{"slug":"uzbekistan-aral-sea-afforestation","name":"Uzbekistan Aral Sea Afforestation (Forestry Agency)","tagline":"State saxaul planting on the dried Aral seabed (2 million ha reported since 2018) and the Yashil Makon greening project","description":"Uzbekistan's Forestry Agency (since May 2025 the Agency for the Development of Forests and Green Zones and Combating Desertification, under the ecology ministry that became the National Committee on Ecology and Climate Change in late 2025) runs the state afforestation of the Aralkum, the desert left by the shrinking Aral Sea in Karakalpakstan. Each winter-spring since 2018 it sows saxaul, cherkez, kandym and other desert shrubs by machinery and aircraft to fix salt-dust from the exposed seabed; the government reports protective plantations on 2 million hectares for 2018-2025 and aims for 2.1 million hectares of forest in the Aral region. The same agency implements the nationwide 'Yashil Makon' (Green Space) project launched in late 2021 to plant 200 million tree and shrub seedlings a year and raise green cover to 30% by 2030; the National Committee on Ecology reports 872 million seedlings in its first four years and more than 200 million in 2025. Survival on the seabed depends on rainfall, and a 2026 presidential review of Yashil Makon shifted emphasis to seedling quality and survival after plantings dried out.","website_url":"https://gov.uz/en/urmon","logo_url":null,"founded_year":2017,"org_type":"government","scope":"national","headquarters":{"city":"Tashkent","region":null,"country":"UZ","lat":41.2995,"lng":69.2401},"volunteer_url":null,"donation_url":null,"events_url":null,"featured":false,"trees_on_record":872000000,"primary_activity":"afforestation","activities":[{"slug":"afforestation","name":"Afforestation","primary":true},{"slug":"urban-forestry","name":"Urban forestry","primary":false},{"slug":"nursery-seedling-production","name":"Nurseries & seedlings","primary":false},{"slug":"seed-collection","name":"Seed collection","primary":false}],"updated_at":"2026-11-08T00:02:16.194Z","url":"https://treerm.org/org/uzbekistan-aral-sea-afforestation","markdown_url":"https://treerm.org/org/uzbekistan-aral-sea-afforestation.md","api_url":"https://treerm.org/api/v1/organizations/uzbekistan-aral-sea-afforestation","data_note":"All figures are Uzbek government statements; no independent count exists. The Aral seabed area is reported as 'protective forest plantations' sown on 2 million hectares (2018-2025) and does not reflect established forest: a Forestry Agency scientist quoted by Mongabay (May 2024) put sapling survival at 50-70% in wet years and about 30% in dry years. An earlier ministry notice gave 1.73 million ha for 2018-2023 and Mongabay reported 1.7 million ha as of May 2024. Yashil Makon counts seedlings planted (including shrubs), not surviving trees; a September 2026 presidential review acknowledged that some spring plantings dried out. The 2025 Yashil Makon figure (more than 200 million) is a rounded year-end statement.","derived":{"annual_trees":[{"year":2023,"value":220000000},{"year":2024,"value":227000000},{"year":2025,"value":200000000}],"latest_annual":{"year":2025,"value":200000000},"yoy":-0.11894273127753303,"cagr":-0.04653741075440765,"dollars_raised_per_tree":null,"cost_per_tree":null,"trees_per_volunteer":null,"survival":null,"hectares":{"value":2000000,"year":2025,"cumulative":true},"transparency":{"score":50,"label":"Partly documented","points":[{"key":"annual","label":"Publishes annual tree figures","earned":15,"max":20,"why":"3 years of annual figures on record (5 points each, up to 4 years)"},{"key":"recent","label":"Figures are recent","earned":15,"max":15,"why":"Latest annual figure is for 2025"},{"key":"sourced","label":"Every figure has a public source","earned":10,"max":10,"why":"6 of 6 figures link to a source"},{"key":"money","label":"Publishes financials or cost per tree","earned":0,"max":15,"why":"No financial figure on record"},{"key":"survival","label":"Reports survival or monitoring","earned":0,"max":15,"why":"No survival or monitoring figure on record"},{"key":"verified","label":"Independently verified figure","earned":0,"max":10,"why":"All figures are the organization's own"},{"key":"programs","label":"Breaks figures down by program","earned":10,"max":10,"why":"Figures attached to named programs"},{"key":"people","label":"Reports volunteers or events","earned":0,"max":5,"why":"No volunteer figures or events on record"}]},"methodology":"https://treerm.org/methodology"},"countries":["UZ"],"social_links":{},"programs":[{"slug":"aral-seabed-afforestation","name":"Aral Sea dried-seabed afforestation","activity":"afforestation","description":"Mechanised and aerial sowing of saxaul and other desert shrubs on the exposed Aral seabed in Karakalpakstan to stabilise sand and salt dust, with annual saxaul nurseries of at least 100 ha and 7,800 tonnes of desert-plant seed collected.","url":"https://gov.uz/en/urmon/news/view/140001","started_year":2018,"ended_year":null},{"slug":"yashil-makon","name":"Yashil Makon (Green Space) national project","activity":"urban-forestry","description":"Nationwide greening project planting about 200 million tree and shrub seedlings a year along roads, in mahallas, schools, hospitals and forest-fund land, targeting 30% green cover by 2030.","url":"https://gov.uz/en/eco/news/view/52101","started_year":2021,"ended_year":null}],"metrics":[{"metric_type":"hectares_restored","year":2024,"value":1700000,"is_cumulative":true,"program":"aral-seabed-afforestation","source_url":"https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/uzbekistan-plants-a-forest-where-a-sea-once-lay/","source_note":"Mongabay, 29 May 2024, citing Uzbekistan's Forestry Agency: 1.7 million hectares of forest planted on the Uzbek side of the Aral seabed over the past five years, with 150,000-200,000 ha more planned for 2024; scientist Turaxon Ziyotov estimates sapling survival at 50-70% in wet years and about 30% in dry years","confidence":"reported"},{"metric_type":"hectares_restored","year":2025,"value":2000000,"is_cumulative":true,"program":"aral-seabed-afforestation","source_url":"https://gov.uz/en/urmon/news/view/140001","source_note":"Forestry Agency news, 6 Mar 2026: protective forest plantations 'created on 2 million hectares of the dried seabed of the Aral Sea during 2018-2025'","confidence":"reported"},{"metric_type":"trees_planted","year":2023,"value":220000000,"is_cumulative":false,"program":"yashil-makon","source_url":"https://gov.uz/en/eco/news/view/52101","source_note":"Ministry of Ecology release, 6 May 2025: 220 million seedlings planted under Yashil Makon in 2023","confidence":"reported"},{"metric_type":"trees_planted","year":2024,"value":227000000,"is_cumulative":false,"program":"yashil-makon","source_url":"https://gov.uz/en/eco/news/view/52101","source_note":"Ministry of Ecology release, 6 May 2025: Yashil Makon seedlings planted by year - 86 million (autumn 2021), 203 million (2022), 220 million (2023), 227 million (2024); 136 million in spring 2025","confidence":"reported"},{"metric_type":"trees_planted","year":2025,"value":200000000,"is_cumulative":false,"program":"yashil-makon","source_url":"https://gov.uz/en/eco/news/view/113867","source_note":"National Committee on Ecology and Climate Change, 24 Dec 2025: 'more than 200 million tree and shrub saplings were planted nationwide under the project' in 2025; national green cover reached 14.1%","confidence":"reported"},{"metric_type":"trees_planted","year":2025,"value":872000000,"is_cumulative":true,"program":"yashil-makon","source_url":"https://gov.uz/en/urmon/news/view/97541","source_note":"Forestry Agency, 21 May 2025: 872 million tree and shrub seedlings planted over the project's first four years (autumn 2021-spring 2025); 136.9 million in spring 2025 against a 125 million plan","confidence":"reported"}],"upcoming_events":[],"license":"CC-BY-4.0"}