OREANDA-NEWS. On 21 April 2009 was announced, that a consortium of international organizations led by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) together with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the financial support of the Global Ecological Facility (GEF) initiate a new joint project The Caspian Sea: Restoring Depleted Fisheries and Consolidation of a Permanent Regional Environmental Governance Framework”. Initiative is a long-standing outcome of the growing concerns of the five Caspian states – Kazakhstan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Russia over the need to increase environmental protection of basin, whose status still remains an issue. Considering this, the grouping of developmental organizations intends to strengthen the capacity of international mechanisms of biodiversity protection on a basis of the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea (Teheran Convention).

In general, the priority of the project will be the implementation of the principles of sustainable use and conservation of the biodiversity resources of the Caspian Sea through the establishment of regional environmental architecture. Such a unified ecosystem of monitoring can serve as chord for the early-warning structure on the emerging environmental threats and lay out the most vulnerable zones on the map of Caspian’s biodiversity.

During the implementation process, the assessment of current situation, existing risks and biodiversity of the Caspian will be done. Afterwards, the project group will construct the model of Caspian ecosystem, whose indicators will be used during the draft of the environmental vulnerability zones of the Sea shore. Furthermore, a lot of attention will be paid to the management of industrial waste waters and the development of cooperation between the Caspian countries on the control of external species introduction in the Sea.

Moreover, it is also expected that the project will conduct a series of educational events for local and international environmentalists, which specialize in Caspian biodiversity. Another major target of the undertaking will be the Commission on Aquatic Bioresources (for the Caspian Sea), which will be supported in terms of knowledge and experience on how to prepare practical manuals on biodiversity management in the framework of ecosystem approach.

The local communities of Caspian region will also be able to participate in the project through applying to the small grants programme, which will be extending financial support to improve the social infrastructure of the region. This will lessen the dependence of the residents of the Transcaspian on the biological resources of the Sea.

Apart from this, the project together with FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) will conduct the assessment of the fisheries’ activities in Caspian to work out the recommendations that can increase their effectiveness in recreating the natural spawning areas and improving access to the fish-pass facilities.

Special focus of the project will be concentrated on the problem of saving the lives of Caspian seals, which are now under the threat of extinction. It is projected that a specially protected area will be created for them in the Sea in order to preserve this species. The project will contribute to this by developing the costs-and-benefits analysis for the future natural zone.

The implementation range of the project is three years and its budget is USD 1 570 000. Being originally a regional initiative, it will be coordinated by the Project Bureau on Management and Coordination based in Astana.