President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov emphasized the special role of forests and natural ecosystems in stabilizing the climate and providing water in his address to the 76th session of the UN General Assembly.
The head of state noted that adapting to climate change is one of the priority and pressing problems for Kyrgyzstan:
“We attach great importance to protecting and expanding the area of mountain forests, which, along with their natural function of absorbing carbon dioxide, also play an extremely important role in preserving water resources. In this regard, we advocate the development and adoption, under the auspices of the UN, of a special targeted program on mountain forests, their conservation, restoration and the afforestation of mountain slopes.”
He also stressed that centuries-old glaciers, rivers and the biodiversity of Kyrgyzstan’s mountain ecosystems are at risk of disappearing.
“This year, at UNESCO, we are initiating a resolution ‘On the Preservation of Mountain Glaciers’, and at the same time we continue working with international partners to implement the provisions of the ‘Nature Knows No Borders’ resolution, submitted by Kyrgyzstan and recently approved by the UN General Assembly. There are already encouraging achievements. For example, thanks to joint work with range countries and international organizations, we have managed to prevent the disappearance of such a noble animal as the snow leopard,” said Sadyr Japarov.
Full text of the address:
The “Youth Resilience to Climate Change” project is implemented under the general coordination of the Norwegian Society for the Protection of Nature, in partnership with BIOM and GLIP, with the financial support of the European Union.
