Caspian Sea: State of the Environment 2019

Federal Agency for Mineral Resources (Rosne- dra), the Federal Service for Supervision of Nat- ural Resources (Rosprirodnadzor), the Federal Agency for Water Resources (Rosvodresursy) and Roshydromet. The following executive authorities also carry out a number of environmental protection and safety functions as part of their responsibilities: • The Ministry of Transport of the Russian Fed- eration, including the Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport • The Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, including the Federal Agency for Fisheries and the Federal Service for Veteri- nary and Phytosanitary Supervision • The Ministry of Health and Social Develop- ment of the Russian Federation, including the Federal Service for Supervision of Healthcare • The Ministry for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters of the Russian Federation • The Ministry of Industry and Energy of the Russian Federation Institutional environmental management struc- tures that comply with the constitutional princi- ples for the division of powers between the feder- al centre and the regions operate in the Caspian regions of the Russian Federation. The Astrakhan Oblast Natural Resource Man- agement and Environmental Protection Service regulates natural resource management and environmental protection in Astrakhan Oblast (Decree of the Government of Astrakhan Oblast No. 190-P of 13 June 2006 (as amended on 22 December 2016)). Regional waste management in Astrakhan Oblast is regulated by the Ministry of Construction, Housing and Communal Services of Astrakhan Oblast (Decree of the Government of Astrakhan Oblast No. 210-P of 19 May 2010 (as amended on 30 December 2016)). The Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Republic of Dagestan is the authorized ex- ecutive authority in the republic which manages, regulates and controls natural resource manage- ment and environmental protection within the

limits of its competence (Decree of the Govern- ment of the Republic of Dagestan No. 85 of 29 March 2007). The equivalent executive authority in the Re- public of Kalmykia is the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Kalmykia. Environmental monitoring in Turkmenistan is entrusted to the Ministry of Agriculture and En- vironment Protection. Monitoring covers most aspects of the natural environment, including pollution of surface and groundwater, as well as atmospheric pollution. As part of a project undertaken by the State Com- mittee for Environmental Protection and Land Resources in partnership with GEF and UNDP, “Strengthening effective management of the system of specially protected natural areas in Turkmeni- stan, 2009–2014” (UNDP Turkmenistan 2009), a programme to develop the system of specially pro- tected natural areas in Turkmenistan, covering the period to 2030, was established. The programme seeks to provide a vision on issues related to the expansion, reform and creation of new types of protected areas, and to the development of mech- anisms and recommendations to improve effective management of protected areas over the long term (up to 2030). It is an important step towards pro- tecting biodiversity at the ecosystem level. The Institute of General and Applied Biology at the Oguz Khan University of Engineering Tech- nologies is currently implementing a programme to study the biodiversity of the Caspian Sea in a changing climate and how to protect this biodiver- sity, covering the period 2016–2020). The Hazar State Nature Reserve is exploring the ecology of wetland birds in the South-Eastern Caspian. Win- ter counts of birds conducted over the past two years have shown that up to 200,000 individuals of various species remain in the Turkmenistan sector of the sea for wintering (up to 500,000–600,000 have previously been observed). In the specially protected Caspian Sea zone, staff working at the reserve continue to monitor the number of Caspian seals. In this regard, it should be noted that the project entitled “Conservation

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