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Investments in conservation of biodiversity will continue to promote economic development, Azerbaijani Ecology and Natural Resources Minister Huseyngulu Bagirov said at the opening of the European Ministerial Conference on Biodiversity in the Gabala region.
Bagirov said the Gabala conference will help create new opportunities for working together to promote "green economy", which will help reduce poverty, as well as the creation of ecological networks.
The conference is aimed at strengthening cooperation between all countries of the "Convention on Biodiversity," he said.
"Ratification of the "Biodiversity Convention" by Azerbaijan in March 2000 has played an important role in maintaining and developing valuable stocks of biological diversity in the country. Azerbaijan made significant steps to achieve the objectives of the Convention, among which are the expansion of the territory of protected areas in country from 4.5 percent to 10.1 percent," Bagirov said.
Azerbaijan adopted the National Strategy and Action Plan for the conservation and long-term use of biological diversity, Bagirov added.
"Investments in conservation of biodiversity will continue to promote economic development," he said.
"Every environmental system must be preserved for future generations, which, in turn, must appreciate that legacy," UNEP Regional Director for Europe Christophe Bouvier said at the conference.
He said the most topics that the Gabala conference mulled will also be considered at the International Conference on Biodiversity New York.
Gabala is hosting an environmental conference organized by the Azerbaijani government and the UNEP. The event is held in the run-up to the next session of the U.N. General Assembly on Biological Diversity in New York in September.
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