Leyla Aliyeva attends ceremony to release sturgeons into water (PHOTO)

Co-organized by International Dialogue for Environmental Action (IDEA) Public Union and Azerbaijan's Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, a ceremony has been held to release 550,000 young sturgeons grown in Khilli-Balig LLC, AzVarvara LLC, Azerbaijan Fish Farm LLC fish hatcheries under the large-scale "Rich Basins" project aimed at the protection and restoration of biological resources of inland water basins of Azerbaijan.

Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, founder and head of IDEA Public Union Leyla Aliyeva attended the event.

In recent decades, the natural populations of rare fish species in the water basins of Azerbaijan have reached the point of extinction as a result of the negative effects of human activities, pollution, smuggling and overfishing.

In order to comprehensively address the problem, IDEA Public Union, together with the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources and the UK Blue Marine Foundation (BLUE), is implementing various protection, restoration and public awareness activities.

One of such initiatives is the "Rich Basins" project, implemented by the IDEA Public Union and the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources since May last year.

The project aims to increase the natural population of fish species belonging to lakes and rivers in different parts of the country, reduce pollution in inland waters, and organize sustainable and consistent measures to promote legal and responsible fishing.