BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 3. Uzbekistan and Russia signed a memorandum of cooperation between research institutes in Volgograd on November 3, strengthening joint efforts to combat desertification, restore degraded land and promote sustainable land management.
According to Uzbekistan’s National Committee on Ecology and Climate Change, the memorandum was signed during a visit by an Uzbek delegation led by Alisher Salomov, adviser to the committee's chairman, to an international scientific conference on land restoration and drought resilience. The conference was organized by the Federal Scientific Center for Agroecology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
During the visit, the Uzbek delegation studied Russia's experience in addressing land degradation and desertification, restoring arid areas, implementing forest reclamation measures and promoting sustainable pasture management. Uzbekistan, in turn, presented its ongoing environmental initiatives in the Aral Sea region.
The delegation also met with Russian officials and representatives of the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The discussions covered plans to organize a dedicated event at the Uzbekistan Pavilion during the upcoming COP31 climate conference, provide seeds for forest reclamation projects and implement joint environmental initiatives involving young people.
The memorandum was signed between the Kalmyk State Research Institute of Agricultural Reclamation and Uzbekistan's Research Institute for Combating Desertification and Developing the Desert Economy.
The parties also developed proposals to advance agroecology in Uzbekistan, coordinate approaches to managing land, water, pasture, forest and livestock resources, and introduce science-based mechanisms for environmental and economic assessment.
Another proposal calls for the implementation of a comprehensive pilot project in the Aral Sea region to promote land restoration and improve the sustainable management of natural resources.
