Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Sept. 10
By Huseyn Hasanov – Trend:
Turkmenistan participated in the ministerial meeting of the 14th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, which was held in New Delhi, India, Trend reports referring to the Turkmen Foreign Ministry.
More than 8,000 delegates from 160 countries attended the event. It was held under the motto "Investments in land: emerging opportunities".
The representative of Turkmenistan made a report on the country's achievements in combating desertification and land degradation. In particular, the initiative of Turkmenistan on the creation of the UN Special Program for the Aral Sea Basin was presented.
"While delivering the report, the efforts of Turkmenistan, as the chair country of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS), in improving the environmental and socio-economic situation in the Aral Sea basin, were emphasized," the Turkmen Foreign Ministry said.
The deserts cover 80 percent of the Turkmen territory. Turkmenistan was one of the first countries which ratified the UN Convention to Combat Desertification in 1996. A year later, the country launched the implementation of a national action plan, the main aspects of which are the rational use of pastures, the development of forestry, the improvement of irrigated land and applied research.
The country has accumulated unique experience in Central Asia in preventing land degradation and combating desertification, exploring local desert conditions after laying railways and roads, and developing environmental measures during their construction and operation.
The remote methods and geographic information system (GIS) technologies are widely used during monitoring. The satellite images obtained from satellites are also used.
During the monitoring of desertification processes, special attention is paid to the region bordering the Aral Sea region in the context of the country's chairmanship in IFAS.