Eco-settlers have been living near Uralsk, West Kazakhstan region, for over 20 years. They named their location “Vedrukh”, a settlement of ancestral homes. The settlement has its rules: no smoking, no alcohol, and the main thing – to live in harmony with nature. The main task of eco-settlers is to plant as many trees as possible and pass their land plots, ancestral homes one hectare each, on to their descendants.
The “Vedrukh” settlement of ancestral homes is located 25 kilometres away from Uralsk in West Kazakhstan region. The area of the settlement is 150 hectares. Authorities of Kazakhstan leased this land in 2002 out to eco-settlers for 49 years. The land may not be sold, but may be passed on. Back then it was a barren steppe in the place of the current settlement.
Nearly a hundred of people were the first to come here. They divided the common plot by 1 hectare for every family, and there were 96 plots as a result. The idea pursued by the settlers is based on a series of books about a resident of Siberia, who thought that a person must live on the land in harmony with nature, continue one’s family in the ancestral home and pass it on to one’s descendants. All eco-settlers read these books and became interested in this idea.
“Idea is the main thing”
20 years have passed since then. Trees – from pines and cedars to lindens and oaks – have grown dozens of metres high in the plots of ancestral homes, where settlers continue to live. The management of “Vedrukh” has changed over this period. There were many rumours about residents of the settlement because of its privacy, but now the eco-settlement is open for both journalists and residents of nearby villages. The residents of ancestral homes warmly recall the names they used to be called previously: cult followers, Bedouins, and authorities came to check them, but failed to find anything illegal. Meanwhile, eco-settlers have planted trees, built houses from eco-friendly materials, mainly clay, and continued to cultivate their land.
“Now seventy of 96 land plots have owners. There are active and inactive owners, just like in any other group. We have over a half of active families, we always stay in touch with them. The inactive are those who either have moved to another town, or those whose family does not support our idea. We try to understand them, they may possibly get back later,” said Timur Makarov, head of “Vedrukh” settlement of ancestral homes.
According to him, 10 families live in the settlement on a regular basis, others work in town and come at weekends, or come for summer or holidays.
“We help those who want to move to our land: we are interested in having all of our owners in place so that we could solve various tasks and challenges,” Timur said. “If a person wants to join us, we will send him/her our internal rules and the contract. The contract will specify that 1 hectare of land shall be provided to the person for creation of an ancestral home and the number of the plot.”
According to the head of the settlement, a person should come to “Vedrukh” and meet with its residents, look around, read books where eco-settlers took the idea from, before moving to the eco-settlement. If he/she understands that he/she shares the views of the settlers and is ready to move, the general meeting would be convoked and residents of ancestral homes would decide whether to admit the person to the settlement or not. Afterwards, the newcomer would have to make a lump-sum payment of 180 thousand tenge (450 dollars) and pay 10 thousand tenge (22 dollars) per year for the common needs of “Vedrukh”.
But the main thing is that the person should share the idea of “Vedrukh” residents to live in harmony with nature: plant trees and obey their rules – no drinking alcohol, no smoking, no swearing, no conflicts. It should be noted that eco-settlers do not hunt, try not to use vehicles inside the settlement (only if necessary), and do not use chemicals when growing vegetables and small fruit.
Hedgerows instead fences
The head of “Vedrukh”, Timur Makarov, lives in his ancestral home from the very beginning. The key factor that affected his decision to move there is the opportunity to change the lifestyle. Timur was and is inspired by the idea of living in the countryside and doing what he likes to do – planting trees.
“Look at that oak (Makarov points at the oak that is several metres high in his plot – Author’s note). We have always dreamed of having it in our dacha, but it would not grow like this there. Or it would, but would shade a half of plants. And here we have an opportunity to plant such trees. We have pines, oaks, cedar, lindens, birches here. Most of the trees are on the red list of Kazakhstan,” Makarov said.
The ancestral home of Timur Makarov is enclosed with the hedgerow made of lofty pines, which are 15 or even 20 years old. All homes in “Vedrukh” are enclosed by hedgerows and there are no fences in it.
“Every tree transmits its energy to both a person and the area around. My mom planted this oak, and this is her plot and her home. She passed away in 2005, and this oak is a living memory of her. Our trees are cult trees, but not because we worship them, but because we feel easy and comfortable when we approach them and this is the purpose of ancestral trees,” Timur Makarov said.
Settlers appreciate the opportunity to take care of the trees planted by their parents. “Our children will have an opportunity to take care of trees planted by us,” Timur said. “Every person must leave something of value behind. Now everyone tries to leave material goods behind: an apartment, a car, money. But those are perishable things, and we leave behind a living memory here.”
Timur met his spouse Saida in the settlement. They have a son, Radomir, and a daughter, Maria. Timur’s children, just like other children in the eco-settlement, go by a school bus to the nearby village of Makarovo.
“We have friendly relationships with the residents of nearby villages,” Timur said. “We ask milk, hay to cover young plants, manure from them. We exchange it for vegetables and small fruit as they know that everything is natural here because we don’t use chemicals. We cooperate with the school in the village of Makarovo. We have offered to plant a hedgerow around their place.”
Eco-settlers are not separated from the blessings of civilisation. They have domestic appliances at homes, they watch TV, they use internet.
“Stalin was scared of people living in harmony with nature”
Another resident of the settlement, 63-year-old Sabilia Nygmetova lives in the settlement from the very beginning, when eco-settlers lived in tents and dugouts. A good house was built on her plot a long time ago, and she calls the “Vedrukh” settlement a ‘garden city’.
“Relatives used to come over here and when they saw small trees and my dugout, they wondered why we moved here. And now they come and smell the fresh scent [of plants], and we don’t need any “Borovoye” (a resort in Kazakhstan – Author’s note),” said the woman.
Sabilia Nygmetova was a school principal. According to her, they are different from ordinary village residents by their way of thinking.
“We are the garden city. We plant 80 per cent of forest and 20 per cent of fruit and berry crops, vegetables and fruit. We understand that trees accumulate energy needed by humans, that we should give to the ground instead of taking from it. The main source of life is the right attitude towards the ground and humans must not break away from it,” Sabilia Nygmetova said.
According to her, people living on the ground and in harmony with nature will always live in prosperity.
“Why did Stalin begin dekulakization after a trip across Siberian villages in the 1930s? Because he saw that rich people lived there – land owners, masters of their lives. They did not depend on authorities and knew how to live in harmony with nature. He saw they had fresh, natural products on their tables, and he was scared of this layer of society and launched dekulakization,” the woman said.
According to Sabilia Nygmetova, she got used to life in her ancestral home and she will not be able to live in the city with constant noise and smog.
“Someone has to continue this significant and good deed”
Amangeldy Kanzaliev is 66 years old. Like Timur and Sabilia, he lives in the settlement from the very beginning. Now he has a swimming pool, a slide, a bath house, and trees several metres high, which he admires every morning.
“When we came here, we had nothing but red spots on arms and feet and the spirit of romanticism. We were dreamers and were scared of nothing: we had a purpose,” Amangeldy Kanzaliev said. “And every morning I sit in front of the window and look at the forest that is few metres away from me. Once I picked 8 dishes (containers – Author’s note) of mushrooms after the rain, I simply went out and picked up mushrooms, while in cities people have to drive many kilometres away.”
Amangeldy has three grandchildren, and he already speaks to them about who will receive the ancestry home.
“I tell to my older grandson, ‘When time comes, I will have to give this home to somebody. If you want to, I can give it to you because someone has to continue a good and significant deed.’ I do not force him up, but I have made my offer to him,” Kanzaliev said.
“Family must be the basis of the ancestry home”
Unlike those settlers who live in the settlement since its foundation, Aleksandr Kablov took the land plot only in 2017. The man is 40 years old, he is a shift worker, and when he has a rest, he lives on his land plot. Aleksandr relates his choice to signs from the above.
“About six years ago I worked with a mate, who read the books, which are now followed by the residents of “Vedrukh”. He retold the books to me and I became interested in them and read all of them at once. Afterwards, I came to realise them and I started to think where to build an ancestral home,” Aleksandr said.
The man even wanted to buy several summer cottages to build an ancestral home there, but he failed: either cottages were abandoned, or nearby farms had animals that could destroy all plants on his land plot.
Aleksandr did not think about taking a land plot in “Vedrukh” then because his mate came here and told him it “resembled a sect.” However, in 2017, when the administration changed in the settlement, the man came here to choose a plot.
“I was walking through the settlement. And I saw a trailer home and a dog who was running right at me. I saw that very trailer home and the dog before, when I was looking for the plot, where I wanted to create the ancestral home, but it was in a different place. The dog approached me and began to bark at some land plot. I think it was a sign. There’s a belief, ‘If a horse drinks water, the water is clean, if a snake is basking, it’s a good spot for building a house.’ Thereafter, I chose the plot number 40, at which the dog was barking,” Aleksandr said.
A hedgerow of 2-metre-high pines has grown around Aleksandr’s plot for seven years. So far, the man lives in the dugout, but is going to build a house soon.
…According to residents of “Vedrukh” settlement, such settlements are located in Almaty, Kostanai and Pavlodar of Kazakhstan. There are nearly 10 thousand such settlements in the world.
All photos by: Talgat Umarov