• 30 October 2025
• 114

The Аral sea seabed ecosystem is being improved through a dedicated project

A four-party memorandum aimed at restoring the Aral Sea seabed ecosystem has been signed in Astana. The initiative was launched by the Bulat Utemuratov Foundation. The project participants are the Bulat Utemuratov Foundation, the University of California Berkeley, the Executive Directorate of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan and management of Korkyt Ata Kyzylorda University.

As part of the ecological project, in March-April 2026 there is planned to commence as a pilot project the planting of seeds on a 1-hectare area. If the scientifically confirmed germination rates exceed 20%, then in 2027, as part of the second phase of the pilot project, there will be planted seeds on 50 hectares of the dried Aral Sea seabed. The cost of the experimental project, funded by the Bulat Utemuratov Foundation, will be 600,000 US dollars.
 

In her speech, the Chairman of the Board and Rector of Korkyt Ata Kyzylorda University, Beibitkul Karimova, stated that within this project, scientists from the leading university of Aral region will undertake the main tasks of «Improving the Aral Sea seabed ecosystem using innovative plant cultivation methods».

«The university's research group consists of biologists, ecologists, agronomists, water resource specialists, chemists, soil scientists, and IT specialists. Scientists from Aral Sea region have been assigned the tasks of «Preparing the test period», «Producing 3,000 e-seed containers in Kazakhstan», «Testing on a 1-hectare experimental plot» and «Monitoring and control». This project will be a source of great hope for the world, and especially for Aral Sea region, which feels its consequences most acutely», said the Rector.

Korkyt Ata Kyzylorda University, with its nearly 90-year history, has previously implemented scientific and applied research aimed at mitigating the environmental consequences of the Aral Sea, often referred to as the «blue necklace of Central Asia». The university's scientists are constantly engaged in researching Aral region's ecosystem, as well as water resource conservation, ecological testing of grain crops and wastewater treatment technologies in conditions of water scarcity. In 2024, the university opened its first international center for studying Aral region ecosystems. Nowadays, under grant funding from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan there are being implemented 5 scientific projects out of the university's 38 local and international ones. In September of the current year, university scientists, jointly with scientists from Germany, China, and Russia, participated in an international comprehensive scientific expedition on the ecology and environment of the Aral Sea. The expedition's goal is a comprehensive assessment of the ecological situation in Aral Sea region, biodiversity conservation and the development of practical recommendations for the restoration of damaged ecosystems. Besides, our scientists are strategic partners in a grant project of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. The research group includes scientists from Adam Mickiewicz University, the University of Medical Sciences in Poznań and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (USA). Next week, with the support of the Aral Regional Forestry and Wildlife Protection Department, there is planned the «Araldy Saqta» ecological campaign for planting 18,000 black saxaul saplings on 60 hectares of the Aral Sea territory. Employees, faculty and students of the Korkyt Ata University will also actively participate in this occasion.