INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
meters compared to the same time last year, reaching 1,630 billion cubic meters.Lake Urmia in the north-western West Azarbaijan province
started to dry up in the 2000s
The lake is the largest in West Asia and the sixth-largest salt lake in the world, with a water surface area of 5,000 to 6,000 square
kilometers.The current level of Lake Urmia is 1270.28 meters, showing a rise of 3 centimeters compared to the last year, IRNA quoted Majid
Rastegari as saying.The area of Lake Urmia is now around 1,140 square kilometers, which has expanded by 30 square kilometers in comparison
to the last year, he added.Effective restorationThrough a joint project led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and funded by
the Government of Japan, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is going to join to promote sustainable
agricultural practices and solutions for the conservation of Lake Urmia.On December 1, 2024, the Government of Japan and UNDP signed an
and FAO.Focusing on sustainable agriculture and climate-adapted livelihoods, the initiative seeks to deliver long-term benefits for local
communities while preserving the biodiversity of wetlands as critical ecosystems.Lake Urmia faces significant challenges due to the
in the region are increasingly vulnerable to water shortages, a situation exacerbated by the effects of climate change
with the support of the government of Japan, identified technical agricultural solutions to increase water efficiency in the agriculture
sector at the Lake Urmia basin, which may be efficient in saving the internationally known biosphere reserves.Since 1995, Lake Urmia has
been shrinking due to rapid upstream agricultural expansion and climate change
since 2013, the continuation of the critical situation demonstrates that sustainability, macro and micro, management solutions should be
considered as the main essence of action plans.In a concerted effort to address the challenges facing the Lake Urmia Basin in 2016, FAO
Japan.Key technical outcomes of this initiative included the implementation of a water accounting plus project in the Lake Urmia Basin and
the identification of water-consuming hotspots within the basin
