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 Home » Hot Archive » E-bulletin » 2001 » August |
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IN THIS ISSUE: COUNTRY NEWS
1. A VIRTUAL PANEL TO THE CASPIAN
WORLD Question 1: "Is it more important to use the Caspian resources than to leave them untouched because of environmental concerns?" 77% of users gave their votes to preserve the resources. This significantly exceeded the number of users voted for exploitation of the Caspian resources - only 23%. The results shocked us much: the economic factor, a constant leader of human interests and priorities, yield to the Caspian well being! This is how the economic lost to the environment: Question 2: " It is possible to balance human needs
with care for the environment?" Question 3: "Must the Caspian environment be
protected at all costs?" 85% of respondents voted for "Yes", in other words
"do it or die", and only 15% said "No". This witnessed that people are
ready to strive to protect the Caspian at all possible costs. The voting was done for the
first time. The questions will be changed periodically and will be of various kinds. A
number of questions related to the Caspian legal status has already been composed and are
waiting for the October Summit. Having visited the CEP web site you get a chance to vote
for or against the questions following your conciseness, point of views and belief. 2. NEWS AGENCY "TREND"
reported on a fifth session of Working Group for the Development of Convention on Legal
Status of the Caspian Sea on September 18-20, 2001 in Astana, Kazakhstan (the Working
Group members are deputy ministers of five countries). The Kazakhstan Embassy for
Azerbaijan spread the news. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan has already sent
a letter of advice to the littoral Caspian countries. The second part of the Declaration,
which is to be adopted during October Summit of the heads of five Caspian countries in
Turkmenbashy, will be discussed in Astana. 3. AURHUS CONVENTION IS TO COME
INTO FORCE ON THE 30TH OCTOBER 2001 4. IOI CENTER WAS ESTABLISHED AT
ASTU
1. JIM ARMSTRONG SAYS STURGEON
PRODUCTION STILL AVAILABLE IN THE MARKETS OF AZERBAIJAN 2. "Echo" newspaper
reported on forthcoming visit of a special envoy to the Caspian Sea from I.R.Iran, Ali
Akhani, who arrives to Baku, Azerbaijan on August 24, 2001 with a two-days visit. Mr.
Akhani will be having meetings with the Azerbaijani President, Heydar Aliyev, and the
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Vilayat Gouliyev, and his deputy Khalaf Khalafov. Mr. Akhani
is also supposed to find out the stand of the Azerbaijani State Oil Company (SOCAR) and
oil company BP on disputable deposit Alov-Sharg-Araz. Worth mentioning is a visit of
American diplomat Elizabeth Jones to Baku, Azerbaijan in the nearest future. A discussion
about recent developments in the Caspian Sea is on agenda. 3. PRESIDENT ALIYEV TO VISIT IRAN
IN SEPTEMBER 4. The U.S. Under-Secretary of
State Elizabeth Jones had accomplished her visit to Baku, Azerbaijan. A
discussion about recent developments in the Caspian Sea took place. As IRNA reports,
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said the American diplomat Elizabeth
Jones has made provocative statement in Baku: "Iran's actions do not help to resolve
the boundary dispute between the two countries," Elizabeth Jones said. Asefi said
that the Islamic Republic of Iran is interested in bolstering relations with neighbouring
states and the Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi accepted an invitation from his
Azeri Foreign Minister Vilayat Kuliyev to dispatch a ranking Iranian delegation to
Azerbaijan and assigned Deputy Foreign Minister for Euro-American Affairs Ali Ahani to
visit Baku. 5. Today is the second day of
visit of a special envoy to the Caspian Sea from I.R.Iran, Ali Ahani, who
arrived in Baku, Azerbaijan on August 27, 2001. As reports "ANS" new agency Mr.
Ahani stated that IRI is for peaceful negotiations of all disagreements between IRI and
Azerbaijan and will not change its stand. Mr. Akhani also pointed out that involvement of
other countries to resolve the conflict is undesirable.
1. CASPIAN POLLUTION REACHES DANGEROUS LEVEL
1. The President of Turkmenistan
announced on the national TV that the summit of the Caspian littoral countries will be
postponed to November or December at the request of the Presidents of IRI and Russian
Federation. 2. News Agency <Turan> reported
that the Caspian legal status issue was on the spot during the meeting between the
President of Turkmenistan, Saparmurat Niyazov, and the US charge-de-affairs, Erik Shultz.
Turkmen sources report that a mutual understanding to the use of disputable marine mineral
resources through negotiations had been shared and expressed during the meeting. President
S. Niyazov expressed a hope that the forthcoming October Summit of five littoral countries
will be an important breakthrough. 3. The President of Turkmenistan has
signed a decree approving the "National Oil Spill Response Plan"
1. 4 JULY 2001, A PRESENTATION OF ECOLOGICAL GUIDEBOOK FOR SCHOOLCHILDREN "WONDERFUL WILDLIFE OF THE CASPIAN SEA" was made in KaspNIRKh , Astrakhan. This event took place within the framework of Marine Ecology School activities. At the meeting the author of the book, Dr. Faig Askerov, told the children of the unique Caspian ecosystem, need for its preservation and what can be done in this field. The children shared their impressions; after the presentation they queued up to get autograph signature on the gift books. 2. ACCORDING TO SEVKASPRYBVOD INFORMATION, as of July 20, sturgeon catches in the Caspian Sea basin constituted 284.856 t (for Astrakhan region, including 156.19 t - Russian sturgeon, 14.369 t - beluga, 114.295 t - stellate sturgeon/sevruga and 0.016 t - sterlet). The total sturgeon catches for Azerbaijan amounted to 13.919 t, Turkmenistan - 27.514 t, Dagestan - 24.78 t, Kalmykia - 9.129 t; grand total (including the Volgograd region) - 373.839 t, at estimated quota for the year 2001 - 480.21 t. 3. 16-17 JULY, IN ASTRAKHAN, FIRST
MEETING ON UNDP GEF RUS/98/G41 PROJECT "CONSERVATION OF WETLAND BIODIVERSITY IN THE
LOWER VOLGA REGION" with participation and logistics support of Astrakhan
Regional Committee for Nature Resources and Astrakhan State Biosphere Reserve was held.
Implementation of the Project (2001-2002) should result in development of integrated
program for natural resources use and conservation of biodiversity in the Lower Volga
region including activities aimed to reinforcement of legal and political bases, regional
GO and NGO capacities concerned with biodiversity protection, improvement of protected
nature territories system, development of monitoring programs for assessment of aquatic
resources conditions, training and ecological education as well as demo projects implying
public participation in conservation of biodiversity and natural resources of the Lower
Volga river, regional workshops and conferences. A need to coordinate efforts and
cooperate with the other regional and international programs and projects - Caspian
Environment program, Tacis projects, UNEP, UNESCO, Federal Program "The Revival of the
Volga" was accentuated at the session. 4. ASTRAKHAN - CITY #3 IN RUSSIA 5. 24-25 August, in ASTU, Astrakhan, RF, within the framework of "DEMO PROJECT IOI/UNESCO FOR THE VOLGA-CASPIAN BASIN" and Federal Target Program " ENVIRONMENTAL SANITATION OF THE VOLGA RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES, REHABILITATION AND PREVENTING DEGRADATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES IN THE VOLGA RIVER BASIN FOR THE PERIOD UP TO THE YEAR 2010", a regional workshop chaired by the ASTU Rector Prof. Yury N. Kagakov was held. The group of national and international experts headed by IOC UNESCO Chief Consultant Dr. Yuri V. Oliounine, representatives of research, industrial and administrative municipal and regional institutions of Astrakhan participated in the session. The objectives of Demo Project include development of methodology, scientific, legal, economic and information means foe decision-making which will enable economically efficient management of the large river basins and coastal zones for development of environmentally safe conditions for human activities and conservation of biodiversity. 6. 20 August the CITES COMMISSION
accomplished its work in RF, specifically, in the Astrakhan region which
represents Caspian sturgeon fishing for the Russian Federation. This organization
initiated introduction of moratorium on sturgeon harvesting. The aim of the visit was to
get confirmation of executing measures on reduction of sturgeon catches by the RF. In the
course of negotiations with the Governor of the Astrakhan region, Anatoly P. Guzhvin, Mr.
Armstrong reported on the results of the work. Inspection of caviar supplies intended for
export revealed that all the requirements claimed by Convention for International Trade of
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) are followed. The delegation visited
sturgeon hatcheries, fishing sites, research institutes (KaspNIRKh) and fisheries
enterprises and concluded that their activities are regulated at the highest level,
sufficient scientific basis is being created. Input of the RF into the reproduction of
sturgeons was highly appreciated. According to Mr. Armstrong, the CITES Secretariat will
promote supporting commercial businesses in fishing industry. At the meeting with the
Governor, Mr. Armstrong presented CITES recommendations. These include in particular,
tightened penalties to poachers and illegal trade dealers; a new legislation for fine
assessment should be developed and put into action. It was recommended to regulate
strictly domestic market, introduce registration system which will enable to differentiate
legal and illegal supplies of fish products. 7. WWF AGAINST MORATORIUM
World Bank/CEP announces the lounch of its Small Matched Grants Programme for the interested parties from the Caspian region. Applications are available at the offices of MAGIKA and PPA in all five countries. The deadline for application is September 28, 2001. Should you have any further questions please contact: Do you speak English? Are you a member of an environmental
NGO? Then perhaps the Training for Young Environmental Leaders is something for you! The
REC's goal with establishing the Training for Young Environmental Leaders programme was to
improve the capacity and skills of young CEE and NIS environmentalists and their NGO's to
deal with organizational and management problems. The Global Fund for Women-works to strengthen women's
organizations outside the United States by providing small, flexible and timely grants in
general support ranging from 500$ to 15000$. GFW also administers the Preston Education
Fund for Girls, which supports schools, teacher training and curriculum development. Please send us your contact information if you are interested in working together with an NGO, initiative group or Eco club in the Caspian region.
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