In 2025, an additional 100 billion sums will be allocated for the nationwide Yashil Makon (Green Land) project aimed at tree planting, president Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced during the meeting on 21 October.
Additionally, the investment program will now include expenses for three years of tree maintenance, disease protection and irrigation.
Minister of ecology, environmental protection and climate change Aziz Abduhakimov and director of the Forestry Agency Nizomiddin Bakirov will conduct two irrigation experiments. Specifically, drilling will be permitted for one well in 27 districts. In the mountains of Gallyaral district, 10 geomembranes will be installed to collect rainwater and snowmelt, creating an irrigation system for trees.
In the spring, tree planting using the terracing method will begin on the slopes of hills and mountains in 14 districts, covering an area of 500 hectares. This technique involves planting trees on specially created terraces on slopes or hills to prevent soil erosion and retain moisture more effectively. The terraces are horizontal, stepped sections of land on the slope, where water flowing down is held, allowing trees to better absorb it and obtain nutrients.
The president instructed regional hokims to allocate 1 hectare for green zones and 0.5 hectares for public parks as part of the Mening Bog‘im (My Garden) project. These plots will be posted on the Open Budget portal before the planting season, including recommendations for tree species and their costs. A notification system will be implemented via a mobile app to alert those neglecting their planting responsibilities.
Hokims are also tasked with providing all landscaping departments with 20 small irrigation machines over the next two years.
The president noted that dust storms have recently increased in the country, exacerbated by illegal logging, depletion of water resources and the degradation of 50% of pastures due to uncontrolled livestock grazing, leading to a sharp decline in plant species diversity in the steppes.
He emphasized that, given the growing population, pastures were the largest reserve for ensuring food security.
Consequently, it has been decided to transfer the management of 16 million hectares of pasture land to Veterinary and Livestock Development Committee. The committee is instructed to prepare a three-year program to rehabilitate degraded deserts, with grant funding of $50 million allocated for this purpose next year.
Uzbekcosmos agency has found that vegetation which retains sand and wind had disappeared from 35 hectares in Bukhara and Navoi regions. In response, officials have been tasked with increasing the area of green spaces in the desert and semi-desert areas of these two regions.
A platform will be created jointly with Uzbekcosmos for monitoring the environmental situation in the deserts.
Additionally, the responsibility of the Forestry Agency in this area will be enhanced. It will now also combat desertification, and Yo’l Ko’kalam (Roadside Trees) organizations under hokims will transition to the agency’s system.
The agency is tasked with adapting and cultivating more than 100 million seedlings suitable for each region’s climate and reducing cultivation costs by 20%.
The agency has also been charged with creating an experimental site of 20 hectares in collaboration with the Academy of Sciences to grow plants that can restore degraded pastures.
During the meeting, the president stated that over 1 million trees had been planted on non-irrigated lands or falsely reported as part of Yashil Makon project. “Why is the deputy attorney general sitting silently? What are the 75 employees doing? Where is the oversight?” the head of the state asked.
