OREANDA-NEWS. July 30, 2009. The regional seminar on the topical problems of preservation of the ecological wellbeing of the Caspian Sea closed in the Turkmen capital. The leading experts in ecology, representatives of the international organisations and nature-conservation agencies of Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia took part in the forum in Ashgabat to sum up the TACIS Project Caspian Water Quality Monitoring and Action Plan for Areas of Pollution Concern (Caspian MAP) implemnted under support of the European Union in the member states of the Caspian Environment Programme (CEP).

On the second day of the seminar the participants reviewed the results of the marine expeditions carried out in the framework of the Саspian MAP Project to assess the real condition of the water area and seabed in the coastal areas of the Caspian Sea, identify the area of pollution concern and pollution sources. The participants discussed various aspects of implementation of the regional programmes that promoted close collaboration among the littoral countries to address transboundary environmental problems.

The priorities for this collaboration were determined by the Framework Convention for the Protection of Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea developed with the assistance of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in the framework of the Caspian Environment Programme. The reports presented at the forum illustrated that the countries in the region were making the concrete steps to implement this important environmental document to manage the anthropogenic impact on the environment, build then effective mechanism to monitor, prevent and reduce pollution of the unique water body as well.

The forum participants noted that today the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea was the purest that was ensured by the consistent and steady work on protection of the environment. Turkmenistan’s commitment to environmentally sustainable development based on an integrated approach to economic and social problems, combined with efficient use of natural resources was illustrated by the National Caspian Action Plan of Turkmenistan.

This multidisciplinary and comprehensive document clearly set forth the basic objectives and specific measures to control and prevent pollution from industrial sources, conserve biological diversity in the Caspian Sea, efficiently use, manage and reproduce biological resources, enhance the legislative framework on natural resource management and planning of coastal area development, protect reserved areas and natural monuments, improve the social, economic and living conditions and increase the level of environmental education of population.

The significance of the ecological priority attached in the national policy was the new Constitution that secured the thesis about the state control of efficient use of natural wealth, the new Law “On Hydrocarbon Resources”, the National Plan for Oil Spill Prevention and Response in the Caspian Sea, the rules for protection of coastal waters of Turkmenistan from pollution from ships, other legal documents regulating the activities of oil and gas, petrochemical, transport enterprises – the major sources of ‘ecological threats’.

The project initiated by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov on creation of Avaza national tourism considerably contributed to establishing the reliable system of environmental protection of the ancient Khazar, employing the recreational potential of the region to turn it into a real ‘seaside pearl’ on the planet and the centre of international tourism. One of its main provisions is the compliance of all the projects implemented on the Caspian seaside to the environmental requirements.

It was emphasized that today protection of the environment was a strategic trend in effective and fruitful cooperation among the Caspian states, the United Nations, the European Union, the Global Environment Facility and other authoritative international organisations.

The international experts and heads of delegations put forward the specific proposals to promote achievement of the goals of the Strategic Action Plan on Environmental Wellbeing of the Caspian Sea and make the international dialogue more dynamic and constructive in the framework of the Caspian Environment Programme covering the territory of five littoral countries – Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan.