Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Minister of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change of the Republic of Uzbekistan Aziz Abdukhakimov met with Assistant Secretary-General of the UN, Director of the Secretariat of the UN Forum on Forests and Greening Juliet Biao Kudenukpo (UNFF).

The United Nations Forum on Forests is a high-level intergovernmental policy forum established in 2000 by the United Nations Economic and Social Council to promote the idea of “management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests and strengthening long-term political commitment."

At the meeting, prospects for further development and expansion of cooperation with UNFF were discussed. The head of the UNFF secretariat was informed in detail about the work on greening the republic carried out at the initiative of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

In particular, the head of the UNFF highly appreciated the work on landscaping and planting saxauls on an area of 2 million hectares in dry areas on the dried up bottom of the Aral Sea, as well as a nationwide project to plant 200 million seedlings annually “Yashil Makon” (“Green Space”) in Uzbekistan.

Based on the results of the meeting, an agreement was reached with the UNFF Secretariat to attract support from the UN Forestry Forum in developing a scientific approach to afforestation in Uzbekistan, the introduction of “smart” agriculture and sustainable forest management.

The parties discussed the prospects for cooperation in the implementation of the national project “Yashil Makon”, the organization of lectures by highly qualified specialists at the Central Asian University of Environmental Studies and Climate Change Green University, as well as in increasing the capacity of experts in the field of forestry and conducting trainings and seminars.

In addition, proposals for the comprehensive strengthening of mutually beneficial relations were considered and priority areas of cooperation were identified.

It should be noted that Juliette Biao expressed interest in the active participation of UNFF in work carried out in the field of ecology and forestry in Uzbekistan. The director of the secretariat of the United Nations Forum on Forestry (UNFF) said that the organization is ready not only to help in the institutional development of the field of forestry and landscaping, but also to accept specialists from the Ministry of Environment for internships in the organization itself.