The heads of state of the founding members of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) have decided to declare March 26 as the International Day of the Aral Sea and the Amu Darya and Syr Darya Rivers. This was announced by the press service of the President of Kazakhstan.

The corresponding decision was signed following a meeting of the Council of Heads of State – Founding Members of IFAS, which took place in Astana within the framework of the first Regional Environmental Summit (RES-2026). The meeting was chaired by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and attended by the heads of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan.

Following the meeting, a document on the status of Kazakhstan's chairmanship of the IFAS, a decision on the election of the Fund's president, and the Astana Statement of the Heads of Founding States were also signed. Tokayev was elected President of the IFAS until the end of 2026.

The Regional Environmental Summit is taking place in the Kazakh capital from April 22 to 24. The forum is attended by approximately 1,500 delegates from Central Asian countries, the EU, the SCO, and the Middle East.

The Aral Sea is a stagnant salt lake on the border of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Until the mid-20th century, it covered approximately 68,000 square kilometers, making it the fourth-largest lake in the world. Since the 1960s, the lake has been rapidly shrinking due to large-scale water extraction from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers for irrigated agriculture.