Workshop on cryosphere resilience in Central Asia held in Ashgabat

Many are familiar with the four main geospheres: the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere. However, due to our arid climate, the concept of the “cryosphere” is rarely encountered or used in everyday life. But when you consider the important role the cryosphere plays in the Earth’s ecosystem, you can’t help but think about how dependent we are on this geographical layer of the planet, characterized by the presence or potential existence of ice. The cryosphere refers to the ice cover, frozen water found in forms such as sea ice, river and lake ice, snow cover, glaciers, ice caps, ice sheets, and frozen ground (including permafrost). In addition to the visible parts of glaciers and snow cover in the mountains, the cryosphere includes underground ice, rock glaciers, moraines, and permafrost. The dynamics of global warming are leading to the reduction and melting of glaciers, which negatively affects the planet’s water balance, including our region, where water levels in the Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers are decreasing.

This issue was the focus of a two-day seminar held on October 8-9, 2024, at the “Archabil” Hotel in the capital, titled “Development of Diagnostic Analysis.” The seminar was a continuation of the Subregional Seminar that took place on April 3-4, 2024, as part of the GEF-UNDP-UNESCO project “Strengthening the Resilience of Central Asian Countries by Enabling Regional Cooperation to Assess Glacio – Nival Systems to Develop Integrated Methods for Sustainable Development and Adaptation Climate Change.”

Previously, similar seminars at the national level were held in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. As a conclusion to this series, the seminar in Turkmenistan wrapped up the discussions aimed at examining the perspectives and visions of Central Asian countries on water resources and climate change, as well as related impacts, including the potential degradation of the cryosphere in Central Asia, as part of the preparation of a diagnostic analysis under the project.

The seminar gathered about 35 participants, including national partners from Central Asian countries, government agencies (Ministry of Environment Protection, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Education, State Committee for Water Resources, Academy of Sciences, Turkmen Agricultural Institute, Caspian Sea Institute, the “Türkmensuwylymtaslama” Institute, and others), international organizations (UNDP, UNESCO, the Regional Environmental Center for Central Asia (CAREC), United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA)), and Civil Society Organizations (PAE “Tebigy Kuwwat”, Aarhus Center of Turkmenistan, Union of Women of Turkmenistan, the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan (UIET), and the Magtymguly Youth Organization of Turkmenistan).

The seminar was opened with a welcoming address to the participants and encouragement for fruitful work by Mrs. Chinar Rustamova, Executive Secretary of the National Commission of Turkmenistan for UNESCO.

Following this, Mrs. Nana Baramidze, Project Manager and representative of the UNESCO Regional Office in Almaty, greeted the seminar participants and introduced the agenda for the two-day meeting.

During the two days of work, facilitated by Mr. Talaybek Makeev, Technical Advisor at Zoi Net, and Mr. Serikzhan Atanov, Regional Project Coordinator and Junior Researcher at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, four sessions were held:

1. The results of identified cryosphere issues based on situational analysis, subregional and national seminars in other Central Asian countries;
2. Review of the identified problems in the Diagnostic Analysis, their impacts, and identification of key points of concern in the context of Turkmenistan;
3. Identifying the visions/understandings of stakeholders and their interests;
4. Defining priorities for raising awareness, capacity building, and pilot activities under the project for Turkmenistan.

During the sessions, presentations were delivered by national experts from Central Asian countries on the country-specific situations in the context of identifying cryosphere issues and proposing solutions to these problems, both within the framework of the project and for the future. Group exercises were conducted, along with a general brainstorming session to identify the consequences for Turkmenistan in relation to the cryosphere situation in Central Asia, and the necessary actions to mitigate the abnormal glacier melting in the Pamir and Tien Shan mountains, which provide meltwater for the Amu Darya and Syr Darya river basins, respectively, under changing climate conditions.

As a result of the series of national seminars, a solid foundation is expected to be established for cryosphere monitoring and data management at the national and regional levels. By promoting cooperation and knowledge exchange, these seminars will contribute to the preparation and development of scenario strategies to address future cryosphere changes in Central Asia.

Berkeli Atayev.