Public organizations and CAREC discussed prospects for cooperation

On Tuesday, May 14, a meeting of some public associations took place with Mergen Kepbanov, director of the Regional Environmental Center for Central Asia (CAREC) project Office in Turkmenistan.

Representatives of the following public organizations gathered at the CAREC project Office in Turkmenistan, located at the National Institute of Wilderness, Flora and Fauna: “Nature Preserving Society of Turkmenistan”, “Tebigy Kuwwat”, “Yash Tebigatchy”, “Eco-Durmush” (Dashoguz city) , “National Red Crescent Society of Turkmenistan” and “Mashgala” (Mary city), and online through the ZOOM platform, “Yenme”, “Bosfor”, climbing club “Mert” (Balkanabat city), “Dyap-dessur” (Mary city) joined the meeting.

The meeting was initiated by the Nature Preserving Society of Turkmenistan and the public association enterprise (PAE) Tebigy Kuwwat, which signed a Memorandum of Understanding with CAREC recently. The main goal of the meeting agenda was to introduce the new head of the CAREC project Office in Turkmenistan to civil society organizations, to learn more about each other, about their activities, ideas, and also to discuss prospects for cooperation.

As a rule, at such meetings a Presidium is elected, and therefore, at the suggestion of S. Mamedniyazov, a chairman and secretary of the meeting were elected. They were, respectively, Serdar Allekov, Chairman of the Nature Preserving Society of Turkmenistan and Timur Aliyev, specialist of PAE “Tebigy Kuwwat” and the Aarhus Centre of Turkmenistan.

At the beginning, a presentation by M. Kepbanov about CAREC was heard, which spoke about the history of the organization’s creation, statutory goals and objectives, priorities, projects, the role of civil society in CAREC activities, etc.

Next, Berkeli Atayev made a presentation on the activities of the PAE “Tebigy Kuwwat” and the Aarhus Centre of Turkmenistan created under it. B. Atayev told everyone present at the meeting about the areas of activity, the development of partnerships, achievements and plans for the future. He especially emphasized the work of the Aarhus Centre, created in 2012 in the context of the signed Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan and the PAE “Tebigy Kuwwat”. This year marks the 25th anniversary of Turkmenistan’s joining Aarhus Convention, and in honor of this anniversary, the Centre is holding a number of events, including the creation of the “Aarhus Centre in Ashgabat” website, which is intended to cover all events related to the implementation of the Aarhus Convention, as well as events of Civil society organizations.

He noted the active participation of the Aarhus Centre in the preparation of all reports related to the Aarhus Convention and the promotion of its provisions in Turkmenistan. A striking example of this is the centre’s current participation in the preparation of the National Report on the implementation of the Aarhus Convention for the period 2021-2025.

The State Report covering a 5-year period on the implementation of the Aarhus Convention in Turkmenistan should reflect all relevant country’s activities, including civil society activities in the field of ecology. There are already certain developments in this Report, which the Aarhus Centre in Turkmenistan will soon introduce to a wide range of the public for discussion and receiving feedback and comments. In this regard, B. Atayev familiarized the meeting participants with the structure and individual provisions of the National Report on the implementation of the Aarhus Convention in Turkmenistan. In general, when the preliminary version of the Report is ready, its draft will be posted on the Aarhus Centre website for familiarization with the general public and, if necessary, making appropriate recommendations and proposals on it. The meeting participants spoke positively about the work being done by the Aarhus Centre and approved the structure of the future National Report.

Jojyyeva Shirin, international relations specialist of the CSO “Yash Tebigatchy” (Young Naturalist), attracted the attention of all participants with her presentation and with demonstration of videos. Despite the fact that the organization is only two years old, it has managed to occupy a worthy niche in the civil sector, working with children and youth.

The final part of the agenda was the issue of electing a CSO representative from Turkmenistan to the Board of Governors (BOG) of CAREC. According to the CAREC regulations, two representatives from each country in the Central Asian region are proposed to the BOG, one from a government structure and one from the Civil sector for a period of 3 years with a possible extension for another term. Currently, the term of stay of the current CSO representative from Turkmenistan in the BOG is coming to an end, and therefore, the public gathered at the meeting had the opportunity to propose their candidate.

Serdar Allekov asked to speak on this issue. He himself once represented the public of Turkmenistan in the CAREC Board of Governors and knows at first hand how important the role of each member of the BOG is in making environmental decisions important for the Central Asian region. Therefore, S. Allekov proposed the candidacy of Berkeli Ataev, director of the PAE “Tebigy Kuwwat”, as a member of the CAREC Board of Governors from the public of Turkmenistan. He noted that B. Ataev has extensive experience in the environmental sector, and he has been in the civil sector for about 15 years, has an understanding of the environmental situation in the country and in the region as a whole, has professional and communication skills both nationally and regionally level.

The meeting participants overwhelmingly supported S. Allekov’s  proposal and voted for B. Atayev to join the CAREC Board of Governors in accordance with the CAREC Charter and the Regulations of the BOG.

B. Atayev cordially thanked everyone for placing such high trust in him, and on his part promised to make every effort to defend environmental interests at the national, regional and international levels. Also, he assured everyone present that he would certainly report on the work done during his tenure on the CAREC Board of Governors.

Based on the results of the meeting, a Minutes was drawn up, which recorded decisions on all items on the agenda. The meeting participants once again congratulated Mergen Kepbanov on his appointment as director of the CAREC Project Office in Turkmenistan, wished him fruitful work, and also expressed their desire to continue meeting on an ongoing basis to discuss any opportunities for interaction and cooperation in the field of ecology.