During the 21st session of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (CRIC-21), Minister of Ecology Aziz Abdukhakimov held a bilateral meeting with the The chairman of the Chinese National Society for Sand Control and Desertification Industry, An Fengji.

The meeting discussed cooperation between the Ministry of Ecology and the Center for Research on Land Degradation and Sustainable Land Management, including the exchange of experience and the implementation of joint scientific research activities in regions of Uzbekistan with a high risk of sand and dust storms (SDS).

For reference: The Chinese National Society for Sand Control and Desertification Industry is the only society for desertification prevention in China. The National Society was established in 1992. Its honorary chairman is Xu Jialu, former Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. The decision to establish the society came after strong sand and dust storms hit western China in 1950.

It is worth noting that the society is a national-level academic, public, and non-profit organization. It includes experts, scientists, and entrepreneurs working in the field of combating desertification.

During the meeting, it was noted that at the initiative of President of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping, a Strategy to Combat Desertification and Sand Storms was adopted, which includes subsidizing pastures for farmers and the private sector, banning private livestock grazing, and establishing collective livestock grazing (creating collective farms), as well as restoring forest and grass cover on previously cultivated land and eliminating SDS hotspots.

In turn, Aziz Abdukhakimov informed the Chinese side about the increasing threats of SDS in the southern part of Uzbekistan and their intensity in other regions, and provided detailed information about one of the control measures to combat SDS within the national initiative "Yashil Makon" and its implementation in the republic. The Minister also emphasized the need for society to reassess its relationship with land and nature as a whole.

As a result of the meeting, an agreement was reached on the prompt establishment of close cooperation between the Ministry of Ecology and the Society through the development and signing of a Memorandum of Scientific and Practical Cooperation in the field of combating desertification and land degradation.