DUSHANBE, November 3, 2008, Asia-Plus  -- Last Saturday, following an initiative of Central Asian representatives to the United Nations the United Nations General Assembly included the issue of granting an observer status to the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) on its agenda, according to the Tajik MFA.

Longstanding cultural, economic ties and territories with the similar environments consolidate Central Asian states.  The area is shaped by highest mountain ridges of Pamirs and Tien Shan, vast deserts and steppes, and large Asian Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, inland lakes as Caspian and Aral Seas.

From 1960 to 1990 large-scale programs on land developing were implemented in the Aral Sea Basin.  The result of the implementation of these programs was twice increase of both irrigated areas and draw off discharge.  Consequently, water flow into the Aral Sea decreased and in 2002 water-level lowered more than 21 meters.  At the same time water-surface area was shrunk more than three times.

Annual negative profits in the region is around some billion dollars on account of changes of climate, hydro chemical characteristics of water bodies, reducing of fishing in The Aral Sea, degradation of more that 4 million hectares of land and deterioration of biodiversity.

The consequences affected more than 5 million people living in Amu Darya and Syr Darya river deltas. Declination of living standards and worsening of state of health was observed.  First victims of environmental crisis were the most vulnerable groups of population such as children, women, and needy population of the Aral Sea area. 

To overcome the ecological crisis and to improve the socioeconomic situation in the Aral Sea basin, which is recognized by international community to be one of the greatest catastrophes of the XX century, the Central Asian heads of government established the International Fund for saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) in 1993.