Uzbekistan is a country with few forests. According to estimates, they occupy 3.68 million hectares, which corresponds to 8.6% of the total land area of the country. In the last 30 years, the forest area has been affected by the uncontrolled development of livestock, the increase in the demand for wood for various industries, and the use of fuel in rural areas where energy sources are very scarce, as well as water at the expense of forest areas. decreased due to the expansion of harvesting agriculture. Another factor contributing to forest degradation is climate change, which has led to an increase in fires, pest attacks, and tree diseases in forests.

In our capital, the UN Economic Commission for Europe and the Joint Department of Forestry and Timber of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) State Forestry Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan and in cooperation with the representative office of FAO in Uzbekistan, a National Forest Policy Dialogue was organized on the topic "Technical and economic substantiation of the forestry sector for the restoration of sustainable landscapes in Uzbekistan".

In our capital, the UN Economic Commission for Europe and the Joint Department of Forestry and Timber of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) State Forestry Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan and in cooperation with the representative office of FAO in Uzbekistan, a National Forest Policy Dialogue was organized on the topic "Technical and economic substantiation of the forestry sector for the restoration of sustainable landscapes in Uzbekistan".

The State Committee for Forestry, the State Committee for Ecology and Environmental Protection, experts of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Uzbekistan, representatives of non-governmental non-profit organizations, scientific circles, FAO experts, UN Economic Commission for Europe participated in the dialogue. and experts of other international organizations participated.

At the meeting, with the participation of national and international experts, important issues such as the creation of favorable political, legal and institutional frameworks for the development of the forest sector, financing mechanisms for the restoration of forest landscapes in our country were discussed. In addition, current and planned national and regional projects aimed at reforestation in Uzbekistan were reviewed.

During the conversation, it was noted that in 2018, the government of Uzbekistan undertook to restore more than 500,000 hectares of degraded landscapes as part of the Bonn Challenge program. The Bonn Challenge is a global effort to restore 150 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by 2020 and 350 million hectares by 2030. To date, 61 countries, 8 states and 5 associations have adopted the Bonn Challenge. It was also noted that Uzbekistan actively participated in the development of the Strategy for the restoration of the landscapes of the Caucasus and Central Asia and the greening of its infrastructure.

The participants of the dialogue specifically noted the efforts of Uzbekistan within the framework of the nationwide project "Green Space", which has been implemented since 2021 at the initiative of the head of state. This large-scale project on the greening of the country is included in the development strategy of New Uzbekistan for 2022-2026, and it envisages the expansion of the forest cover of our country at the expense of planting 200 million trees every year. State institutions and scientific communities are actively involved in its implementation.

The last National Dialogue was organized within the framework of the integrated work program of the UN Economic Commission for Europe and FAO for 2022-2025. The event allowed the participants to exchange experience and coordinate efforts to develop inter-sectoral cooperation in the field of forestry of Uzbekistan.

Dilrabo Boboyeva, Information Service Specialist of the State Forestry Committee.