Documents

The Caspian Environment Programme is a regional partnership between the five littoral states of the Caspian Sea (Azerbaijan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation and Turkmenistan) and international organisations (the EU, UNDP, UNEP and the World Bank). The goal of the CEP is the environmentally sustainable development and management of the Caspian Environment. Part of the process in achieving this goal is identifying the priority environmental issues and developing a regional Strategic Action Programme and five National Caspian Action Plans , one for each of the  littoral countries.

National Brief on Legislative and Institutional Measures for the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Caspian Sea Environment in the Russian Federation was made by the ANO "Centre for International Projects" (CIP) on the commission of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation in line with the preparation of the position of the Russian side to the 1st Conference of the Parties to the Tehran Convention, and according to the Memorandum of Understanding between UNEP/ROE and CIP.

The main objective of this work is assessment of the preparedness level of the national environmental legislation of the Russian Federation to provide implementation of the Tehran Convention provisions, as well as its protocols, which drafts are under the preparation by the experts from the Caspian littoral countries.

During the 6 years after the preparation of the national report, new pieces of legislation have emerged. These include The Caspian Sea Protection Convention and The 4th Social, Economic and Cultural Development Plan of the country. This report provides an updated overview of the laws, regulations and institutional frameworks in place with regard to the protection of the Caspian Sea.

The present report has been prepared by the regional legal expert – Irina Krasnova, professor of environmental law of the Russian Academy of Civil Service under the President of the Russian Federation, doctor of juridical science.

The report is prepared within the framework of the Caspian Environment Programme in accordance with the relevant UNEP project, the Terms of Reference for the Regional Legal Expert.

The Report is based on the National Briefs on Legislative and Institutional Frameworks for the Protection and Sustainable Management of the Caspian Sea Environment prepared by National Legal Experts of the five Contracting Parties to the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea (further – Tehran Convention), on the materials provided by the UNEP/ROE, and obtained from various information and data base sources, advice and cooperation of the CEP/PCU.

Financial Rules for the Administration of the Trust Fund for the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea.

Adopted at COP 1 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 23-25 May 2007.

The CEP TDA Revisit was completed in December 2007 following an intensive desk study of materials collected from the second phase of the Caspian Environment Programme. The intention of the CEP TDA Revisit is to provide a follow on review of the priority transboundary issues, to assess the efforts conducted during the CEP Phase II implementation, and to extrapolate where additional efforts are warranted. The SAP and NСAPs are reviewed followed by an analysis of the priority areas of concern as identified in the SAP. The issues addressed in the TDA are: decline in biodiversity; decline in environmental quality (pollution); decline in bioresources (fisheries); decline in coastal infrastructure and habitat; and impacts of the oil industry in the region. This is supplemented by an analysis of governance mechanisms, socioeconomic conditions in the region, and stakeholder analysis and public involvement strategy.

The seal is the only marine mammal in the Caspian Sea, feeding on tulkas and other small fish, and preyed upon by land animals. It is an endemic species for the Caspian Sea and is vulnerable on that point of view. During its life history the Caspian seal migrates from the frozen North Caspian waters in the winter to the South Caspian in the summer timer and back to the North to give birth to the pups on the ice. During these migration time the seals can be found everywhere in the sea.

Active conservation efforts will be required to assure the Caspian seal does not eliminate from the Earth. As a major mammal, anchoring one end of the food web, it also plays an important role in the biodiversity of the Caspian Sea and is a remarkable indicator of the Caspian ecosystems health.

In the frame of the current Project the estimation on contents of nutrients, petroleum hydrocarbons, phenols and heavy metals in water and bottom sediments in the basins of rivers Terek, Sulak and Samur over the last years was carried out. Research was conducted within a framework of the State Monitoring Programme on Roshydromet in the central and lower parts of the Terek delta. The data of Roshydromet standard investigations was used to assess the concentration of pollutants, namely petroleum hydrocarbons, heavy metals, phenols, detergents, nutrients (nitrites, nitrates, ammonium and total nitrogen) and silicates, and also expenditure of river water during the estimation of their flows at hydrological Karagalinsky hydro system and
Alikazgan stations in the Terek delta. The Roshydromet data cover the period 2002-2005.