health.”

Maria Kolesnikova is an environmental activist, youth rights advocate, and leader of MoveGreen, an organization that monitors and works to improve air quality in Central Asia. Under her leadership, MoveGreen developed the AQ.kg app, which collects data every twenty minutes on the concentration of pollutants in the air, including PM2.5, PM10, and nitrogen dioxide, in the two largest cities of Kyrgyzstan – Bishkek, and Osh.