On June 17, a roundtable discussion on sustainable land management was held in Ashgabat within the framework of the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought. The event was organized by UNDP, the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan, and the Scientific Information Center of the International Committee for Sustainable Development (ICSD) within the framework of the UNDP-GEF project on the conservation of ecosystems in the Aral Sea basin, as reported on the website carececo.org.

The Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC) presented a report on the organization's programs and plans as a contribution to the national strategy for preventing land degradation. CAREC expert Dovlet Jumakuliyev highlighted ongoing and planned initiatives to strengthen regional cooperation and implement climate-resilient approaches to natural resource management.

Representatives of government agencies of Turkmenistan, UNDP, FAO, the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), and CAREC took part in the round table. Participants discussed the implementation of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, achieving land degradation neutrality and expanding international partnerships.

During the event, it was also noted that the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (COP-17) will be held from August 17 to 28, 2026 in Ulaanbaatar.