Azerbaijan

The CEP aims at Sustainable development of the Caspian environment, including living resources and water quality, protecting human health and ecological integrity for the sake of future generations.

The CEP's mission is to assist the Caspian littoral states to achieve the goal of environmentally sustainable development and management of the Caspian environment for the sake of long-term benefit for the Caspian inhabitants.

Lessons Learned

See also attached files below (Action Reflection Notes)

The project, under implementation of the UNDP Bratislava Regional Centre, is currently in the preparation phase (PDF-B), with the the project document to be finalised in early 2007. Four of the basin countries are signed up to the project: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Efforts are being made to involve Turkey in the project. The Ministry of Foriegn Affairs in Baku has confirmed Azerbaijan's comittment to the project and to work with Armenia in a multi-lateral setting.

The project preparation phase is 18 months and began July 05. It's co-funded by Sweden and has following main activities:

* A Transboundary Diagnostic Assessment (TDA) of the priority environmental problems in the Kura-Aras basin, including water quantity, water quality, flooding, habitat protection and bioresources. The first meeting of the technical experts to discuss the TDA took place in Nov 2005 (see attached meeting report).

* Development of Kura-Aras Strategic Action Programme (SAP) and National Action Plans. The activity is supported by Sida helping the countries produce draft National Action Plans (NAPs) that will act as implementation mechanisms for the SAP. The SAP and NAPs will be developed in parallel in an iterative process. At the end of the preparatory phase the hope is to produce a preliminary SAP which all four countries can endorse and build on during the main project phase.

* A stakeholder analysis and the establishment of a NGO forum. The qualitative part of the stakeholder analysis has been completed in fall 2005 in three of the four countries and a quantitative survey is planned for early 2006. In conjunction with the Eurasia Foundation two NGO meetings - comprising 10 NGO representatives per country - have been held to asisst NGOs develop transboundry projects for funding and advance ideas for a Kura-Aras NGO forum. The estblishment of a forum has now been agreed and a working group established to develop the charter and a management structure. (See attached NGO Forum Report below for more details.)

* Development of 4-5 demonstration projects for implementation in the main project. Initial ideas include establishment of transboundary water monitoring stations on the Aras (Az, Ar and Ir), creation of a Flood Management Commission (first stage between Ge and Az) and improved environmental management controls at selected mining sites. Work on development of these demonstration projects will begin in spring 2006 when co-funding will be activiely sought.

* Two regional conferences to discuss options for future management of the Kura-Aras basin to which representatives from the MoFA and Ministries of Ecology or Natural Resources will be invited. These discussions will continue into the main project. At the end of the preparation stage it is hoped that the countries can sign a declaration to work together to protect the environment of the Kura-Aras basin.

* Development of the main project document with GEF funding of $6 million and hoped for co-funding of more than $5 million. Co-funding is to be sought in particular for the implementation of the demonstration projects.

Background: The Kura-Aras river system is a principal source of water for industry, agriculture, residential uses and energy in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, Islamic Republic of Iran and Turkey. The rivers are important to regional cooperation as they cross and form many of the borders. Both rivers are seriously degraded in places. Water quality is impaired by the dumping of untreated municipal, industrial, medical and agricultural wastes, and by high sedimentation loads resulting from upstream deforestation. Water quantity is constrained by use of water for agricultural and hydropower purposes, which impacts upon the river ecosystem in places. Integrated, inter-country efforts are urgently required to evaluate the degree of ongoing degradation of these river ecosystems and to take action to halt and reverse damaging trends where necessary.

The project aims to ensure that the quality and quantity of the water throughout the Kura-Aras river system meets the short and long-term needs of the ecosystem and the communities relying upon the ecosystem. The project will achieve its objectives by: fostering regional cooperation; increasing capacity to address water quality and quantity problems; demonstrating water quality/quantity improvements; initiating required policy and legal reforms; identifying and preparing priority investments and; developing sustainable management and financial arrangements.

Lessons Learned

Following lessons can be drawn from the project so far (March 2007):
* The project has been able to strengthen the regional network of technical experts working on groundwater issues. The regional meeting organized is the first time many of the experts had met since the break-up of the Soviet Union;
* There is a lack and/or absence of valid and reliable data and this will affect the quality of project deliverables;
* There is no capacity to undertake integrated management of water resources at the basin level but, also given the current evel of management/regulation, it is not clear that it is implementable in the short to medium term;
* Lack of funds and understanding of importance of groundwater monitoring among decision makers are the main reasons why GW monitoring has been abandoned in Kura-Aras basin countries since early 90ies;
* There is lack of clear vision of good management of water resources and absence of national and a regional strategies;

This project is designed to put the
traditional water supply systems in the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhichevan into operation
again, giving 1,500 households access to clean drinking water. The installations are
administered by village associations, and the local inhabitants will be involved in the
renovation work in the underground tunnel systems known as "Chaheriz". The project not
only contributes to the rehabilitation of vital infrastructure but also creates some
employment. The Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic in the Caucasus mountains
officially belongs to Azerbaijan, but is completely separated geographically from the
mother country as it is surrounded by Armenia, Azerbaijan's neighbour. During the
Nagorno Karabach war, Armenia set up a blockade around the exclave, which is now
causing problems at many levels.

Lessons Learned

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This programme is a broad-based initiative for the economic development of
rural mountain areas in Azerbaijan. Activities under the programme are geared to
effective and sustained improvement of the living standards of the inhabitants of 54
villages in all, in five pilot districts. In implementation of the project, so-called village
campaigns will mobilize the local populace, motivating them to cooperate actively on
improving their situation. On the one hand, agriculture, as a traditional branch of the economy, is to operate more profitably, while, on the other, the production of nonagricultural
goods is to be promoted. At the same time, small loans are to create further
incentives for economic innovation, and actions will also focus on areas such as water
supply, infrastructure and the environment. In this way, the development programme
aims to convert the old Russian Kolkhoz economy into a new, private and market-led
economy. The Winterthur-based International Know-how Transfer and Trading AG (IKT)
company is responsible for coordinating the project and is in contact with many other
partners from Switzerland, Turkey and Azerbaijan itself.

Lessons Learned

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Planned demonstration project to establish approximately 90 monitoring stations for collection of limited data above and below major cities and farming, mining and industrial areas on the Kura and Araks Rivers and their major tributaries. System to be developed cooperatively with scientists from Armenia, Azerbaijan , Georgia and the US, and with additional funding from the US DOE.

Lessons Learned

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The project goal is to increase the dialogue for sustainable water management between representatives in Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan in the riparian states of the South Caucasus, and to encourage bilateral actions on the sustainable use of natural resources.

The general activities include support to the appropriate agencies in each country for:

* Monitoring, data exchange, and training in each country,
* Integrated river basin planning in bilateral pilot areas, and
* Institutional framework for addressing water policy issues in the region.

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PROJECT SUMMARY

The project activities have been successful in increasing sustainable water management among the stakeholders in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia in:

* Monitoring and Data Exchange - provided practical demonstration projects that restarted the monitoring programs, and developed and implemented a common database for web-based data sharing in the region;
* Training Programs - developed an extensive training program at the local and national levels for basic and advanced data management, geographic information systems, and web site development, including a basin model of the Debed River in Armenia;
* Integrated River Basin Planning - increased understanding of effective water management in the Khrami-Debed River basin, and included the completion of seven (7) prefeasibility evaluation reports and 70 grants that increased the effective participation of stakeholders in river basin planning issues;
* Institutional and Legal Framework - provided policy support for sustainable water management that addressed and prioritized water issues with the extensive collaboration of counterpart agencies, other donors, and project implementers in the region;
* Basin Council Development - initiated stakeholder meetings in the river basins that included the preparation of registration documents and support for the establishment of basin councils that resulted in the formal registration of three new basin council organizations at the grass-roots level; and
* Leveraging of Support - leveraged support from other contractors and donors to continue the public awareness in the basin areas, to conduct a study tour on basin management in the US, and to consider the funding of the prefeasibility evaluations in a phased program.

(For more on project results see Selcted Project Results or browse the Selected Reports from Phase 2 and Selected Reports from the Extension Period)

Lessons Learned

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