Caspian MAP

The Caspian countries find it important to protect the ecosystems in the Caspian they share. DHV from the Netherlands is providing assistance to these countries to develop a Regional Water Quality Monitoring Programme, and a Pollution Action Plan for specific areas. These EU financed activities are in support of the wider Caspian Environment Programme.

Project description

Regular water quality monitoring is important to understand the status of the environment and the ecosystems in the Caspian. Regular monitoring is also important to detect trends. Trends tell what the impacts are of new developments (new industries, oil exploration and extraction, etc), but also the effects of the policies to protect the Caspian. During Soviet times monitoring was done on a regular basis. After the collapse of the Sovjet-Union this task was left for four newly independent states. The institutional restructuring and the economic hardship in most of these countries resulted in a deterioration of environmental monitoring systems during the nineties. Monitoring degraded through a lack of resources, poor technical and analytical capacities but also a lack of co-operation and data exchange.

Within the framework of the Caspian Environment Programme/Teheran Convention the countries around the Caspian have committed themselves to create joint management structures for the environmental management of the Caspian, and to come to a Regional Water Quality Monitoring Programme as one of the specific activities.

This project assists the littoral countries in the design of a new Regional Water Quality Monitoring Programme, and thereby contributes to an improved quality of the marine and coastal environment of the Caspian. It also assists the countries in developing pollution action plans for specific areas of pollution concern.