NUMEROUS BENEFITS FOR THE ARAL SEA

On November 10, 2022, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan, together with the United Nations Development Program, held the first presentation of the project “Conservation and sustainable management of land resources and special important ecosystems in the Aral Sea for multiple benefits.”

The meeting was attended by the Director of the UNDP Program Department in Turkmenistan, The Deputy Head of the Department of International Environmental Cooperation and Project Coordination of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan, regional experts and ecologists of the State Committee on Water Management of Turkmenistan.

The videoconference was attended by Ms. Monica Moldovan, regional technical specialist on biodiversity and ecosystems of the UNDP Istanbul Regional Center, Babageldi Kurbanov, head of production practice at the Turkmen Agricultural Institute, and teachers from the department of Melioration of Agriculture of our institute.

The kick-off meeting formally announced the start of the project and outlined its goals and objectives, and the final results.

They are: • industrial landscape, integrated land use planning taking into account the conservation of key biodiversity habitats, which ensures the protection of important ecosystems within the geographical scope of the project in Dashoguz and Lebap velayats;

Provide targeted support to increase the number of land users and eliminate factors influencing the decline in biodiversity, habitat and global significance, as well as for the improvement of the Kaplanghir and Amu-derya state reserves in the project areas.

Strengthen national capacity and implement regional cooperation to improve management and restoration of land and water resources in the Aral Sea basin.

Evaluation and proper monitoring of project results.

In addition, the formation of the Board of Directors and its functions was discussed with the participants. They considered a number of necessary tasks aimed at improving the environmental, water-economic and socio-economic condition of the Aral Sea basin.

Project manager Gozel Atamuradova spoke about the history of the Aral Sea crisis and gave a brief description of the project its national programs and strategies on the topic “Conservation and sustainable management of land resources and ecosystems of high natural value in the Aral Sea basin.”

Then Ms. Monica Moldovan advised how to actualize the project. Water analyst of the project Gurbanmyrat Ovezmyradov noted that they consider activities within the project as a way to implement regional projects and programs with partners and are ready to develop cooperation in this area in the future.

During the meeting were discussed the program and schedule of the project until 2026. The project solution was reviewed and approved at the consultation on the project “Conservation and sustainable management of land resources and special important ecosystems in the Aral Sea for multiple benefits”