The Aral Sea, once the fourth-largest lake in the world, has now nearly disappeared, losing over 90 percent of its surface area since the 1960s, leaving behind mostly desert.

Editor’s note: Kazakh political scientist, and professor of the Department of Media Communication and History of Kazakhstan at MUIT JSC Saken Mukan. The article expresses the personal opinion of the author and may not coincide with the view of News.Az.

As of early 2024, 1.9 billion cubic meters of water have been delivered to the North Aral Sea, increasing its total volume to 22 billion cubic meters, News.Az reports citing The Times of Central Asia.

On July 23, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Erlan Nysanbayev met with scientists from the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to discuss the creation of artificial forest plantations on the dried base of the Aral Sea.