Dushanbe/Kabul, 24 September 2020 – The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Republic of Tajikistan have taken an vital step in strengthening joint efforts to guard their distinctive, shared mountain ecosystem of the Panj Amu Darya river basin with the signing of the 2 nations’ first-ever bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on environmental safety.
The settlement, which was signed in Dushanbe on 17 September 2020 and has a five-year length, focuses on 5 key areas: local weather change adaptation; biodiversity conservation; monitoring of water high quality; environmental evaluation and sharing of data and experience on ecosystem administration. It additionally features a dedication by the 2 nations to undertake environmental affect assessments of joint tasks and to inform one another in case of potential environmental impacts throughout borders.
“It provides us nice pleasure to welcome our associates and neighbours from Afghanistan in Dushanbe to conclude at this time’s vital settlement and be part of our palms in conserving the excellent wildlife of our shared mountain ecosystems and assist our peoples adapt to the rising impacts of local weather change,” stated Sheralizoda Ahmadjon, Chairman of the Committee on Environmental Safety of Tajikistan.
The spectacular panorama of the Pamir and Wakhan mountains, whose glaciers give rise to the Amu Darya – Central Asia’s largest river – is residence to iconic species together with the endangered snow leopard, mountain goats and sheep, and endemic vegetation communities.
With the ranges’ strategic location on the crossroads of the historic Silk Highway, the brand new settlement seeks to solidify the alliance between the 2 nations in defending the delicate mountain ecosystem by mitigating the environmental impacts of future funding plans in infrastructure, extractives and commerce, in addition to supporting native communities in adapting to local weather change by means of sustainable pure useful resource administration practices.
Discussions between the 2 nations first came about in 2012 below the auspices of the UN Economic Fee for Europe, which led to the endorsement of an MoU on the change of hydrological information for the Panj-Amu Darya in 2014. This MOU has enabled the set up of hydrological stations alongside the over 1,000-kilometre-long shared river border between the 2 nations, and the change of water circulate information. This information is important not just for water assets administration and local weather adaptation, but in addition for flood and drought forecasting and early warning methods.
The conclusion of a brand new environmental cooperation MOU represents the second main milestone of this bilateral dialogue course of, which UNEP helped facilitate, supported by the European Union, below the Alternatives for Mountain Space Built-in Improvement undertaking.
“The settlement offers a structured framework for Afghanistan and Tajikistan to virtually tackle the threats of local weather change and biodiversity loss. We hope this cooperation will proceed to increase to the opposite nations of the Amu Darya basin sooner or later,” stated Gary Lewis, Director of UNEP’s Disasters and Conflicts Programme.
The MoU additionally fulfils the commitments made by the 2 nations below the Protocol of the seventh Assembly of the Intergovernmental Economic, Business, Social and Technical Fee (July 2019) to increase their cooperation efforts to guard and sustainably handle their pure assets.
Zoi Setting Community – a non-governmental organisation primarily based in Switzerland – additionally contributed to the group of conferences and has been a long-standing accomplice within the Afghan-Tajik cooperation course of.
The brand new settlement additionally establishes a Technical Working Group on environmental safety chargeable for improvement and implementation of cooperative programmes and actions.
One of many first actions below the brand new settlement is a research tour for environmental specialists from each nations to survey the environmental challenges within the Panj basin – Pamir Mountains area – and to develop a joint environmental motion plan. To facilitate data change, UNEP can also be supporting each nations in creating a geospatial platform to change environmental info.
NOTES TO EDITORS
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