Irrigation in Central Asia in figures

Irrigation in Central Asia in figures
AQUASTAT Survey-2012

Was America ‘discovered’ in medieval Central Asia?

The discovery of America is bitterly contested, with vying claims on behalf of prehistoric peoples who crossed over Beringia or the Pacific Ocean, Norse seafarers who landed in Newfoundland around 1000 C.E., and the 15th century explorers Christopher Columbus and John Cabot. Biruni, who never laid eyes on any ocean, also deserves “to wear the crown of discovery,” averred S. Frederick Starr, chair of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C., at a conference on medieval Central Asia. “His tools were not wooden boats powered by sail and muscular oarsmen but an adroit combination of carefully controlled observation, meticulously assembled quantitative data, and rigorous logic.”

Science 20 June 2014:
Vol. 344 no. 6190 pp. 1331-1332
DOI: 10.1126/science.344.6190.1331

A Journey Across Uzbekistan

Ride for Climate:
A Journey Across Uzbekistan

In this journey, husband and wife team David Kroodsma and Lindsey Fransen will start in Turkey in April of 2014 and gradually move east, crossing central and south Asia. Their goal will be to better understand the countries they travel through - more specifically, they will research the water and climate challenges facing the regions, including drought, water shortages, floods, pollution, and sea level rise. How is this region coping with these problems, and what do they mean for those of us who live on the far side of the globe?

Development of Cooperation in the Aral Sea Basin to Mitigate Consequences of the Environmental Catastrophe

International Conference
“Development of Cooperation in the Aral Sea Basin to Mitigate Consequences of the Environmental Catastrophe”

On 29 October 2014 the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan organized an international conference “Development of Cooperation in the Aral Sea Basin to Mitigate Consequences of the Environmental Catastrophe” in Urgench, Uzbekistan.

The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss the situation in the Aral Sea Basin and mobilize the efforts of international community to carry out practical actions in implementing programs and projects aimed at improving the environmental and socio-economic situation in the Aral Sea Basin, as well as ensuring further development of international cooperation to reduce the negative consequences of this global environmental catastrophe.

World Bank Planning meeting on Model Capacity Training Program

GWP CACENA/World Bank Planning meeting on Model Capacity Training Program

The Planning meeting on Model Capacity Training Program organized by GWP CACENA jointly with World Bank was held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on October 15-17, 2014.

GWP CACENA in partnership with the World Bank is commencing the Aral Sea basin-wide “Strengthening Model Capacity Training Program” and invited experts to contribute an interactive discussion to help define a curriculum for strengthening model capacity program. The first - planning meeting was co-hosted with GWP CACENA at the World Bank office in Tashkent, Uzbekistan with videoconference connections at the World Bank offices of the riparian countries (Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan).