The Cabinet of Ministers issued a Resolution on February 8 creating Sudochye-Akpetki state nature sanctuary on 280.5 thousand hectares in Muynak district of Karakalpakstan, the State Committee for Ecology and Environmental Protection said.
The purpose of the sanctuary is to preserve and reproduce coastal landscapes, canals, collectors and their watercourses, populations of waterfowl, rare and endangered species of fish, birds and mammals.
The State Committee for Ecology was instructed to develop proposals for the inclusion of Lake Sudochye in the list of wetlands of global importance protected by the Ramsar Convention by the end of 2021 and submit them for reviewal by the government. In September last year, the Tudakal and Kuyimazar reservoirs in the Navoi province were included in the Ramsar Convention. It also includes Dengizkul Lake and Aydaro-Arnasay lake system.
The creation of the Sudochye-Akpetki nature sanctuary was planned by the March 2019 presidential decree. The document also provides for the creation of four more sanctuaries in Karakalpakstan in 2019-2022.
Sudochye is located in the left bank of the Amu Darya delta. In the past, a large lake, in the late 1970s it broke up into separate bodies of water due to the drying up of the Aral Sea. It is a nesting place for thousands of pink flamingos.
Today in Uzbekistan there are 6 state nature sanctuaries, 1 integrated reserve, 6 natural parks, 1 national park, 11 natural monuments, 2 biosphere reserves, 12 nature reserves and 1 Jeyran specialized nursery. As a result of the creation of Sudochye-Akpetka, the total area of the sanctuaries has increased from 3.521 million hectares to 3.801 million hectares, or from 7.84% to 8.46% of the country's territory.
