OREANDA-NEWS. July 30, 2009. The regional seminar on the results of the TACIS Project Caspian Water Quality Monitoring and Action Plan for Areas of Pollution Concern (Caspian MAP) implemented under support of the European Union within the framework of the Caspian Environment Program (CEP) was held in Ashgabat. The leading expert in ecology, representatives of the international organisations, national ministries and departments had been invited to take part in the forum organized by the Ministry of Nature Protection and EU/TACIS. The delegations of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia took part in the seminar.

The environmental project launched in late 2006 aims at intensifying cooperation among the member states of the CEP, providing technical and consultative assitance in implementing the key provisions of the Framework Convention for the Protection of Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea. This strategic document developed with the assistance of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) was been ratified by all five littoral states and entered into force in August 2006.

The detailed overview of the work done in the framework of the Caspian MAP project was presented during the seminar. The major project interventions included the Regional Caspian Water Quality Monitoring Programme developed in compliance with the recommendations of the leading international experts. This document aimed to promote coordination of the activities conducted by the littoral countries to control, prevent and reduce pollution of the marine environment of the Caspian Sea.

The important area of the project activity – assessment of the level of pollution of the Caspian Sea and the coast, identification of the sources of pollution, the zones and composition of pollutants. For this purpose a series of the marine expeditions had taken the samples of seawater and bottom sediments in the coastal areas. The analysis had allowed identifying ‘the hot spots’ of ancient Khazar, to conduct ‘an inventory’ of the area of pollution concern . On this basis the regional action plan to restore the ecological wellbeing of the region, which was presented for discussion during the seminar.

It should be noted that the specialists of the Ministry of Nature Protection of Turkmenistan and its subdivision – the Kaspekogozegchilik Service had collected the extensive material on the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea during the marine expeditions. The experts of the central laboratory of Turkmengeologiya State Corporation and the Monitoring Research and Environmental Technologies Centre (Ukraine) were involved in the work.

Furthermore, under support of the Caspian MAP project the laboratory of the Kaspekogozegchilik Service and the leading laboratories of other littoral countries had been supplied with modern equipment and technologies to carry out the analytical research of the quality of seawater. The accurate data, high-speed processing of data on the presence of heavy metals, pesticides, petroleum products, basic biogenic and other pollutants in water and seabed – the major advantages of modern multifunctional apparatuses. This equipment allowed controlling the purity of the sea, preventing possible pollution in industrial areas and conducting comprehensive environmental monitoring of the marine environment in the Caspian region.

Exchanging views the seminar participants discussed a wide range of the issues concerning an adverse impact on the marine environment and hazardous anthropogenic factors on human health. The adoption of preventive measures that reduced the risk of pollution from industrial accidents and natural disasters – an important issues on the seminar agenda. The heads of the delegations put forward the concrete proposals on closer collaboration among ecologists, the nature-conservative organisations of the Caspian states that was conditioned by the transboundary nature of environmental problems.

The participants emphasized that protection of the Caspian Sea from pollution, preservation of its unique ecological and hydrological environment was an urgent issue not only for the countries in the region but also international community. Actively contributing to the international environmental dialogue Turkmenistan put much effort to fill this dialogue with a concrete content, make it consistent and constructive.