Ashgabat, 27 August 2010 – Residents of the Caspian coastal villages of Chekishlyar, Garagel, Belek and Gyzylsuv of Balkan province, who started breeding poultry and cattle as an alternative method of income generation with a view of preserving the biological diversity of the Caspian Sea, enhanced their knowledge and got professional advice in the course of a one day seminar in the city of Balkanabad organized by the joint project of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

The seminar was also attended by representatives of the administration of Balkan province, the Department for Nature Protection for Balkan province, the Khazar State Reserve as well as specialists of the agricultural sector of district administrations.

The leading teachers of the Turkmen State Agricultural University exposed participants to effective methods of poultry farming and cattle breeding, methods of prevention and treatment of diseases of poultry and cattle, increasing their productivity, rearing young animals in the greenhouse conditions, characteristics of feeding that affects quality of the products, methods of market research and identifying markets for product distribution. 

Particular attention was paid to the peculiarities of breeding chickens, sheep and cattle, given the shortage of fresh water and fodder in the Caspian coastal villages, as well as the issue of preservation of ecology of the region guided by “do no harm” principle.

Together with the teachers of the Agricultural University participants also made cost estimates for the proportions of poultry and cattle in relation to the available land and resources. In the end of the seminar, participants received manuals on poultry and cattle breeding.

The UNDP/GEF joint project “Conservation and Sustainable Use of Globally Significant Biological Diversity in the Hazar Nature Reserve on the Caspian Sea Coast” started in 2006. It is implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Nature Protection of Turkmenistan. The main goal of the project is to preserve globally significant biological diversity of Turkmenistan through strengthening sustainability of the country’s national protected areas system based on piloting the management model for the Hazar Nature Reserve.