Magnificent Sudochye

The Sudochye Lakes system has been officially nominated as an internationally significant wetland.

Once a bay of the Aral Sea – the world’s fourth-largest inland sea by area until the 1960s – the Sudochye Lakes system was added to Uzbekistan’s List of Ramsar in May 2023. The move to nominate the area as an internationally significant wetland under the Ramsar Convention was made by Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change. As a result, the site has been officially added to the list as Object No. 2522 in accordance with Article 2.1 of the Ramsar Convention.

The Sudochye lakes system, located in the Republic of Karakalpakstan, now joins three other sites that are recognized to be internationally significant wetlands, bringing the area in Uzbekistan under such a designation to 674,400 hectares. The three other recognized wetland areas are Lake Dengizkul (2001), the Arnasay Lakes System (2008) and the Tudakul and Kuymazar reservoirs (2020). 

The Ramsar Convention Secretariat’s statement regarding the Sudochye Lakes and other wetlands emphasizes a belief in Uzbekistan’s commitment to implementing sustainable policies regarding the use and conservation of these important wetland areas. The inclusion of a wetland on the Ramsar Convention’s list demonstrates the government’s commitment to taking the necessary steps to ensure the ecological character of such an area is maintained, as the Convention includes various measures to respond to ecological threats. 

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