Aral Sea: Uzbekistan and UN to attempt revival of dried-up lake

The disappearance of the Aral Sea in Central Asia has been called one of the world’s largest man-made environmental disasters.

Correction 15/07/2019: This text has been updated to correct the title of Helen Fraser, she is UN resident coordinator and not head of UNDP.

The Uzbekistan government and the United Nations are trying to bring life back into the Aral Sea.

After the rivers feeding it were diverted, the Central Asian lake and former fishing ground is now a desert – with poisonous salt storms and an extreme climate. Its disappearance has been described as one of the world’s largest man-made environmental disasters.

But now the Uzbekistan government and the UN are trying to bring the region back to life.

Al Jazeera’s Step Vaessen reports from the Aral Sea.