Leyla Aliyeva told Euronews about IDEA's activities in the field of environmental protection

IDEA was created with a clear purpose - to address environmental challenges in Azerbaijan and around the world.

As reported by BAKU.WS with reference to Report, this was stated to Euronews by the Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, founder and head of the IDEA Public Association Leyla Aliyeva.

The TV channel prepared a report about IDEA's activities in the field of ecology, combating climate change and preserving biodiversity.

"From the very beginning, we understood that ecology is much more than saving individual species or fighting climate change. It's about our lifestyle, our culture, and how each of us impacts the environment. And while many countries, unfortunately, are losing their reserves, Azerbaijan continues to expand them. Two new national parks have opened in recent years, and others have been expanded. Next year, we expect the opening of the Karabakh National Park - and then the area of protected territories in the country will be approximately 30 percent of its territory. Today, we are focused on new, acute challenges, especially the situation in the Caspian Sea - declining water levels, pollution, and growing threats to marine fauna, including the Caspian seal. This is a crisis that no country can solve alone. We must act together and value the Caspian Sea as our common national treasure. I think we've reached a point where ecology is no longer about talking, but about action. We've talked about it enough, and that's important, of course, but nature no longer needs words - it needs our actions. The main thing is to stay optimistic, to understand that everyone, even individually, can change a lot, and together we can work miracles," noted Leyla Aliyeva.

The report indicates that environmental actions in Azerbaijan go far beyond biodiversity conservation. National institutions and companies, in particular IDEA Public Association, work both on land and at sea in the field of environmental protection. One of the most obvious results of their activities can be seen in the expansion and protection of national parks throughout the country.

"There are many environmental problems in the world, such as loss of biodiversity, climate change, environmental pressure. Now is the time to act. The work we do is not for us, it is for the world, for nature, and for future generations," Arzu Babayeva, Deputy Head of the Biodiversity Conservation Service at the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan, told Euronews.

She noted that the first protected area in Azerbaijan was established in 1910, and then the network of such territories expanded.

"Now we have 12 national parks, nine state national reserves, and 24 state nature sanctuaries. This territory is home to endangered and rare species, such as the imperial eagle, mountain gazelles, brown bear, white-tailed eagles, and others," A. Babayeva said.

The report emphasizes that against the background of the government's work to create national parks, even more impressive is the activity of local organizations such as IDEA, which helped return bison to the northern regions of Azerbaijan, and also helped "protect the country's most important asset" - the Caspian Sea.

"Bison, which are a symbol of our Caucasian region, lived in our country in very ancient times. We started this project in 2018, and this area was chosen as one of the points where this species could still be restored. After that, we found animals in European zoos that still have genes of the Caucasian bison. Therefore, we brought here only those individuals that have genes of the Caucasian mountain breed of bison. Now they live in the wild. In summer, they graze in the alpine belt, and in the cold season, winter, they descend into the forest and spend the winter period in forested areas," explains Elshad Askerov, WWF Country Director for Azerbaijan.

The author indicates that IDEA uses the same approach, working on projects in the Caspian Sea.

"Microplastic pollution is one of the other problematic issues of the Caspian Sea. A large amount of plastic pollution spreads from other countries and comes with currents to the Caspian coast. A number of activities are carried out under the leadership of IDEA to clean the Caspian coast from this plastic," said Elnur Safarov, program coordinator of the Caspian Integrated Scientific Network (CASPISNET) at the Institute of Geography.

The material also states that due to these environmental threats, broader topics are increasingly being raised - from partnership and responsibility to the future of the planet. Together, these efforts strengthen ecosystem protection, restore species, and build cooperation on land and at sea to preserve biodiversity for future generations.