Kazakhstan to plant saxauls on Aral Sea bottom

The Kazakh Ecology and Natural Resources Ministry is working over creating a forest nursery on the drained bottom of the Aral Sea, Vice Minister Mansur Oshurbayev said, Kazinform News Agency reports.

He remined the Head of State instructed to conduct forest melioration on the Aral Sea bottom by 2025 on the territory of 1.1 million hectares by planting saxauls. The works started in 2021. As of today, 423,000 hectares of saxauls were planted, including 64,000 hectares planted in 2024.

He added a forest nursery was opened in Kyzylorda region to cultivate up to 3 million seedlings. An issue on building a forest nursery right on the seabed is under consideration to raise seedling’s ability to adapt and solve their survival rate issues to the utmost. Scientific works claim that survival rate of saxaul stands at 30%.

The vice minister noted next year seeds will be sown by spraying them through aerial mechanical means.

As earlier reported, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan set to improve the ecological situation in the Aral Sea basin jointly.