Historical event: Another important natural heritage site of Uzbekistan is included in the UNESCO list
2023-09-21 10:15:00 / News
September 20th, the Transboundary Natural Site "Turan deserts of the temperate zone " with the participation of Uzbekistan was included in the UNESCO World Natural Heritage List.
For information, the development of a transnomination dossier began in early 2020 as part of the Central Asian Desert Initiative (CADI) project, supported by the Ministry of Ecology and in collaboration with the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the University of Greifswald, the Michael Succow Foundation, the German Society for International Cooperation and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
"Despite its uniqueness, this ecosystem has not yet been included in the UNESCO World Natural Heritage List. The preparation of this nomination by three countries is a good example of regional cooperation," said Aziz Abdukhakimov, the head of the Ministry of Ecology.
It should be noted that the issue of including this site in the UNESCO list is provided for by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev dated May 31, 2023 No. PP-171 "On measures to effectively organize the activities of the Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change".
The positive decision was made as a result of close cooperation established by Uzbekistan with the UNESCO advisory body and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as well as large-scale propaganda and political-diplomatic measures carried out with members of the World Heritage Committee (21 countries).
"The Turan Deserts of the Temperate Zone " is the second object of Uzbekistan included in the list of World Natural Heritage sites. In 2016, the object "Western Tien Shan" with the participation of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan was included in this list.
It is noteworthy that the Turan Deserts are the first object included in the category of temperate Zone deserts on the UNESCO list. The included objects are located in three countries in the territories of desert reserves, national parks and landscape reserves in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
Part of the territory of Uzbekistan consists of five adjacent natural zones - the «Saigachy" reserve, Beleuli, Duana, Zhideili (all of which are part of the Northern Ustyurt cluster) and Southern Ustyurt, occupying an area of more than 2 million hectares, located on the territory of the Aral region and the Ustyurt plateau.
The inclusion of the Turan deserts of the temperate zone in the list of World Natural Heritage is also important from the point of view of preserving unique biological diversity, in particular, this will make it possible to bring to the international level the protection of 41 species of mammals, 167 species of birds, 42 species of reptiles, among the fauna of which the kulan (Equus hemionus) is of particular value, saiga (Saiga tatarica), goitered gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa), urial (Ovis vignei arkal). and many species of animals and plants that are endangered on a global scale.
In addition, this opens up a wide path for further development of cooperation in studying and implementing advanced international experience in effective management of objects, preservation and popularization of flora and fauna on them.