THE EMERGENCE AND HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF FOLK ECOLOGICAL VIEWS

This article covers the emergence and historical development of people's ecological views in the territory of Uzbekistan based on retrospective analysis. The author interprets ecological culture not only as a modern scientific category, but also as a socio-cultural phenomenon inextricably linked with centuries-old irrigation experience, religious and moral norms, traditional institutions of governance, and folk pedagogy. It is shown that the ancient systems of irrigated agriculture, in particular, the practice of collective water management, formed in the Amu Darya and Syr Darya basins, created the initial institutional foundations of ecological culture. It is also analyzed that the views on the purity of the elements of nature in the teachings of the Avesta constitute an ancient layer of ecological morality.