BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept. 1
By Klavdiya Romakayeva - Trend:
Turkmenistan plans to develop a new version of the National Action Plan to Combat Desertification (NAPCD), Trend reports with reference to the Ashgabat's information portal.
The mentioned issue was discussed at a working meeting held in Ashgabat (Turkmenistan), on the basis of the National Institute of Deserts, Flora and Wildlife to update the National Action Plan of Turkmenistan to Combat Desertification, adopted in 1997.
The working meeting was attended by representatives of the parliament of Turkmenistan, the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the State Committee for Water Resources, employees of synergistic projects in the agro-ecological direction with the participation of UNDP (United Nations Development Program).
During the meeting, the sides discussed national programs and plans in the field of combating desertification, integrated management of natural resources.
As part of the implementation of the National Action Plan, as well as with the aim of combating land degradation, the Land (2004) and Water (2006) Codes were revised. Within the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Turkmenistan joined the Paris Agreement and ratified it on October 20, 2016, in 2019 the National Strategy of Turkmenistan on Climate Change was updated, in December 2020, the National Strategy of the country on development of RES, preparation of the first biennial report (BUR-1) is also ongoing.
Since 2020, the Intersectoral Commission on Environmental Protection has been operating, which deals with issues related to the implementation of climate policy. It is planned to establish a Secretariat that will provide technical support in the form of mobilization and coordination of all financial flows and technical resources related to climate change issues.
It is reported that in March 2021, the government commission was established to coordinate the national system for monitoring the earth's surface, which will solve the problem of collecting "information on the state of the earth's surface from space, studying, processing data, as well as training and education of relevant specialists."
Also, the meeting participants discussed the results of the work of previously completed projects, as well as the national reports on droughts and dust storms recently compiled within the framework of CAREC projects, which can serve as useful analytical material for the development of a new NAPCD.
In addition, the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) project manager Rahman Khanekov said that this meeting is an introductory meeting, and in the future the project team will accept proposals and recommendations of representatives of government agencies to develop a new version of the NAPCD, work on which will be a priority in the plans for the next year.
According to the information, the target areas will be pasture and forestry, as well as measures to combat desertification.
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