Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Aug. 24
By Huseyn Hasanov– Trend:
Turkmenistan’s Turkmenbashi city hosted a working meeting of heads of environmental agencies of Central Asian countries in anticipation of the summit of heads of the founding states of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) on August 24, the Turkmen Foreign Ministry said in a message.
The event covered issues as part of the Interstate Commission on Sustainable Development (ICSD).
The participants considered issues on strengthening the institutional and legal framework for regional cooperation and sustainable development in the field of environmental protection.
Heads of environmental agencies of Central Asian countries reviewed the development of a regional program on environmental protection for the sustainable development of Central Asia, the message said.
Meanwhile, the 74th meeting of the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination (ICWC) of Central Asia was held in the Avaza tourist zone in Turkmenistan.
Heads of water management agencies of Central Asia - ICWC members discussed the implementation of limits and operating regimes of water reservoir cascades for the vegetation period of 2018 along the Sirdaryo and Amudaryo river basins, as well as the preparation of the program to assist the Aral Sea countries (Aral Sea Basin Program, ASBP-4).
The main objectives of this program include improving living conditions of the people in the Aral Sea basin, intensifying cooperation of the countries of Central Asia in solving environmental and socio-economic problems, rational use of water resources and adaptation to climate change.
As part of the meeting, a presentation of the Central Asian regional environmental center on the implementation of the Smart Waters Project in the region and the project’s interim results was held, the message said.
Established in the 1990s by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, IFAS aims to finance joint projects and programs to save the Aral Sea and improve the environmental situation in the Aral Sea region.
IFAS was granted an observer status in the UN General Assembly in December 2008. Ashgabat put forward earlier an initiative to develop a special UN program for the Aral Sea.