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At the meeting point of the Middle East, Europe, and Asia, the Caspian region includes steppe land in the north, cold, continental deserts and semi-deserts in the northeast and east, and warmer mountain and highland systems in the south and southwest. The coastal wetlands of the Caspian basin include many shallow, saline pools, which attract a variety of bird life and biodiversity; over 400 species are unique to the Caspian. In addition, the sea's native sturgeon is famous the world around for the roe it produces: sturgeon from the Caspian Sea accounts for approximately 90% of the world's caviar industry.

Marine litter (ML) is a complex though solvable problem with significant implications for the marine and coastal environment and human activities all around the world. It originates from several sources, travels in many paths and finally sinks in different distances from its origin making its wide spectrum of negative environmental, economic, safety, health and cultural impacts highly considerable. Despite efforts made internationally, regionally and nationally, there are indications that the marine litter problem continues to worsen.

Unified, Integrated and Affordable Caspian Environment Monitoring Programme Among the Contracting Parties to the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea was welcomed at COP4, Moscow, Russian Federation, 10-12 December 2012.

The objectives of the EMP to develop a framework providing the necessary data and information on the Caspian environment in order to; initially provide data on the state of the Caspian environment, highlight pollution problems, provide biological related data which will support the broad objective of tracking changes of the health and diversity of ecosystems in, and adjacent to, the Caspian Sea.

In accordance with Article 18 (2) of the Tehran Convention, the Parties developed the Strategic Convention Action Programme (SCAP). The SCAP is a comprehensive, long-term agenda and framework for the implementation of the Tehran Convention and its Protocols over a period of 10 years. It was adopted at COP 2 in Tehran, Iran, 10-12 November 2008.

Rules of Procedure for the Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea. Adopted at COP 2 in Tehran, Iran, 10-12 November 2008.

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.

Marine litter, including plastic and microplastic, is a global concern affecting all the oceans and seas of the world. It poses environmental, economic, health and aesthetic problems that are rooted in poor solid waste management practices, lack of infrastructure, indiscriminate human activities and behaviours and an inadequate understanding on the part of the public of the potential consequences of their actions. Development of the Caspian Marine Litter Action Plan is embodied in the Moscow Protocol against pollution from land-based sources. 

The preparation of the draft Caspian Regional Marine Litter Action Plan (CRMLAP) was undertaken by the national experts from the Caspian Sea littoral states and an international expert. For that purpose, five National Experts were contracted to provide their national inputs and contributions for the development of the Caspian Marine Litter Action Plan where the International Expert fully facilitates the development of the Caspian Marine Litter Action Plan.

Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Hydrometeorology of the Caspian Sea was signed on 29 September 2014 in Astrakhan, Russian Federation, during the Fourth Caspian Summit.

The entry into force of the Agreement opens new opportunities not only for information exchange, but also for the interaction in other fields of hydrometeorology ranging from carrying out of observations to forecasting of weather and climate.

The final output of this cooperation is ensuring the safety of navigation and other activities in the water area and on the coast, which depend on changes of weather and climate. Everyone working in the Caspian Sea needs accurate hydrometeorological forecasts, timely storm alerts and the information required to design hydraulic structures.

Alongside with this, hydrometeorological information is essential for environmental protection, conservation of Caspian Sea biodiversity and efficient use of its natural resources. Now hydrometeorologists and ecologists may interact more closely: due to the signing of the Agreement there emerged a legal basis for the cooperation with the Tehran Convention.

The Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea is a treaty signed in Aktau, Kazakhstan, on 12 August 2018 by the presidents of Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkmenistan.

The present report on the State of the Environment of the Caspian Sea was developed in accordance with the requirements of the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea (Tehran Convention, 2003) and is one of the regional environmental cooperation mechanisms to assess the state of the marine environment of the Caspian Sea, in particular, pollution and its impact, based on the reports provided by the Contracting Parties and any competent international organization.

The Caspian Sea SoE 2 Report in higher resolution can be dowloaded here. 

The Caspian Sea, abundant with natural living and fossil resources, its coastal areas home to more than 15 million people, faces a series of environmental challenges.

This State of the Caspian Sea Environment Report should be seen and considered as a first try out and starting point towards the creation of a shared environmental information system promoting and securing data collection, monitoring, analysis, harmonization and public communication in support of full implementation of the Tehran Convention and its protocols. We hope that it will improve the Caspian information base, enhance the quality, accessibility and relevance of data and ultimately, contribute to strengthening the regional environmental governance framework.

The Caspian Sea SoE 1 Report in higher resolution can be dowloaded here. 

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.

This volume aims to provide background information on the Caspian Sea in order to support the recommendations in the National Caspian Action Plans (NCAPs) and the Strategic Action Programme (SAP). Thus, this TDA is not merely a State of the Environment report, but also a look into the future based on the current political situation, socio-economic conditions, and legal/regulatory framework. 

This TDA relies on and benefits from the dedicated work of numerous individuals, agencies, institutes, projects and corporations. The major building blocks are the studies and research works conducted and
carried out by the Caspian Regional Thematic Centres. These works have been mostly produced by the national experts of the Caspian countries and have been effectively led and substantially assisted by the National Focal Points (NFPs) and the Management Advisory Group and Inter-sectoral Assistants (MAGICAs). Production of the TDA would have not been possible without the efficient project execution assistance of UNOPS. The overall conceptualization, design, production monitoring and editing of the TDA has been led by the Programme Coordination Unit (PCU) including the Data and Information Management Theme in Baku, Azerbaijan.

This Regional Water Quality Monitoring Programme has been developed as part of the project “Caspian Water Quality Monitoring and Action Plan for Areas of Pollution Concern’s (Caspian MAP)”. This project has been financed by the Tacis Programme of the European Union (EU) which amongst others promotes regional co-operation on environmental protection. On of the main objectives of the Caspian MAP is to support the Caspian Environment Programme (CEP), which is a partnership between the five littoral states - Azerbaijan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazakhstan, Russian Federation and Turkmenistan, and International Partners like EU, UNDP, UNEP, and the World Bank. The CEP's mission is to assist the Caspian littoral states to achieve the goal of environmentally sustainable development and management of the Caspian environment for the sake of long-term benefit for the Caspian inhabitants.

The Regional Pollution Action Plan for the Caspian Sea (RPAP), has been prepared as part of the project “Caspian Water Quality Monitoring and Action Plan for Areas of Pollution Concern’s (hereafter: Caspian MAP)”. The project is financed by the Tacis Programme of the European Union (EU), which has as one of its objectives the promotion of regional co-operation on environmental protection. The overall objective of the Caspian MAP is to achieve improved quality of the marine and coastal environment of the Caspian Sea. In particular, the RPAP (current Report) provides recommendations to regional strategies for pollution reduction, with a focus on the identified Areas of Pollution Concern. The Caspian MAP also developed a proposal for a Regional Water Quality Monitoring Program.

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.

The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan and Caspian Environment Programme by supporting of UNDP agreed with NGO "Ruzgyar" to organize of 1st professional level monitoring of POPs in Kura-Araks basin till Caspian Sea. "Ruzgyar" contracted professional environmental research company "Azecolab" to implement of standard sampling and lab analytical processes.

Map of Sediments in the Caspian Sea Region produced by Manana Kurtrubadze. 

Map of Population by Number and Cities in the Caspian Sea

Produced by Manana Kurtrubadze for the SOE 2018