Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) – On 10-12 November, in preparation for the 21st session of the Committee to Review the Implementation of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (CRIC 21) at the Samarkand Silk Road Congress Center with the support of the Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection and climate change in the Republic of Uzbekistan organized media training for journalists from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Russia.

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) was created to unite the efforts of the public and private sectors at the international level to combat desertification, land degradation and mitigate the effects of drought. 196 countries and the EU are parties to the Convention.

The training program included a number of specially designed events, including an information seminar on key areas of work of the UNCCD, panel discussions on topics such as “National aspects of desertification and drought”, “Regional aspects of desertification and drought in Central Asia”, “Approaches to highlighting the work CRIC in the context of the region and participating countries” and other events.

During the panel discussion, Sobirjon Umarov, an expert from the Ministry of Ecology, gave a lecture and informed the participants that reforms in Uzbekistan to increase and restore forests are a comprehensive solution to environmental problems (land degradation and desertification, adaptation to climate change, conservation of biological diversity).

Madina Khalmirzaeva, an independent expert in the field of ecology and water resources use, also shared the agenda of the panel discussions.

“The training presented material on the current state of water resources, the challenges of which are associated with technical, climatic, geopolitical and other changes. The government of Uzbekistan is taking a number of measures to improve the use of water resources. In particular, special attention was paid to the “Water Development Strategy 2030”.

It is worth saying that 80% of the water resources used in the republic come from neighboring countries of the Central Asian region, and only the remaining 20% are formed in the country,” the expert said.

“Regarding water-saving technologies, by 2030 it is planned to introduce water-saving technologies on almost half of the irrigated lands, namely 2 million hectares,” she added.

Today, on the second day of the training, participants learned about local practices on land management, adaptation to drought and climate change, and also met with regional experts.

During field research, journalists visited fields and talked with farmers, who informed them about the technologies used in planting crops.