Do you know what sand tastes like? Have you ever felt the crunch of sand grains on your teeth? Do you know the feeling when there is a constant tickling in the throat, and the food has a salty taste?

That is not imagination, but everyday reality for those who live in the Aral Sea region. With the disappearance of the Aral Sea, people here faced a whole complex of negative consequences that affected not only the environment, the quality of their life, but also their health. Due to frequent droughts and dust storms, 75 million tons of toxic salts and sand rise into the air from the seabed every year and spread not only across Uzbekistan, but also far beyond the entire Central Asian region.

Photo: UNDP Uzbekistan 

In March 2020, the Accelerator Laboratory of UNDP in Uzbekistan launched a crowdfunding campaign to green the bottom of the Aral Sea. The initiative, in which everyone can take an active part, is designed to eliminate the consequences of an environmental disaster in the region, as well as improve the lives of people in local communities.

The initial goal of the campaign was to plant a 100-hectare forest of 100,000 saplings of saxaul on the dried seabed. However, the increased interest in its implementation from the public and the active involvement of local forestry enterprises allow to increase the scale of the campaign, and hence the area of forest plantations.

Photo: UNDP Uzbekistan

From March 29 to April 1, 2022, representatives of UNDP from Karkalpakstan held a number of meetings in Tashkent with large companies, international representative offices and educational institutions, such as Samsung C&T, Lotte Global Logistics, Taewoong Global Logistics, Samsung Electronics, Uz-Kor Gas Chemical, International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Ipak Yo'li Bank, UNICO Logistics, Korean Air, Ziraat Bank, Sanoat Qurilish Bank, Management Development Institute of Singapore in Tashkent, KPMG, UzAuto Motors to raise awareness of the crowdfunding campaign, establish a partnership and attract additional funds for its implementation. 

Photo: UNDP Uzbekistan 

You can also contribute to the creation of a green cover on the territory of the new desert – Aralkum! Go to the website www.greenaralsea.org  follow the instructions and become our "green" champion!

The initiative is part of a broader effort to address inter-connected issues in the Aral Sea region. The approach is outlined in the Concept of Transforming the Aral Sea Region with Ecological Innovations and Technologies, which is being implemented in partnership with UNDP Uzbekistan.

Photo: UNDP Uzbekistan

The campaign is coordinated within the framework of the Joint Programme of UNDP, UNFPA and FAO "Unleashing young people’s and vulnerable citizens’ creativity and innovation by strengthening their adaptive capacity to address the economic and food insecurities in the exposed communities of the Aral Sea region".