Uzbekistan began planting plants on the dry bottom of the Aral Sea, the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Uzbekistan reports.
The program to save the sea and develop the dried bottom of the Aral Sea was initiated by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in December 2018. For 4 years, 1 million 620 thousand hectares of forest from saxaul, tamarix and other desert plants have been planted in the dried up part of the Aral Sea.
Plants prevent the release of harmful salts and dust into the air, draw excess salt from the soil and make it suitable for cultivation in the future, experts say.
Aircraft, hang gliders, hundreds of units of agricultural machinery are used to carry out the work. Thousands of specialists are involved in planting forests.
During 2023, the department plans to create another 100 thousand hectares of forest plantations in the Aralkum, the bottom of dried Aral Sea.
The Aral Sea dried up by 80% during the Soviet era due to the excessive development of water from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers by Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to irrigate cotton fields. Only these two rivers provided water flow to the Aral Sea.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
February 4, 2023