Forest cover has expanded in Uzbekistan, the director of the Forestry Agency Nizomiddin Bakirov said at the meeting of the Legislative Chamber.
Reportedly, during the last six years, the surface of the forest cover has expanded by 1 million hectares, reaching 11.9 million hectares. This is 26.4% of the total surface of the country.
In 2023, the Forestry Agency carried out afforestation and restoration on 235,000 hectares.
In order to ensure the ecological stability of the Aral province, "green covers" of saxovul and other desert plants have been planted on 127,800 hectares in the Moynaq district of the Karakalpakstan autonomy, 40,600 hectares in the Bukhara province, 43,700 hectares in the Navoi province, and 10,600 hectares in the Khorezm province.
It was also added that the number of ecotourism facilities on the forest lands has increased to 280, the number of ecotourism routes has increased to 38, and the number of visitor centers has increased to 5. In 2023, the gross income will be 320 billion soums, and the domestic production of forest products will be 8.8 trillion soums.
Earlier, draft amendments to the Code of Administrative Responsibility aimed at improving the effectiveness of fire prevention were discussed the session of the Senate Committee on Defense and Security Issues.
