Ecology

STRATEGIC CO-OP PROGRAM FOR WATER RESOURCES TO BE SET UP

Representatives of Azeri, Georgian and Armenian ecological organizations, as well as the OSCE, USAID and the International Alternative Organization gathered in Tbilisi, Georgia, on November 26-27. The meeting was held on the initiative of the Euroasian Foundation.

The parties focused on the preservation of water resources in South Caucasus and their rational utilization and ecological contamination of the rivers Kur and Araz. It was decided to set up a strategic cooperation program for preservation of water resources with the participation of the international organizations.

CASPIAN CONTEST CLINCHED

Winners of the "The Caspian as viewed by journalists" contest were awarded during the opening of a photo exhibition at the Arts Center of Baku Thursday. The contest was announced by the Caspian Ecological Program among journalists of the Caspian nations.

Valuable prizes and diplomas were conferred to the journalists. Occupying first place was Sevinj Haydarova, a former contributor of the AssA-Irada news agency, an Oil&Gas magazine correspondent and chief editor of the "Baku Ecological News" bulletin since 2001. Second and third prizes were won by Elchin Sultanov, an employee of the Zoology Institute under the Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences, and another Azeri journalist Ulfat Ahmadova.

The photo show displayed the CEP collection, "Caspian picture gallery", and works by a special photo commission in the Caspian littoral states. The topics of the exhibition were the beauty of Caspian nature, recreation zones and tourism opportunities quality degradation of the Caspian environment, etc. Especially noteworthy were the works, "Azerbaijan-Sabayil", "Absheron", "the cemetery of ships on Narghin" and "Gulustan coast".

At the end of the show, children from the Children's Ecological Organization gave a concert with pictures of birds, animals and plants. The event was attended by diplomats, minister for ecology and natural resources Hussein Baghirov, attendees of the international seminar for the coastal nations underway in Baku, etc.

FRAME AGREEMENT ON CASPIAN CO-OP IN FOCUS

The first regional workshop on the development of the draft Caspian regional cooperation plan in case of large oil spills has started in Baku. Turkmen delegate to the seminar Vladimir Glazovski told AssA-Irada that this is the first attempt of initial coordination of the draft Framework Agreement of the littoral states on the preservation of the Caspian ecology.

Realizing the threat to the Caspian environment and its hydrographic and ecological features, the representatives of the five coastal nations are set to sign a joint convention that would serve as a legislative basis for joining forces not just in emergencies, but in liquidation of permanent contamination sources. The scale of these pollution hotbeds could get enlarged, International Maritime Organization spokesman John Ostergaard told the workshop.

The liquidation work envisions the problems with flooded wells, pollution resulting from floating and stationary rigs, oil pipelines, vessels and seabed operations.