Caspian Sea: State of the Environment 2019

8. Monitoring and compliance It is widely recognized that a properly organized monitoring and compliance system is required to underpin environmental protection efforts, to understand ecosystem pressures, status, impact and response, and to develop measures to pre- vent or mitigate undesirable changes.

sea. To establish environmental criteria, as well as qualitative and quantitative indicators of anthropogenic impact, stations are regularly monitored, and water samples and bottom sed- iments are collected and analysed. Analytical, biological, eco-toxicological and microbiologi- cal analysis of water samples, bottom sediments, drill cuttings and drilling fluids are carried out in the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Re- sources laboratory. The parameters of microbial pollution in the coastal waters of Iran, used for recreation and swimming, have been monitored in accordance with the standards of the World Health Organi- zation (WHO) since 2016. The public is informed via the media, including through publication on the Ministry of Ecology website, where a map shows safe water in blue and highlights the risk of microbial contamination in yellow. State environmental monitoring of pollution in the Russian Federation part of the Caspian Sea is carried out by Roshydromet, the executive authority that performs monitoring in the sea area within the Russian Federation section of the seabed, in the mouths of rivers carrying wa- ter to the Caspian from the Russian Federation (the Volga, Terek and Sulak rivers) and at an integrated background monitoring station on the sea coast (inside the Astrakhan Biosphere Reserve). Roshydromet also monitors atmo- spheric and soil pollution and radiation on the sea coast. The Roshydromet monitoring network includes 10 surface water pollution observation points in the mouths of the Volga, Terek and Sulak rivers and 46 marine pollution observation points, of which 33 are in coastal areas and the rest are in the open part of the Caspian Sea. Monitoring of individual indicators of the state of the marine environment and pollution is also included as part of the aquatic biological re- source monitoring programme implemented in the Russian part of the Caspian Sea by the Fed- eral Agency for Fisheries (Rosrybolovstvo 2018).

International environmental conventions, trea- ties, agreements and resolutions on the pro- tection and management of natural resources are vital tools which establish a foundation for global environmental policy. There are currently around 500 international agreements covering various aspects of environmental protection. United Nations General Assembly resolutions and the World Charter for Nature account for the majority of international legal instruments relating to environmental protection. These in- struments play a key role in the implementation of international legal environmental cooperation principles and provisions. They cover almost all types of natural resource and the most hazardous human activities. To ensure that marine pollution is identified and addressed in a timely fashion, the Caspian Sea Integrated Environmental Monitoring De- partment under the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan monitors the entire coastal strip and the open sea, includ- ing via offshore facilities and floating vehicles. Monitoring to assess the state of pollution in the sea includes identification of pollution sources, determination of qualitative and quantitative discharge/run-off parameters, and assessment and forecasting of pollution. Water pollution is monitored at standard depths and near the bottom. Hydrometeorological pa- rameters are measured at all monitoring stations (water temperature, speed and direction of flow, atmospheric pressure, wind speed and direction, precipitation and relative humidity). The Caspian Sea Integrated Environmental Monitoring Department has established 128 stations on land and 55 stations in the open

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