Environment and Security: Transforming risks into cooperation

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Environment and Security

na and Flora (CITES) 70 . This depletion has caused huge economic and environmental losses. Unfortunately, the measures taken by littoral states and the international com- munity have not succeeded in curbing ille- gal fishing, still the only source of revenue for many impoverished communities. Although the development of energy resourc- es brings new opportunities to local econo- mies and communities, it can also imperil the region’s delicate environmental balance. Lo- cal communities are in the front line in their exposure to the risks and consequences of pollution. Marine pollution is caused by in- dustrial development of the coastal region, exploration and exploitation of off-shore energy resources and by rivers transporting pollutants. The region has already witnessed cases of pollution-related mass deaths of birds, fish and seals. Marine pollution from extraction and transportation of hydrocar- bons is particularly important in the shallow northern Caspian Sea, an area of rich biologi- cal diversity that is vulnerable to pollution. The Cheleken peninsula in Turkmenistan is an- other area that demands particular attention for the environment. Abandoned oil wells and oil spills on land are a major pollution hazard, due to the risk of flooding in the event of ris- ing sea level and storm surges. This situation has already occurred leading to the pollution of land and sea in several areas. Finally, in large-scale on-shore oil extraction, the use of outdated technology and short- sighted planning in the past have had sig- nificant negative environmental effects in the areas around the oilfields: soil contamination, increased radioactivity and air pollution.

ern Caspian region. This is certainly an ob- stacle to further development of this part of the basin. Poor quality water affects public health. Again there are important inequali- ties in the access to quality water between rural and urban areas, with the former at a clear disadvantage. With the rapid growth of urban areas, water consumption by city dwellers is expected to increase sig- nificantly. The question of access to fresh- water resources will be essential for the sustainable development of the eastern Caspian’s urban areas over the coming decade. Water is also used in oil produc- tion, exacerbating the problem of water availability for other purposes and contrib- uting to the desertification of large areas of hinterland due to lower groundwater levels and soil humidity, as in Uzen-Senek, Ka- zakhstan. The main river systems of the eastern Caspian – the Atrek in Turkmeni- stan-Iran and the Ural in Kazakhstan-Rus- sia – require further international attention and improved cooperation. The eastern Caspian region has inherited from its Soviet past a number of military- industrial facilities and weapons testing sites, including nuclear arms – primary ele- ments of the former military and industrial security system. Activities in the region’s military ranges had numerous impacts on the environment, on public health among the civilian population and their livelihoods. Most of all these activities reduced scope for using the land safely for farming. Extrac- tion of uranium ore has left a large stock- pile of radioactive waste. Remediation of the Koshkar–Ata tailing pond and the safety of the MAEK nuclear plant should both be given priority. Plans to build a new nuclear power plant on the Caspian Sea coast as a replacement require further attention.

Another major issue is the quality and quantity of freshwater available in the east-