Ukraine: defense of the Caspian sea comes into force

Almost three years after the signature of the Teheran Convention on the ecological defence of the Caspian Sea through the five border states Azerbaidzhan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and the Russian Federation finally the document has been ratified through all five governments and comes into force now. Ecological organisations underline that this ratification is an important step towards the improvement of the ecological situation around the Caspian Sea. The Convention includes measures to prevent, reduce and control the pollution of the Caspian Sea connected with the exploitation of the oil and gas resources on its ground. Furthermore it intends to guarantee the access to information on the ecological situation of the Caspian Sea for NGOs and interested citizens. According to ecologists the next steps should now be the installation of ecological monitoring and co-ordinated measures to improve the international co-operation of all involved neighbour states. www.seu.ru