Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 1
By Huseyn Hasanov – Trend:
The Turkmen delegation attended the 14th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP 14), which was held in New Delhi, India, Trend reports referring to Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper.
Such forums are organized once every two years and are held to discuss topical issues in the field of land protection and their rational use, and to curb desertification processes in arid countries. Turkmenistan is such a country, and most of its territory is covered by the Karakum desert.
According to the forum participants, the conversation touched upon the Aral Sea basin and the problems of dust storms. The issues of drought, cooperation, development of joint projects were also discussed during the meetings.
The final document was the Delhi Ministerial Declaration, which outlines the priority of land and pasture restoration, including the conservation of biodiversity and the maintenance of agribusiness.
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 International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS).