Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The main theme to celebrate the World Environment Day is to attract more attention to environmental issues and to promote sustainable development. Youth make up more than a half of the population of Uzbekistan; therefore it is vital to involve youth in the activities which will make them environmentally friendly. It is especially relevant to those young people whose future jobs are in the mining industry because if they have acquainted with the value of biodiversity conservation activities and attain relevant skills they will apply environmentally-friendly methods.

With this in mind, on 11 May, the contests on the issue of biodiversity conservation were launched. Their target audience were the students of two universities: the Branch of the Russian State University of Oil and Gas named after Gubkin and the Tashkent State Technical University named after Beruni, the oil-and-gas department. Otherwise, those young people who after graduation will be oil-and-gas professionals. To bring out the different talents of students the organizers ran three contests: essay contest, photo contest, and screenplay contest.

The contests were part of the EcoWeek 2012 with a series of events dedicated to the World Environment Day celebrated on 5 June. The EcoWeek is an entire week of activities to celebrate the World Environment Day which aims to promote protection of the environment.

First prize in the essay contest went to Maftuna Valieva, a student of the Tashkent State Technical University named after Beruni, the oil-and-gas department; Nurabilla Mambetkarimov a student of the Branch of the Russian State University of Oil and Gas named after Gubkin won first place in the “photo” category; first prize in the screenplay contest went to Ikboljon Mamatrakhimov, a student of the Tashkent State Technical University named after Beruni, the oil-and-gas department.

It was great to see that the contests generated interest amongst the students. Maftuna Valieva, a student of the Tashkent Sate Technical University (TSTU) said that she found significant that the students majoring in oil and gas sector`s subjects took part in the contests because such activities make them more considerate and more ecologically friendly. Another student of the same university – Ikboljon Mamatrakhimov - noted that he was glad to know that this time the students of TSTU got involved in the activities organized by the UNDP -GEF project.

The contests have also had great practical value with cooperation among several stakeholders, including private oil-and-gas companies. The success of the contest proves that such collaboration is mutually beneficial.

The contests were organized with the support of the UNDP-GEF project 'Mainstreaming Biodiversity into Uzbekistan`s oil and gas Policies and Operations”, State Committee for Nature Protection of the Republic of Uzbekistan, National Holding Company “Uzbekneftegaz” and private oil and gas companies.