As part of the International Day to Combat Desertification and Drought on June 17, Uzbekistan will host the Aral Eco Marathon.
According to the Ministry of Ecology of Uzbekistan and the event organizers, the goal is to draw public attention to the ecological problems of the Aral Sea region and inspire active measures to preserve nature.
Participants in the marathon will have to cover a distance of 42 kilometers and 195 meters.
The eco-agenda is currently very popular worldwide, so holding such marathons as a vivid example of an anthropogenic environmental disaster in recent history will indeed attract significant attention.
It is worth noting that today, two Central Asian countries, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, are actively working to preserve the Aral Sea.
Tashkent is undertaking greening efforts on the lake's bed to prevent it from turning entirely into a desert.
However, historically, they also bear direct responsibility for its drying up, as the water from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers was diverted to the fields of these two countries.
For instance, the former Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Kazakhstan, Zulfiya Suleimenova, stated in 2023 that the black market for water is valued at 5 billion tenge (over $11 million).
CentralasianLIGHT.org
May 21, 2024