President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev arrived in the Republic of Karakalpakstan for a working visit on February 23, the press office of the President of Uzbekistan reported.
From Muynak, where the working visit to the Republic of Karakalpakstan started, Shavkat Mirziyoyev went to the shrinking Aral Sea, where he inspected the progress in landscaping the territory of the former water reservoir.
Since there is nearly zero chance of restoring the Aral Sea to its original size, adverse impact of the drying Aral Sea on the surrounding territories needs to be minimised in other ways. For many years, thousands of tons of sand and harmful salts rose from the bottom of the sea and spread for many kilometres around. In 2018, during his trip to the Aral Sea, the leader of Uzbekistan ordered to start planting salt tolerant trees at the dry sea bottom.
Tugai forests cover an area of 1,524,000 hectares, and saxaul, Calligonum and Salsola have been planted at the sea bottom. This year, 100,000 hectares will be planted with trees and shrubs.
During the trip to the Aral Sea, President Mirziyoyev talked to ecologists and forestry experts and instructed them to continue research in planting trees in arid regions.
