Ashgabat, 18 December 2018: The United Nations Development Program (UNDP), together with the State Committee for Environmental Protection and Land Resources of Turkmenistan, organized a seminar to discuss the 6^th National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity. This event is held within the framework of the UNDP regional project and the Global Environment Facility “Technical Support to Produce the Sixth National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)".

In 1996, Turkmenistan joined the Convention on Biodiversity, thereby demonstrating its active role in addressing global issues of biodiversity component conservation and its commitment to environmentally sustainable and safe development. Today, the Government of Turkmenistan has already submitted 4 reports to the Secretariat.

The issues related to the process of preparing this report, its format, structure and deadlines for submission were discussed in the seminar. The participants had the opportunity to analyze the main sections of the 6^th National Report such as; legislation, the current state of biodiversity of Turkmenistan, the efforts of the government to conserve the flora and fauna of the country, the sustainable use of biodiversity and habitat, which are influenced by humans, etc.

“The drafting of the 6^th Report is very important because it demonstrates that Turkmenistan fulfills its obligations under the Convention, the country's active position in addressing global issues of conservation of biodiversity component and highlights the next steps of Turkmenistan in the field of environmentally sustainable development", mentioned Natia Natsvlishvili, The Resident Representative a.i. of UNDP in Turkmenistan.

The workshop was attended by representatives of various ministries and agencies directly or indirectly related to the issues of conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, including representatives of the velayat subdivisions of the State Committee for Environment Protection and Land Resources of Turkmenistan, state nature reserves and higher educational institutions of Turkmenistan.

The seminar facilitators expressed their hope that the 6^th National Report to the UN Convention on Biodiversity will be approved by the Government of Turkmenistan and officially submitted to the UN CBD Secretariat until December 31, 2018.