On 17 June 2026, the global community marks the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, established by the United Nations to raise awareness of land degradation, sustainable natural resource management, and resilience to the impacts of climate change.
On this occasion, a roundtable discussion was held in Ashgabat to coordinate and present the contributions of national and international partners to the implementation of the climate agenda and sustainable land management. The event was organized within the framework of the UNDP-GEF project “Conservation and Sustainable Management of Land Resources and High Nature Value Ecosystems in the Aral Sea Basin” in cooperation with the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan and the Scientific Information Center of the Interstate Commission on Sustainable Development (SIC ICSD).
The main objective of the event was to strengthen cooperation among government institutions, international organizations, and the expert community to address land degradation, adapt to climate change, and promote sustainable land management practices. The roundtable brought together representatives of government agencies of Turkmenistan, international organizations, scientific institutions, and environmental programmes, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), and the Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC).
The CAREC Project Office in Turkmenistan was represented by Mergen Kepbanov, Director of the Office, and Dovlet Jumagulyyev, Expert.
As part of the roundtable programme, Dovlet Jumagulyyev delivered a presentation entitled “CAREC Programmes and Plans as a Contribution to the National Strategy on Preventing Land Degradation.” During the presentation, he highlighted CAREC’s ongoing and planned initiatives to strengthen regional cooperation, promote climate-resilient approaches to natural resource management, enhance cross-sectoral collaboration, and support Turkmenistan’s national priorities in environmental protection and climate change adaptation.
Particular attention was given to the role of regional cooperation in achieving Land Degradation Neutrality targets, facilitating the exchange of best practices among Central Asian countries, and exploring opportunities for scaling up successful sustainable land management practices in the face of current climate challenges.
«Land degradation and increasingly frequent droughts remain among the most serious challenges to sustainable development in Central Asia. Effectively addressing these issues requires consolidated efforts by government institutions, international organizations, the scientific community, and civil society. CAREC will continue to promote regional cooperation, advance the climate agenda, and support the implementation of modern approaches to sustainable land management across the region», noted Mergen Kepbanov, Director of the CAREC Project Office in Turkmenistan.
Participants discussed the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), progress toward achieving Land Degradation Neutrality, strengthening interagency cooperation, and expanding international partnerships to address pressing environmental challenges.
Special attention was also given to the international agenda on combating desertification and land degradation. In this regard, it was noted that the Seventeenth Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (COP17) will take place from 17 to 28 August 2026 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The upcoming conference will serve as an important international platform for discussing sustainable land management, climate change adaptation, and the achievement of global targets related to preventing land degradation.
The roundtable, organized on the occasion of the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, provided an important platform for experience sharing, strengthening partnerships, and developing joint approaches aimed at conserving land resources, enhancing ecosystem resilience, and advancing sustainable development goals in Turkmenistan and Central Asia.
Additional Information:
Mergen Kepbanov, Director of the CAREC Project Office in Turkmenistan,