MOSCOW, October 29 (RIA Novosti) – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged the international community to contribute to the protection of the Aral Sea and prevent it from disappearing, in a video message at a conference in Urgench, Uzbekistan.
"Today, the Aral Sea is on the verge of disappearing entirely. This loss would affect millions of people in Uzbekistan and beyond …I call for intensifying the international response to this disaster," Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday at the International Conference on the Implementation of Regional Projects in the Aral Sea Basin, held on October 28-29.
According to Ban Ki-moon, "the root of the problem is poor water management", and a possible solution to the issue is "more efficient local water use".
Until 1960, the Aral Sea was one of the largest bodies of water in the world. However, the diversion of the Aral`s main water sources, the Amu and Syr Darya rivers, and their wide use in local industry have caused the sea to dry up. Over the last 50 years, the Aral Sea's surface area has shrunk to an eighth of its original size and the absolute water level in the sea has gone down from 53 m (173 ft) to 29 m (95 ft), according to the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea.
The UN Secretary General also underscored the importance of regional and international cooperation "to manage trans-boundary waters fairly", adding that "no single country can respond to the Aral Sea tragedy".
In the video message, Ban Ki-moon stated that the United Nations supports the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) and stressed that "many UN agencies, including our Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia, are working together to improve livelihoods, boost development and reduce health and environmental risks in the most affected [sea] areas".
The IFAS was established in 1993 following a decision by the countries affected by the shrinking sea, such as Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan. The IFAS is aimed at financing perspective programs and projects to save and rehabilitate the ecology of the Aral Sea region and the Aral Sea Basin.
