On September 22, the international conference on "Biodiversity of Shusha and surrounding areas, soil and water resources: a vision of the future" started its work in the main building of ANAS.

First, the dear memory of our martyrs who lost their lives on the way to the motherland was commemorated with a minute of silence.

After that, a video depicting the realities of Karabakh, the reconstruction works carried out in the territories freed from occupation, the events and festivals held in Shusha and other liberated regions was shown, and the National Anthem was played.

Academician Arif Hashimov, acting president of ANAS, who opened the conference with his opening speech, said that the 44-day Patriotic War, which was the salvation of our independent statehood, territorial integrity, and national identity, was written in golden letters in the eternal heroic annals of the state and people of Azerbaijan.

He said that the insidious enemy, who does not give up his revanchist dreams even today, always gets his deserved response. He noted that thanks to the determination of the head of the state of Azerbaijan, Commander-in-Chief Mr. Ilham Aliyev, who successfully continued and developed the political, economic and military policy of the Great Leader, and the unification of our people like an iron fist for a single action, crushing blows were delivered to the enemy on all fronts.

Academician Arif Hashimov prayed for God's mercy to our martyrs who showed heroism in the struggle for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Azerbaijan state, and healing to our veterans.

The head of ANAS stressed that today the restoration of the liberated territories of Azerbaijan, construction of communication lines, construction of smart villages and cities, organization of various fields of the economy with the principles of "green" economy continue at a rapid pace: "It is gratifying that Azerbaijani scientists and research teams also contribute to the Return and Great Revival.

Today, after a 30-year break, underground and surface, living and non-living, natural and cultural resources of Karabakh, the current biological and ecological situation, prospects for further development are the subject of serious interdisciplinary research. A number of decisions were made at ANAS to restore and strengthen research in Karabakh, and several important scientific events were held.”

Today, after a 30-year break, Karabakh's underground and surface, animate and inanimate, natural and cultural resources, current biological and ecological situation, prospects for further development are the subject of serious multidisciplinary research. A number of decisions were made in ANAS o restore and strengthen research in Karabakh, and several important scientific events were held.”

Academician Arif Gashimov recalled that today's conference was held on the basis of the decision of the Presidium  "On the action plan for declaring 2022 the Year of Shushi in the Republic of Azerbaijan" dated February 2, 2022. He expressed confidence that he would help in the implementation of plans and declared the work of the conference open.

Academician Arif Gashimov reminded that today's conference was held on the basis of the decision of the Presidium of ANAS "On the action plan for declaring 2022 the Year of Shusha in the Republic of Azerbaijan" dated February 2, 2022. He expressed confidence that he would help in the implementation of plans and declared the work of the conference open.

Then, a video message of Professor Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary, the Chief Coordinator of the Secretariat of the Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (COMSTECH). He thanked the leadership of ANAS for organizing the conference, which is of great importance from a scientific and practical point of view, and expressed gratitude for the invitation to an important international event.

Noting that the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh has rich natural resources and is distinguished by favorable environmental conditions for sustainable development, M. Choudhary spoke about the need to take measures to prevent forest fires that destroy the biodiversity of this region. He highly appreciated the work done in the direction of organizing coordination activities to solve problems caused by extreme climatic conditions.

He added that COMSTECH, working in the field of climate change, now has an internationally recognized forum. This forum serves to identify environmental issues and develop technologies.

Professor M. Chowdhary said that today's conference, dedicated to the problems of biodiversity, land and water resources of Shushi and adjacent territories, will play an important role as a platform for a detailed discussion of these issues, and will also provide great support to the development of relations between scientists and other specialists. He expressed confidence that the event would be useful not only for Azerbaijan, but also for other countries.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Professor Elchin Zeynalov noted that our liberated territories have great potential, and stressed that the city of Shusha is distinguished by its rich heritage and is one of the cultural centers of the world. He drew attention to the statistical data on territories liberated from occupation, which have great agricultural potential. 

Elchin Zeynalov noted that our liberated territories have the necessary infrastructure for the development of fruit and vegetable growing and animal husbandry. Taking into account the characteristics of the soil and climate, it is planned to pay special attention to the establishment of perennial orchards, mulberry orchards, including vineyards, from the point of view of the prospects for the development of coconization. He also noted that these areas have great potential for increasing the number of cattle and small cattle, and provided information on the autumn-spring sowing work, which is carried out under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture in compliance with all security measures. According to him, preparations for the next economic year are currently underway.

“For 30 years, our compatriots who have missed pastures have already begun to drive their animals to pastures located in the Kalbajar and Lachin regions,” Elchin Zeynalov said, adding that in 2022, the resumption of agricultural activities, environmental protection and biodiversity in the territories liberated from occupation, the use of "green" technologies is one of our main goals.

The Deputy Minister wished success to the work of the conference, which will present topical issues and discuss new perspectives.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Azerbaijan Vugar Kerimov said that despite the steps taken to improve the environmental situation in the liberated territories, over the past 30 years of occupation, as a result of the destruction of forests, flora and fauna, including natural monuments, pollution of water resources and illegal exploitation of natural resources, the ecological balance in these areas has been disturbed.

He stressed that as a result of the monitoring, it was found that more than 54 thousand hectares of forest area were completely destroyed, valuable species of fauna and flora were seriously damaged in specially protected natural areas with an area of 43 thousand hectares, 167 mineral deposits of national economic importance, 7 relict lakes of ecological importance were exploited, 10 reservoirs with a total volume of 631 million m3 and 10 thousand hectares of fertile land were withdrawn from economic turnover.

According to Vugar Karimov, in order to restore biological diversity in the liberated territories, with the joint organization of the Azerbaijani representative office of the World Wildlife Fund and the public association IDEA, projects are planned for the reintroduction of certain animal species suitable for the climatic conditions of the area, primarily the gazelle, bezoar goat, to their historical areas.

 

The Deputy Minister noted that in the medium and long term, afforestation work is being carried out to restore the ecological, water-saving and climate-regulating properties of forests and return them to their previous state. To this end, work has begun on the construction of a forest park with a total area of 100 hectares in the Jabrayil and Zangilan regions, which is planned to be completed by the end of the year.

“The implementation of the concept of smart cities and villages, where modern technologies are applied, will lead to the protection of the unique nature of the region, the formation of a healthy and high-quality lifestyle in the urban environment,” Vugar Karimov said, noting that the implementation of environmental restoration work, increasing the reliability of environmental protection , as well as the efficient use of biodiversity and other natural resources, as well as minerals, will lead to the revival of nature in these areas. He said that scientific research plays a big role in ensuring the effectiveness of reconstruction and restoration activities in these territories, and touched upon the importance of cooperation with the academic sector and international research institutions in the framework of the measures taken.

At the end of his speech, Vugar Karimov said that he was sure that the issues discussed at the conference with local and international scientific circles would contribute to targeted and consistent work to restore the region's ecosystem.

Vice-President of ANAS Academician Irada Huseynova said that holding today's prestigious conference, which is one of the important events that played an important role in the future development of scientific research in Karabakh, a few days before September 27 - Memorial Day, has a unique symbolic meaning.

Recalling that the first such conference on the topic “Biodiversity, land and water resources of Karabakh: past, present and future” was successfully held at ANAS on May 20-21, 2021, the Vice President stressed that this event has the task of defining an appropriate roadmap for the great return of science to the liberated regions, communicate to the scientific community the results of the preliminary studies obtained, stimulate further research and mobilize the scientific community in this direction.

According to the vice-president, among the areas of research carried out by our scientists in Karabakh, special mention should be made of the work related to the study of the radioecological state of individual objects, biological resources, water resources and water-related problems, with the monitoring of species planned for inclusion in the III edition of "Red Book" of the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as activities related to the restoration of the Karabakh research base.

Academician Irada Huseynova said that in addition to Azerbaijan, more than 250 theses from Turkey, Iran, Ukraine, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, South Korea, China, Georgia, etc. were presented at today's conference, and noted that the research conducted in the region over the past one and a half years will be reflected in the plenary reports.

Professor of the Near East University, Director of the Ecological Center of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Salih Gudzhel, Deputy Chairman of the Open Joint-Stock Company "Azerbaijan Melioration and Water Management" Rafik Aslanov, Professor of the Tabriz Medical University Aziz Eftikhari, Advisor on Agriculture of "AgroDairy" LLC Mammadzade Nabiev, spoke about the importance of the conference and emphasized that the results of the event will make a great contribution to the restoration of the territories liberated from occupation.

Then, as part of parallel breakout sessions held online via the Zoom platform, "Geological study of Karabakh: a brief history and research development strategy", "Higher plants endangered in Shusha and adjacent areas", "Monitoring of the faunal diversity of territories liberated from occupation", "Karabakh radioecological research in the liberated regions" and other reports were heard. Discussions were also held on the topics of creating new varieties of wheat for the Karabakh region and ensuring food security, water resources, the problem of longevity in Shusha and adjacent areas, etc.

It should be noted that the meetings of the parallel sections will continue on September 23, 2022.