Environment and Security: Transforming risks into cooperation

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Environment and Security

headcount in Kazakhstan’s Jambyl province, which has the lowest regional product per capita (Pomfret 2006; ILO 2004). At the same time, in Mangystau in 2003, three out of five people were poor in rural areas, compared with only one in five in urban areas (Chu- lanova, 2007: 18). The differences in income distribution between urban and rural areas have significantly increased since independ- ence 40 although the underprivileged can ob- tain some social assistance and partly com- pensate the differences in revenues. A recent survey of the coastal regions of Ka- zakhstan (CEP 2004 c; CEP 2004 d; CEP 2006 b; UNDP 2007) showed that the rural population’s main problems were unem- ployment and low salaries, lack of enter- tainment and more generally opportunities for children and young people, and envi- ronmental impacting on the quality of life in these regions. The sharp decline in the importance of agriculture and fishing, which face a gloomy future, are key factors under- pinning the deterioration of the economic situation in rural areas. Turkmenistan’s Balkan province displays similar trends to its Kazakh neighbours.While the energy sector is growing in importance, agriculture accounts for about 7% of GRP. The province’s arid pastures are an impor- tant feeding ground for about 15% of coun- try’s sheep and goats and for one third of its camel stock (Turkmenmilliihasabat; CEP 2006 a). Fisheries have generally declined in importance since the 1980–90s, yet they re- main an important source of income for fish- ing communities and state enterprises, with an annual catch totalling 15–20 000 tonnes of fish in the Caspian (Berkeliev 2006). The Balkan province shows signs of de- veloping into an increasingly specialized economy dependent on the fuel-and-energy

sector. Employment options in other sec- tors are limited, a situation worsened by the fact that many industries on which various small towns such as Garabogaz or Khazar depended have gone into decline due to low profitability. Furthermore the low incomes from traditional activities such as grazing or fisheries, combinedwith a rise in living stand- ards, make these sectors less attractive and may even lead to the gradual destruction of the way of life in Turkmenistan’s fishing and pastoral communities. There are also recent plans to boost coastal tourism develop- ment on the Caspian Sea 41 , particularly in the Turkmen sector. Recently the President of Turkmenistan, Mr. Berdymuhamedov, pointed out that the “Caspian seashore is a unique, ecological zone well-known by its favourable climate and the richest potential that opens wide perspectives to convert it to the true recreational pearl” 42 . According to recent studies (CEP 2007), the north-eastern and eastern shores of the Caspian Sea have low levels of pollution, except for hydro- carbons which sometimes exceed permis- sible concentrations in industrial areas and sea ports. Compared with other larger parts of the Caspian Sea – of Iran, Azerbaijan or Russia – the eastern Caspian is considered less polluted. There are two main factors contributing to this: fewer rivers – the vec- tor for most of the pollution – draining into the sea, and fewer sources of land or sea- based pollution, combined with low popu- lation density. Although there is still some uncertainty regarding the realization of these plans, in some cases such as Avaza, in Turk- menistan and Aktau-city in Kazakhstan of- ficial local tourism and general development plans have been approved. At the same time the Turkmenistan govern- ment’s policies of state support and subsi- dies for the public sector –mostly financed by oil and gas revenue – has largely maintained