Leyla Aliyeva: “The IDEA Ecological Campaign Calls for Urgent Action”

Leyla Aliyeva, Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and initiator of the IDEA campaign, opened an international conference dedicated to ecological issues in Gabala on Friday.

“We live at a time when it is difficult to remain indifferent to ecological problems. The attempt to reassess the current situation depends on us, the young generation,” Leyla Aliyeva said in her speech.

According to her, the younger generation should not ignore ecological problems related to climate change, carbon dioxide emissions, the increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, processes in the world’s oceans, droughts, as well as humanitarian crises occurring in different parts of the world.

The conference, titled “The Role of Youth in Ecological Governance: Today and Tomorrow,” is being held in Gabala, a northwestern mountainous district of Azerbaijan.

“I usually come to Gabala in the summer, but now, when everything around is covered with snow, this place looks even more beautiful to me,” Leyla Aliyeva noted.

The meeting was organized within the framework of the IDEA (International Dialogue for Environmental Action) campaign with the support of the UN and international youth organizations.

More than 100 young ecologists from 40 countries around the world are participating in the conference. Leyla Aliyeva spoke about the negative impact of human activities on the ecological balance in nature.

“The expansion of anthropogenic activity over the last 50–60 years has disrupted the ecological balance of the world’s flora and fauna. In 2010 alone, the amount of carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere reached 1,389 million tons. This is the highest figure since the start of the industrial era in 1750.”

She noted that today an average car consumes more than 4 tons of oxygen from the atmosphere, and, along with exhaust gases, releases about 800 kg of carbon monoxide, 40 kg of nitrogen dioxide, and approximately 200 kg of various hydrocarbons into the air.

“One of the main priorities of the IDEA campaign, which we launched in July this year, is greening Baku and its surroundings.

“According to our campaign’s slogan, ‘A Young Tree for a Healthy Spirit,’ we plan to plant approximately 300,000 trees by the 2012 UN ‘Rio+20’ global conference on sustainable development in Rio de Janeiro,” Leyla Aliyeva stated.

She urged everyone to remember that greenery is the natural source of oxygen for our planet. On a sunny day, 25% of the surface of tree leaves provides a person with enough oxygen for a day. One acre (0.4 hectares) of planted trees provides enough oxygen daily for 18 people. Leyla Aliyeva also spoke to the participants and guests about Azerbaijan’s unique natural features.

“Azerbaijan is a place where 9 out of 11 climate zones exist, which in itself can be considered a rare natural gem. Azerbaijan is a country of mud volcanoes, the natural Yanar Mountain, endemic trees, high mountain meadows, magnificent coastal areas, dense forests, ravines, and plains, creating a fairy-tale landscape,” said the IDEA campaign initiator.

She added that Lake Goygol, naturally fenced at the foot of Murovdag Mountain at an altitude of 1,556 meters, has become a natural habitat for many animal and plant species in the region. According to Leyla Aliyeva, the IDEA campaign is a logical continuation of initiatives in Azerbaijan in the field of ecology and environmental protection.

She recalled that 2010 was declared the “Year of Ecology” in the country. She noted that last year was marked by the planting of 14 million trees and the opening of numerous parks throughout the country. The initiator of the IDEA campaign also spoke about other ecology projects implemented in Azerbaijan.

“The Heydar Aliyev Foundation, where I serve as Vice-President, has launched a campaign for relocating and protecting Azerbaijan’s gazelles in their natural habitats. Through signals from special monitoring devices, we receive information several times a day about the location and movement directions of the gazelles,” she said.

Protecting endangered species is one of the main responsibilities of ecologists, while animal species such as the Caucasian leopard, a subspecies of the leopard, are at risk of extinction, mainly due to the sharp increase in hunting of hoofed animals.

The initiative for another project arose unexpectedly. “The Maiden Tower, a 12th-century cultural monument in the center of Baku, has always been a pride of our city. During restoration work, we encountered a remarkable phenomenon,” she noted. “Approximately 200 nests of swifts had been built in the Maiden Tower. Black swifts, like swallows, are migratory birds. They arrive in Azerbaijan in mid-summer and fly to South Africa in winter.”

To ensure the safety of these birds, the IDEA campaign launched a new project to create artificial nests for them during the restoration work at the Maiden Tower. The IDEA campaign also identified the “big five” of the Caucasus: the bear, eagle, wolf, gazelle, and leopard. Ensuring the healthy existence of these species is a key objective of IDEA.

“The diversity of Azerbaijan’s nature—its lakes and rivers, mountains and plains, forests and deserts—makes our country a unique place,” Leyla Aliyeva said. “That is why, when our team and I thought about the company’s slogan, we chose this phrase that calls us to action and unites us under one goal: ‘One Earth – One Future.’ We have one planet and a single future,” she stated, calling on young people concerned about the planet’s future to unite and determine the tasks and actions necessary to ensure a stable and safe future for coming generations.

“Nature does not like to wait. Therefore, the IDEA campaign calls for urgent measures regarding all these issues,” she said. “The current conference includes 85 representatives from 35 countries. That is one-third of the world, which means we are very strong together!”

Leyla Aliyeva, initiator of the IDEA campaign, spoke about her intention to turn the youth camp in Gabala into a venue for regular annual events, making the city a hub for international youth dialogue.

“These two days of the conference are only the beginning, the start of the path we will define today,” Leyla Aliyeva emphasized. “Environmental protection knows no borders. It is our shared responsibility, and every step we take to protect the environment will become part of our collective success.”