Photo1. Wetlands of Turkmenistan, Shirin Karryeva
Today, on February 2, the international community celebrates World Wetlands Day. It aims to raise awareness of the vital role of the wetlands for biodiversity preservation, water quality improvement, flood protection and more.
In 1971, on the same day in the city of Ramsar (Iran), the "Convention on Wetlands" was adopted. The purpose of the Convention was to protect wetlands of national and global importance that are in urge of degradation. Currently, 172 States are parties to this convention, on the territory of which there are 2,471 wetlands of international importance covering over 256 million ha.
Currently 23 wetlands in the Central Asian region have received the status of wetlands of international importance (Ramsar sites). Their regulation is handled by the Ramsar Regional Initiative of Central Asia (RRI-CA), which includes representatives of all five countries in the region.
Figure 1. Central Asian wetlands of international importance (Ramsar sites)
Over the past year, RRI-CA has achieved impressive results in its activities:
· Lake Sudochye has been included in the list of Wetlands of International Importance of the Ramsar Convention (Uzbekistan);
· The Tigrovaya Balka Ramsar Nature Reserve was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (Tajikistan);
· Karakol lake is applied for the Ramsar List (Kazakhstan);
· 11 news related Ramsar Convention and activities in Central Asia are placed on RRI-CA web-page (all 5 CA countries);
· A New Project for RRI-CA network “Innovative approach for sustainable and wise use of Ramsar /potentially Ramsar sites in Central Asia through partnership and collaboration” is prepared and preliminary agreed with donor (CAREC and all 5 CA countries);
· Two initiatives, funded by WWF and CEPF, were executed at the Tigrovaya Balka wetland reserve and the Kairakum reservoir (Tajikistan);
· Countries were also working on capacity building, waterfowl census and wetland condition assessment to reach relevant Ramsar Strategic Plan Goals.
Photo 2. Lake Sudochye, Wikipedia Photo 3. Tigrovaya Balka Nature Reserve, sputniknews.ru
In addition, RRI-CA plans to continue its activities in the region and sets plans for 2024:
· To complete the application of Lake Karakol to the Ramsar list (Kazakhstan);
· Nominate Lake Zhyltyrbas to the Ramsar list (Uzbekistan);
· Nominate Lake Altyn Kol to the Ramsar list (Turkmenistan);
· Post at least 6 news related Ramsar Convention and activities in Central on RRI-CA web-page (all 5 CA countries);
· Start of the implementation of a new project, innovative approach application for protecting ecosystems of wetlands (CAREC and all 5 CA countries).
For more information about the RRI-CA activities and region’s wetlands please follow the link.
Additional information: Ludmila Kiktenko, Environmental Management Programme’s Manager, CAREC, lkiktenko@carececo.org
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