Environment and Security

Environment and Security 42 /

joint transboundary assessment to setting up demonstration projects in local communities. Cooperation will be strength- ened between ENVSEC and specific parallel initiatives in the land and water sector (for example the Swiss-financed Integrated Water Resources Management in the Ferghana valley) as well as work of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea. In the industrial and waste cluster , with the support of the Italian Ministry of the Environment and Italian industry, ENVSEC will make a detailed analysis of environmental and health risks at four industrial sites: the Khaidarkan and Kadamjai mining and processing plants in Kyrgyzstan, the Ferghana oil refinery in Uzbekistan, and the Kanibadam dump for obsolete pesticides in Tajikistan. The project will also help improve organization of risk management in local industry. Under the leadership of NATO’s Security Through Science partners and in coordination with IAEA, ENVSEC will also help strengthen local analytical capacities for radiation measurement, and then carry out a detailed risk assessment at selected uranium mining sites such as Shekaftar (Kyrgyzstan), Degmay and Taboshar (Tajikistan), and Yangebat (Uzbekistan). One important outcome of ENVSEC consultations in Osh in December 2004 has been the re-estab- lishment of a dialogue between environmental authorities from the provinces (oblasts) of the three countries constituting the Ferghana valley. Heads of environmental committees from the Batken, Osh and Jalal-Abad oblasts in Kyrgyzstan, Sogd oblast of Tajikistan, Andijan, Namangan and Ferghana provinces of Uzbekistan met for the first time after a long break in an event organised by ENVSEC on December 7, 2004 at Osh Public Environmental Information Centre. Environmental authorities within the region every day face common problems and challenges. But also every day their managers experience difficulties and challenges of direct regular cross-border communi- cation. The full-day meeting gave the participants a highly appreciated opportunity to discuss common issues face-to-face: and not only the ENVSEC as- sessment and work to follow, but also many other burning concerns shared by the neighbours. Addressing cross-cutting concerns , UNDP will help authori- ties and local communities to improve management of risks

related to natural disasters such as landslides, mudflows, floods and drought. To increase the impact of work, par- ticipants have agreed that these initiatives should be linked to those undertaken on industrial locations and radioactive wastes sites. The project will map out hazards in greater detail than is currently available (looking, among others, at possible impacts on industrial facilities), and then contribute to greater local preparedness. As with other local projects, results if successful can be transferred to other locations. Safety of dams is another possible dimension of ENVSEC interest yet to be investigated. In our view ENVSEC contributes significant added value by strengthening institutions and transboundary dialogue and cooperation . Accordingly, in addition to working with local communities and industry, we will involve key players such as Government, civil society and mass media. Governments have always been ENVSEC’s primary coun- terparts and we will continue to rely on a network of national focal points from both the Environmental and Foreign Affairs parts of the administrations. Following the success of the first meeting of provincial environmental committees from Kyr- gyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in Osh in 2004, ENVSEC will continue to support such meetings and a transboundary dialogue between local environmental authorities in general

Facilitating dialogue among environmental authorities of the Ferghana valley provinces

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Source: UNEP, UNDP, OSCE, NATO, 2005