IUCN opens Central Asia office in Tashkent

Tashkent launched a new regional office of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on June 2, which will coordinate environmental efforts across Central Asia. The opening ceremony took place at the Central Asian University for Ecology and Climate (Green University).

Dmitry Gorshkov, IUCN’s Regional Coordinator, will head the office. It aims to support Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan in tackling pressing environmental issues — from biodiversity protection and habitat conservation to climate change mitigation.

Aziz Abdukhakimov, Uzbekistan’s Minister of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change, noted that the office’s location at Green University was a deliberate choice. It will enable stronger collaboration between students, researchers and IUCN experts.

Earlier, Kursiv Uzbekistan reported that Uzbekistan’s Cabinet of Ministers approved a national action plan for wildlife protection.