Baku hosts conference on Caspian Sea ecology

Azerbaijani Ecology and Natural Resources Minister Huseyngulu Bagirov addressing the conference said ministers or deputy ministers representing each of the five countries, senior representatives from international organizations will attend the conference which is to last till May 25. In his speech, Minister Bagirov gave through information about the Convention.

The Framework Convention is the first legally obligatory document approved by all the pre-Caspian states in the sphere of environmental protection.

The Baku conference will advance work on four protocols to the Convention that will set out specific, detailed obligations in the fields of biodiversity conservation, environmental impact assessment, oil pollution incidents and pollution from land-based sources.

The aim is to advance the texts sufficiently to make it possible to adopt them at the next conference in 2008, to be held in Iran. The meeting will also consider a proposal by Iran to launch work on a fisheries protocol and adopt a one-year work programme.

The new treaty commits its member governments to prevent and reduce pollution, restore the environment, use the Sea's resources in a sustainable and reasonable manner, and cooperate with one another and with international organizations to protect the environment.

The declaration of the Conference will be adopted in the end. The final day (Friday) will feature a ministerial segment with ministers or deputy ministers representing each of the five countries, APA reports.