Aral Sea Bank's restoration projects, especially in the North Aral, were giving rise to some unexpected, tentative relief in what had been an extremely pessimistic picture. The future of the Aral Sea and the responsibility for its survival are now in the hands of the five countries: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan. In 1994, they adopted the Aral Sea Basin Programmme. The Programme's four objectives are: The first phase of the plan effectively began with the first involvement from the World Bank in 1992, and was in operation until 1997. It was ineffectual for a number of reasons, but mainly because
Facies of the pile dwellings and of the dammed settlements Facies of the pile dwellings and of the dammed settlements The facies of pile dwellings and dammed settlements (Italian: "facies delle palafitte e degli abitati arginati") is a cultural aspect of the middle to late Bronze Age (c. 1600 to 1300 BC) that developed between eastern Lombardy, Trentino and western Veneto. It was followed in the final Bronze Age by the Proto-Villanovan culture and by the Luco culture. The continuity with the previous Polada culture of the ancient Bronze Age seems to be unbroken. The villages, as in the previous phase, are on stilts and are concentrated in the area