From: Elina Karakulova (ekarakulova@sorosny.org)
Date: Wed Jul 16 2003 - 15:55:04 EDT
REPRESENTATIVES OF CASPIAN SEA STATES AGREE ON ENVIRONMENTAL CONVENTION BUT NO COMMON POLICY ON WATER USE IN OB-IRTYSH BASIN
A two-day meeting in Astana of government experts from the Caspian Sea littoral states and UN representatives ended on 15 July with participants agreeing on a draft convention on environmental protection of the Caspian, khabar.kz and RIA-Novosti reported on 15 July, quoting Kazakh Deputy Environment Minister Enlik Nurgalieva. It was the eighth meeting of environmental experts from the Caspian states seeking to work out an accord on protecting the sea's unique ecology. There has been general agreement among experts that the Caspian sturgeon fishery is in acute danger because of overfishing. In the last three years, some Caspian Sea states have pledged to restrict the sturgeon catch, but poaching is widespread. Ecologists have warned for at least a decade of the potential threat to the ecology of the Caspian that is posed by extensive oil drilling on the Caspian shelf. A decision to draft a convention on protecting the Caspian was adopted at a conference of the littoral states in Tehran in 1992. Nurgalieva was quoted as saying the draft could be signed by the Caspian heads of state before the end of the year. BB
Lack of agreement among Kazakhstan, Russia, and China on water-use policy in the Ob-Irtysh basin is resulting in the exhaustion of the region's water resources, according to participants in a conference on the rivers in the basin that ended in Ust-Kamenogorsk on 15 July, RIA-Novosti reported. The conference of scientists and officials of Kazakhstan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, and Ukraine drew up an appeal to the governments and legislators of Kazakhstan and Russia, pointing out that the lack of detailed programs to improve the environmental situation in the Ob-Irtysh basin threatens the health of the population and the viability of the ecosystem. The appeal advises the two countries to take advantage of the good relations presently existing among the states using the waters of the basin. China is reported to be planning an extensive development of irrigation-based agriculture using the waters of the Black Irtysh River, which will further complicate matters in the basin. In 2000 by Kazakhstan's Environmental Protection Ministry, Russia's Natural Resources Ministry, and the French Agency for Development signed a memorandum of cooperation for cross-border management of the Irtysh. France has provided a 1 million-euro ($1.18 million) grant to set up a system of water monitoring on the Irtysh River that is scheduled to be completed in October. BB
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