Coordinating actions on restoration of disturbed biodiversity discussed in Tashkent

If special measures aimed at avoiding and reducing negative impacts on biodiversity are not applied, the realization of construction projects, oil and gas projects or other projects which resulted in the destruction of vegetation and animal habitats, leads to the loss of biodiversity and the degradation of ecosystems. At the same time, measures designed to avoid and mitigate negative biodiversity impacts even properly implemented do not always allow avoiding significant adverse biodiversity impacts. In such cases, actions designed to restore disturbed biodiversity, as well as the compensation schemes which aim is to achieve no net loss of biodiversity are applied.

What are the measures designed to avoid, mitigate, restore and compensate for negative biodiversity impacts, in other words what are the principles of biodiversity conservation in regard to a variety of industries, including the oil and gas sector, how measures to restore disturbed biodiversity are implemented, what are the criteria for evaluation its successfulness, what are the conditions and legal requirements necessary for their implementation in Uzbekistan? These and other issues were on the agenda of the third meeting of the Interagency Working Group (IWG) of the ‘Mainstreaming Biodiversity into Uzbekistan’s Oil-and-Gas Sector Policies and Operations’ project which was held on 3 December 2013 at the Poytakht business centre of Tashkent City.

The Interagency Working Group, which brings together representatives of environmental agencies, ministries, the oil and gas companies, the Academy of Science and the UNDP, is an ideal platform to raise issues of common concern, to discuss them and reach a common position on them. In addition, the IWG allows not only to cooperate with the private sector in this regard, but also to demonstrate what opportunities new biodiversity conservation approaches offer for businesses so businesses could see benefits of their application and therefore make commitments to implement them.

At the meeting, the project manager Kh.Sherimbetov informed meeting participants about the work undertaken by the project to amend and supplement national legislation on nature protection, as well as about the progress the project has made. At the meeting a resolution was adopted.