Preservation of forest ecosystems and biodiversity in Central Asia discussed in Issyk-Kul

Bishkek, Aug. 17, 2018. /Kabar/. A two-day meeting of Ministers of Forestry from Central Asian countries is taking place in Cholpon-Ata, where the issues of preserving forest ecosystems and biodiversity are being discussed. The session has been organized by the State Agency for Environmental Protection and Forestry jointly with the Asia-Pacific Network for Sustainable Forest Management and Rehabilitation (APFNet) and Institute for Regional Development (IRD). The goal of the high-level meeting is further enhancement of efforts in the sphere of forestry, search for ways of cooperation, and support in promoting the forest sector in the region with regard to the Astana Declaration, adopted in 2016. Director of the State Agency for Environmental Protection and Forestry of Kyrgyzstan Abdykalyk Rustamov stressed the role of forest ecosystems in the Central Asia region in ensuring ecological sustainability and creating a favorable climate. In Kyrgyzstan, despite its relatively small total area (5,61%), there is a wide variety of forests, which have no parallel in terms of density in other countries of the region. Rustamov highlighted that mountain forests of Kyrgyzstan are unique and have a great ecological significance, being a sort of moister accumulators. Growing on mountain slopes, they prevent mud flows, landslides and snow avalanches in the mountains, regulate water flow in rivers, so that they don’t overflow throughout the year. That is why the significance of forests in regulating water can hardly be overemphasized, both for the people of Kyrgyzstan and all the peoples in Central Asia, where agriculture is based on irrigation. Director Rustamov also expressed his hope that the Asia-Pacific Network for Sustainable Forest Management and Rehabilitation would become a good platform for exchanging experience in various activities aimed at protecting forest ecosystems and increasing the potential of specialists in the fields of forestry, development of specially protected natural areas and realization of joint scientific-research projects. Among the participants of the session are delegations from China, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, as well as the heads of structural and subordinate subdivisions of the State Agency for Environmental Protection and Forestry, the State Agency for Environmental Protection and Forestry reported.