The role of public associations in the development of the environmental movement in Turkmenistan and the activities of the Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC) was presented by Mergen Kepbanov, the Director of the CAREC Project Office in Turkmenistan, at a meeting of Turkmenistan environmental public organizations.
The CAREC Project Office in Turkmenistan hosted the meeting to discuss interaction and enhancing cooperation.
The director of the Tebigi Kuvvat NGO, Berkeli Ataev, and the international relations specialist of the Yash Tebigatchy NGO, Shirin Zhozhieva, made presentations on the activities of their public associations.
Mamedov Begench, Director of the alp club of the NGO “Mert” (Balkanabad), together with other public associations, NGO “Mashgala” and GO “Dyap-dessur” (Mary), NGO “Eco-Durmush” (Dashoguz), made proposals and recommendations for cooperation with public associations.
They highlighted the importance of active cooperation with CAREC and expressed their readiness to cooperate within the framework of all obligations of the UNECE Aarhus Convention “On access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters”, which Turkmenistan joined in the 1999 year.
Also, the meeting participants considered the issue of electing a representative of the civil sector from Turkmenistan as a member of the CAREC Governing Council (GC) since the first term of the current member of the CAREC (GC) is coming to an end.
In this regard, the chairman of the NGO “Nature Conservation Society of Turkmenistan”, Serdar Allekov, proposed to select a new member of the CAREC Management Committee from the civil sector of Turkmenistan and nominated Berkeli Ataev, director of the NGO “Tebigi Kuvvat” enterprise. The overwhelming majority of the participants supported Serdar Allekov's proposal and voted for Berkeli Ataev, electing him to join the CAREC Board of Governors.
After the meeting, representatives of public associations agreed to meet on an ongoing basis to discuss new opportunities for interaction and cooperation in the field of environmental protection, as well as to participate in events that will be held by the CAREC Project Office in Turkmenistan.
Contact person – Mergen Kepbanov, Director of the CAREC Project Office in Turkmenistan, turkmenistan@carececo.org