A scientific and practical conference dedicated to the successes of Turkmenistan in the field of environmental protection and international cooperation in this field is being held at the Turkmen Agricultural University in Ashgabat.

Before the meeting, the participants got acquainted with the exhibition dedicated to the rich Turkmen nature, biodiversity and rare species of animals and plants.

At the opening ceremony of the event, a congratulatory message from the President of Turkmenistan, Serdar Berdimuhamedov, was read out to workers in the field of environmental protection. In his message, the Head of state noted that Turkmenistan attaches great importance to environmental well-being and successfully implements programs for greening the country and turning it into a blooming oasis.

The main report at the conference was read by the Minister of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan Allanur Altyyev. He spoke about the implementation of the state environmental policy, which is based on the principles of preserving the sustainability of the biosphere and is aimed at ensuring human rights to a healthy and life-friendly natural environment.

The report presented concrete examples of successful projects and initiatives of Turkmenistan in the field of nature protection, such as the expansion of the border of forest belts around Ashgabat and the regions of the country, the creation of a man-made lake Altyn asyr in the center of Garagum, etc.

Deputy Chairman of the State Committee of Water Resources of Turkmenistan Serdar Atayev spoke about the main directions of the state policy on the rational use of water resources.

Representatives of international and regional organizations were also invited to speak at the conference, including the UN Resident Coordinator in Turkmenistan Dmitry Shlapachenko, the UNDP Permanent Representative Narine Sahakyan, the head of the project "Climate Risk Management in Central Asia" GIZ Sergey Makarov.

The head of the sub-regional office of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for Central Asia, Aidai Kurmanova, the FAO Sub-Regional Coordinator for Central Asia, Viorel Gutu, and the Executive Director of the Regional Environmental Center for Central Asia, Zafar Mahmudov, also joined the conference via video link.

The conference participants noted the progressive improvement of Turkmenistan's legislation in the field of environmental protection, noted the importance of implementing the National Forest Program and discussed new areas of cooperation between the country and foreign partners in the environmental sphere.

Much attention was paid to important issues of environmental protection on a global scale. It was noted that according to the latest information, every year people throw about 6.5 billion kilograms of garbage into the oceans. At the same time, most of it consists of plastic, which decomposes for about 500 years.

Every year about 30-32 thousand species of living organisms disappear from our planet. The main causes of this phenomenon are the destruction of natural habitats, an overabundance of resources and environmental pollution.

Speaking about the importance of such environmental issues, the speakers noted that Turkmenistan demonstrates to the world community a positive example of their solution through the implementation of concrete and effective initiatives.

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