Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, June 7
By Huseyn Hasanov - Trend:
The State Committee for environmental protection and land resources of Turkmenistan held an international conference in Ashgabat dedicated to the World Environment Day, the Turkmen Foreign Ministry said.
During the event, reports were made on the cooperation of Turkmenistan with international organizations in the framework of joint projects, in particular, in the field of biodiversity, climate change, conservation and management of water resources, development of a network of specially protected areas in the country, and the creation of artificial islands near the Caspian Sea coast.
The forum was attended by representatives of the UN, EU, OSCE, the Executive Committee of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS), the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), the UK Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research.
Turkmenistan has recently implemented a project to create an artificial island in the Caspian Sea Bay, which is already registered in the Guinness book of records as "the largest island below sea level" - an artificial bird island built during the construction of the international port in the city of Turkmenbashi in order to protect the ornithofauna. The island of 170 hectares has become a habitat, nesting and wintering of flamingos, swans, geese, ducks, herons, pelicans and other species of birds.
The island has the shape of a crescent with the concave side facing the city embankment. Its perimeter is 7 kilometers, the height of the sides from the water surface is 4-5 meters, and its area is 160 hectares, or 1 million 600,000 square meters. According to experts, a city of significant size can fit the space in this area. In the future, when the island will organically fit into the Turkmenbashi Bay as part of the natural environment, it is planned to use it as an original object of ecological tourism.