13 October 2011: Andrey Vasilyev, Deputy Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), and Saghit Ibatullin, Chair of the Executive Committee of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS), have announced a regional project on the forestation of the dry bed of the Aral Sea.

The announcement was made on 12 October 2011, at the joint session of the UNECE Timber Committee and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) European Forestry Commission “Orman 2011, Forests in a green economy.” The project, elaborated by the Governments of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, aims to reverse environmental degradation and help achieve environmental sustainability in the Aral Sea Basin. It is part of the Third Aral Sea Basin Programme, a five-year programme of action of IFAS to improve environmental, social and economic conditions in the region. UNECE provides assistance to the IFAS in the field of water resources management, environment protection and climate change adaptation. [UNECE Press Release]