UN to assist Central Asian countries in saving the Aral Sea.

ASHGABAT, March 4 (Itar-Tass) - A memorandum of understanding was
signed here Wednesday between the UN and the International Fund for
Saving the Aral Sea /IFAS/.

The document is called upon to strengthen regional cooperation in the
field of improving ecology and social/economic situation in the Aral Sea
area and to facilitate the elaboration of commonly acceptable patterns for
the utilization of Central Asia's freshwater resources, the UN regional
center for preventive diplomacy in Central Asia said. This organization is
headquartered in Ashgabat.
The IFAS was set up in 1993 by a decision of the heads of state five
Central Asian countries -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan,
Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan. Its main objective is to finance joint
practical steps in eliminating the dramatic ecological situation around
the Aral Sea.
The latter is an inland saline lake, which until fairly recently was
described as the fourth largest in the world. The area occupied by that
absolutely unique water reservoir has shrunk hugely over the past fifty
years due to an inordinate consumption of fresh water from its two main
tributary rivers -- Amu Darya and Syr Darya.
The drying up of this lake may result in a real climatic disaster in
the entire Central Asian region, to say nothing of extinction of a number
of unique biological species.
The UN General Assembly passed a resolution in December 2008 giving
the IFAS an observer status. It enabled the member-states to hold the
necessary public functions along with informing the world community on the
problems of the Aral Sea and to draw donors' monies for the resolution of
existing ecological and social problems.
At this moment, the IFAS is drafting a third program of action on
assistance to the regional countries from 2011 through to 2015.
-0-kle