International Conference “Problems of Aral: Impact on the Gene Pool of Population, Flora, Fauna and International Cooperation for Mitigating Consequences”

11-12 March 2008, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

There was a time when the Aral Sea served as a natural regulator leveling cold Siberian winds in winter and insufferable hot air in summer. What we have now is a drying pond that used to the world’s fourth largest landlocked lake. Day by day the beautiful Aral is shrinking like a piece of shagreen leather gasping for salty air imbued with dust and chemicals.

Ecological crisis of the Aral Sea is acknowledged by the world community as one of the most outstanding global anthropogenic disasters caused irreversible climate changes and negatively affected the lives of millions of people inhabiting the Aral Sea region and across the Central Asia.

In this regard on March 11-12, 2008 the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan was hosted an international conference Problems of Aral: Impact on the Gene Pool of Population, Flora, Fauna and International Cooperation for Mitigating Consequences. The key objective of the conference was to formulate a comprehensive vision and the set of measures to resolve current socio-economic and environmental problems in the Aral Sea region. The conference agenda focused on the impact of the climate change on the living standards in the region, biodiversity, water and land management as well as opportunities for overcoming present challenges and fostering sustainable socio-economic development in the Aral Sea region.

Tashkent Declaration of the International Conference “Problems of Aral: Impact on the Gene Pool of Population, Flora, Fauna and International Cooperation for Mitigating Consequences”

To participants of International Conference “Problems of the Aral Sea, their Impact on Gene Pool, Flora and Fauna and Measures of International Collaboration for Mitigating the Impact"

Aral Sea surface area decreased four times over past 50 years