The main attention here is paid to environmental protection, the creation of protective forests at the bottom of the Aral Sea.
In autumn and winter 2018 and spring 2019, 1,125,000 hectares were prepared. Phyto-melioration was carried out on 461,000 hectares. 326,200 hectares were sown with plant seeds with the help of aviation, and seedlings were planted using ground equipment. 1,459 tons of saxaul, 73 tons of Caspian saltwort, 1,532 tons of seeds of desert plants were harvested for this.
273 tons of seeds were planted in Muynak district. The planting was carried out by 1,400 workers, 500 pieces of equipment, and two AN-2 aircraft. 3 thousand hectares were used for pastures, 40.2 thousand – for planting various seedlings. The work was carried out in 2020, and 2021. During this period, 458.4 thousand hectares of forest have been created. 104.9 thousand hectares were additionally used to fill the zones with the least germination with seedlings. In 2021, 1,511 tons of seeds were used.
In 2022, 590.3 tons of seeds were harvested and planted, including 558.1 tons of saxaul, 20.7 tons of sugar cane, and 11 tons of desert plant seeds.
“According to scientists, a two-year-old saxaul plantation grown at the bottom of the Aral Sea slows down wind speed by 20%, a five-year plantation by 80 percent, and a seven-year plantation by almost 100 percent, thereby fixing moving sands”, says the Deputy Chairman of the Forestry Committee of the Republic of Karakalpakstan Erniyaz Akimniyazov. The branches of trees and shrubs purify the air. A saxaul plantation per hectare sharply reduces the rise of dust and salts into the air by 35 percent and increases the relative humidity of the air. A four-year-old saxaul per hectare absorbs 1,158 kilograms of carbon dioxide and produces 835 kilograms of oxygen.
The large-scale activity carried out at the initiative of the Head of the state serves to improve the environmental situation in the country, reduce the negative impact of salt, sand and dust raised from the dried bottom of the Aral Sea and the Aral Sea region, create green covers, and further mitigate the negative effects of climate change.
aqsad HabibullayeDovud Abibullayev, photos by Maqsad Khabibullayev, UzA
