Ashgabad/Bangkok, 24 November 2006 - Central Asian countries endorsed an agreement to address common and transboundary environmental issues in the sub-region. The ‘Framework Convention on Environmental Protection for Sustainable Development’ is the first regional legal instrument that was signed and adopted in Central Asia. It is also the only Convention globally that covers a range of issues.

The ‘Framework Convention on Environmental Protection for Sustainable Development’ is a legal and institutional platform for Central Asian governments to work together on priority environmental issues that affect the region. These include water and air pollution, land degradation, waste management and mountain ecosystem degradation.

In addition, the Convention will strengthen regional cooperation in other areas such as monitoring and assessment, biological diversity, emergency situations, scientific and technical cooperation, exchange and access to information and public participation.

“Most Conventions that have been signed and ratified are focused on one area or issue. Unlike other conventions and treaties, this Convention is unique in that it covers all transboundary issues that impact the region along with cross-cutting issues,” said Makhtumkuli Akmuradov, Minister for Nature Protection, Turkmenistan, and the current Chair of the Interstate Sustainable Development Commission for Central Asia (ISDC).

Achim Steiner, UN Under Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director said:" I applaud the nations of Central Asia for formalizing their common and shared aspirations for a more sustainable future under the umbrella of this Framework Convention. It reflects their understanding of the need to act to more sustainably manage the natural assets and economic activities of the countries concerned. By involving not only governments, but international organizations, regional and financial institutions, the donor community and civil society, this treaty also reflects the truth that achieving sustainable development is everyone's concern and everyone's challenge".

Nearly 60 million people live in Central Asia. Like the Artic, the region is fragile and its extreme climate means its ecosystems are extremely vulnerable. Urban and industrial transboundary air pollution poses serious environmental problems. Drainage and wastewater are the main sources of water pollution. Over the past 20 years, overgrazing has led to degradation of 49 million hectares of land and poor land management has led to desertification of 10.4 million hectares of land. Around 10 million hectares of agricultural land were destroyed by mining. There are more than 130 waste dumping sites in the region.

“Many of these issues, particularly air and water pollution, are not confined to one country and affect all countries in the region. Central Asian Governments have, since 1997, when the Almaty Declaration of the Presidents was adopted, shown their commitment to looking at tools and instruments that will help them, as a group, to work together to address these problems. This Convention is a further step in that direction,” said Surendra Shrestha, Regional Director of the UNEP Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

Approximately 60 million people live in Central Asia. Like the Artic, the Central Asian region is fragile. The extreme climate means its ecosystems are extremely vulnerable. More than 60 per cent of the drylands in Central Asia are affected by desertification. For example, in Kazakhstan degraded soil covers 66 per cent of the total land area and up to 80 per cent of the total land area in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Air Pollution Urban and industrial transboundary air pollution poses serious environmental problems in the CA and contributes to global warming. In Central Asia more than 7.5 million tones of pollutants was discharged in 2000 into the atmosphere by industries and transport. This includes more than 150 harmful substances discharged by industrial plants and power-generating facilities. The maximum total volume of pollutant emissions comes from Kazakhstan – 68%; next comes Uzbekistan – 18 %; Turkmenistan – 10%; Kyrgyzstan – 2 %; and Tajikistan – 2 %.

Water Pollution
Recycled water (drainage water and waste water) is the main source of water pollution. The major suppliers of the drainage water are Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. More than 32 cubic kilometers of collector-drainage water are collected annually in irrigated zone of Central Asia. Some 85% of the drainage water is with mineralization of 5g/l. The existing irrigation systems are inefficient, with poor and obsolete wastewater treatment facilities. This also is a reason for water losses.

Land Degradation
Lands in Central Asia are affected by desertification. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are affected by water erosion, soil exhaustion; overgrazing, irrational land management and irrigation, while wind and pasture erosions including secondary salinisation on irrigated lands are dominant in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Central Asia also faces the pressures on land productivity from inappropriate land use and management practices.

Waste Management
There are more than 130 waste dumping sites in Central Asia. In 1999, the volume of industrial waste in the region exceeded 168 million tones and municipal waste more than 13 million tones. The majority of this waste is non-ferrous, including radioactive and heavy metals. Another critical problem is the mining dumps and tailings that occupy vast areas. These dumps contain dangerous contaminants as mercury, antimony, fluorite, lead, prussic acid, cyanides, and heavy metal salts. There is a danger of transboundary contamination by waste storage sites located in the basins of the transboundary Syr Daria, Zeravshan, and Chu Rivers.

Mountain Ecosystems Degradation
At present, the status of flora and fauna of mountain systems is quickly deteriorating. These processes are supplemented by radical changes in hydrological balance of mountain catchments and degradation of water resources. Due to uncontrolled cattle grazing the capacity of alpine pastures in Pamir and Tien Shan declined for more than 40%. It is affecting water run-off formation. For the last 35 years the mountain glaciers reduced for 30%.

For more information, please contact:

Ms. Satwant Kaur, UNEP Regional Information Officer, Tel: + (66 2) 288 2127; E-mail: kaur@un.org

UNEP ROAP News Release 06/07