Published
10/16/2026, 16:27The President of Kyrgyzstan, Sadyr Japarov, has put forward an initiative to establish a special trust fund under the auspices of the UN for the conservation of Lake Issyk-Kul. Kyrgyzstan is prepared to allocate $10 million from the state budget for this purpose. The Head of State made this announcement on 16 October at the Leaders’ Summit held as part of COP17 in Yerevan.
In his speech, Sadyr Japarov noted that climate change and the melting of Central Asian glaciers pose serious threats to mountain ecosystems and biodiversity. According to him, over the past 170 years, the water level in Issyk-Kul has fallen by almost 14 metres, whilst over the past five years the rate of decline has been around 7 centimetres per year.
To preserve the lake, over the past four years around 70 tonnes of waste and approximately 580,000 metres of illegally set synthetic fishing nets have been removed from the lake bed.
The President called on international financial institutions and donor countries to support the initiative to establish the fund. In addition, he proposed creating a special mountain programme within the Global Environment Facility, establishing a Global Centre for the Sustainability of Mountain Regions in Bishkek, and developing regional cooperation on the protection of rare animal and bird species.
Sadyr Zhaparov also invited international partners to take part in the Second Global Mountain Summit ‘Bishkek+25’, which will be held in Bishkek from 21 to 23 October 2027.
