1 Introduction

1.1. Background

The Republic of Uzbekistan which is at present carrying out a major reform in economy and socially oriented policy, aimed at ensuring sustainable development, pays special attention to the establishment of a management system based on the implementation of up-to-date approaches and information technologies, and special programmes worked out by competent international organisations.

Agenda 21, Chapter 40 on information for decision-making outlines the needs of improved capacities for information management to make environmental information better accessible. UNEP's Division of Environment Information and Assessment (DEIA) mandate is "to provide the world community with improved access to meaningful data and information, and to help increase the capacity of governments to use environmental information for decision-making and action planning for sustainable human development".

To meet these needs UNEP/DEIA is providing assistance to developing countries and countries with economies in transition to strengthen their environmental data and information management capacities. Programme outputs will be an operational global environmental information network. The UNEP approach consists of four stages of activities (Assessment - Feasibility - Implementation - Operational) for which guidelines have been developed. Among these stages, the assessment will give the first broad overview of the environmental information situation in the country.

1.2. Task of the report

To assess the general state of the existing environmental information networks in the Republic of Uzbekistan and define their needs.

1.3. Tangible outputs

Brief overview of the state of the national environmental information network in the Republic of Uzbekistan for the assessment of the potentialities for the establishment of an information centre and the development of a national environmental information network, compatible with UNEP/GRID and UNEPnet.

2. Brief country profile

2.1. General information in brief

The Republic of Uzbekistan is one of the largest countries of Central Asia. Uzbekistan is at present still engaged in an extremely complicated process of transition to genuine independence, from obscurity to world-wide recognition, from a totalitarian regime to a democratic society, from a centralised planned economy to a market-oriented one.

The Republic of Uzbekistan occupies an area of 447,400 square kilometres and has a population of 22.5 million. The capital of Uzbekistan is Tashkent with a population of 2.2 million. The Republic of Uzbekistan consists of 12 oblasts (regions) and the Republic of Karakalpakstan. Major cities include Tashkent, Samarkand, Andizhan, and Bukhara. The density of population is 49.6 inhabitants per square kilometre.

2.2. Geography

The Republic of Uzbekistan is situated in the central part of Eurasia in the subtropical zone of the northern hemisphere. Most of the country (85.3%) lies in the vast area of Central-Asian deserts, 14.7% of the territory in the south and south-east is occupied by prominent mountain systems. The overall area of arable land constitutes about 10% of the territory of Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan borders on Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan.

Transboundary rivers Syrdar'ya and Amudar'ya, flowing into the Aral Sea which lies within the territories of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, are the main waterways.

Intensive solar radiation, remoteness from the humid influence of the Atlantic ocean, and the impact produced by mountain ranges and deserts on the general circulation of the atmospheric air account for the climate of Uzbekistan, which is of a subtropical extreme continental type, with hot dry summers, unstable weather in winter, and a wide range of seasonal and daily temperature variation.

The desert and steppe zones are characterised by short winters with thin and unstable snow cover, and hot cloudless dry dusty summers. The characteristic feature of the mountainous zone (over 600 m above sea level) is high precipitation (up to 200 mm per year) on windward slopes.

The territory of Uzbekistan is poor in forest resources. The area occupied by forests on sandy soils, mountain forests, planted forests, and forest plantations in the flood plains constitutes 3% of the territory of Uzbekistan.

2.3. History

The state, being created in Uzbekistan, is to be based on democratic principles in conjunction with essential historical moral foundations of the Uzbek people and due regard for philosophy, which has absorbed both the wisdom of great ancestors, such as Ahmed Yasavi, Bakhouddin Nakshbandi, Imam al-Bukhari, Imam ath-Termisi, Amir Timur, Ulugh Beg, Alisher Navoi, Babur, and the progressive international experience. In the past the geographical position of Uzbekistan, which lay on the ancient Silk Road from Europe to the Far East, was highly advantageous for trade and the development of commercial and manufacturing centres.

In 1924 Uzbekistan became a member of the USSR.

Uzbekistan is a sovereign state since September 1, 1991.

2.4. Economy

Uzbekistan is rich in natural resources, the most important being gold (65 tonnes produced annually), natural gas (45,000 million cubic metres produced in 1993), and oil. There are also substantial deposits of copper, lead, zinc, and other minerals.

Agriculture is well developed, with an overall share of 33.4% and 45% employed in it. During the Soviet period agriculture specialised in cotton-growing which is still important, accounting for 40% of gross agricultural produce. Certain measures have been taken to increase the produce of food grain, rye, and barley. The Republic still has to import 66% wheat, 50% potatoes, 30% meat, and 25% milk. The agricultural sector has a high potential of producing silk, fruit, and vegetables for export. Most of the country's agricultural production is concentrated in the fertile valleys of the two major rivers - Amudar'ya and Syrdar'ya. However, excessive land exploitation has resulted in the exhaustion of the limited water resources.

The industry is based mainly on the processing of agricultural production and supplying agriculture with raw materials and equipment. Light industry, including cotton processing and the textile industry, account for 39% of industrial production, whereas food and food processing industries constitute 13%. The heavy industry is largely oriented towards the production of machinery and equipment for agriculture. Mining industry is becoming the principal motive force of economic growth. Uzbekistan possesses a stable internal transportation system, a well-developed network of roads, railways, and national air-routes.

People constitute the greatest treasure of Uzbekistan. The level of human development is high enough compared with the incomes level, it forms the foundation on which the future economic growth is to be based.

Up to 40% of the state budget is used in the social sector. This includes financial support of education, public health, cultural development, science, state allowances to mothers and children, financial support of poor and needy families.

2.5. Social and economic policy

The government of the Republic of Uzbekistan believes that economic reform should enjoy the support of the entire population and refuses to pursue the so-called "shock therapy" policy. The government continues to finance several social programmes of the Soviet period (the protection of the constitutional right to work, the rights to free medical care, free secondary education, etc.).

Among the essential priority tasks of the period of transition to sustainable development in Uzbekistan are the renewal of production rise, the increase in income per capita, and the macroeconomic stabilisation. It is already at present that the prerequisite conditions for economic growth are being created in Uzbekistan. While in 1994 investments equalled approximately 4% of the GDP and 10.5% of the total expenditure sum, the corresponding figures for 1995 constitute accordingly 7% and 18.5%.

The government of Uzbekistan has focused its efforts on the following strategically essential for macroeconomic stabilisation financial parameters: the cost of financial capital - rates of interest, hard currency costs - exchange rates, labour force cost - wages; water and energy costs.

Uzbekistan will be able to completely satisfy its own energy needs in the near future. The working national model of labour market is being formed, which is based on the regulation of both labour force and demand for it. The focal point of the government's policy regarding the labour market regulation is the release of excessive labour force and its involvement in other types of labour activities. Thus, employment in rural areas in 1990-1993 increased from 39.3% to 44.6%, and employment in subsidiary small-holdings increased by more than 50,000 in 1994.

2.6. State of the environment

The state of the environment in the Republic of Uzbekistan still remains troublesome. It has been largely caused by excessive prevalence of agriculture, the stress on the development of large-scale, highly concentrated industrial production, chaotic urbanisation, monopolisation in certain branches of industry, low level and insufficient potentialities for the development and implementation of advanced machinery and up-to-date and environmentally clean technological processes and techniques, inadequate public information concerning the state of the environment.

The structure of economy with prevailing agriculture, which came into being during the last decades, is the principal cause of today's lack of water resources. Irretrievable water use for irrigation has brought on an abrupt reduction of the inflow of the waters of the rivers Amudar'ya (from 37.9 cubic kilometres in 1960 to 1.0 cubic kilometre in 1989) and Syrdar'ya (from 21.0 cubic kilometres in 1960 to 4.4 cubic kilometres in 1989 and 8.9 in 1994) into the Aral Sea. Up to 15,000 hectares of pastures are annually absorbed by salty sand dust, which has resulted in the reduction of the populations of more than 50 species of mammals and birds in the Aral Sea region.

The major impact on surface and ground water quality is made by the run-off from cultivated lands and waste water from livestock farms.

The total amount of contaminated industrial waste water discharged into open water bodies in 1994 equalled 215.1 million cubic metres which is by 69 million cubic metres less than in the previous year. Despite the beginning (in 1994) of the low-flow part of the river-flow cycle, the average water quality in rivers remains within the limits of the third class (moderately contaminated) according to the current national classification. The total emission of pollutants into the air in 1995 amounted to 1.91 million tonnes, 0,93 million tonnes of which was emitted by stationary pollution sources, while the main contribution (51.3%) was made by mobile sources.

Carbon oxide constitutes approximately 50% of pollutants, the rest is divided between sulphur dioxide (16%), hydrocarbons (14%), nitrogen oxides (9%), solid particles (7%), and specific high-toxic substances, including benzo(a)pyrene, methilmercaptan, vanadium pentoxide.

On the whole, there is a certain tendency towards a decrease in the amount of both total and specific emissions of pollutants into the air; thus, while 3.81 million tonnes of harmful substances were released in 1991, the amount fell to 2.89 million tonnes in 1992, 2.59 million tonnes in 1993, and 2.41 million tonnes in 1994. However, 63% of the decrease in the amount of pollutants emitted into the air is accounted for by the fall in industrial production and fuel use, while the share attributed to environmental protection activities is 37%.

The predominant role of cotton-growing in the agriculture of the Republic brought on the necessity of a large-scale use of mineral fertilisers and pesticides, as well as the loss of soil humus, soil exhaustion, and the overall deterioration of its physical, chemical, and biological characteristics.

Areas with especially high level of soil contamination are those neighbouring agricultural air-fields and pesticides storage sites, where DDT concentrations twice and thrice exceed the corresponding quality standard.

The danger of deflation hangs over more than 2 million hectares of irrigated land, especially in Fergana, Surkhandar'ya, Kashkadar'ya, and Bukhara oblasts.

Over 100 million tonnes of various solid wastes are annually produced in the Republic. The main part of this amount (2 million tonnes) is accumulated in reservoirs of different kinds, thus creating a secondary source of environmental pollution. Besides, about 80 million cubic metres of untreated wastes are annually dumped at more than 230 waste sites in urban and rural areas, practically none of which meets sanitary and environmental standards.

Radiation conditions in the republic are influenced by both natural and technogeneous factors, including the mining and processing of radio-active and non-ferrous ores, and the mining of brown coal with high uranium content.

Unfastened waste-heaps in areas with a high land-slide risk close to the borders of Kyrgyzstan (Andizhan and Fergana oblasts) and Tajikistan (Tashkent oblast) present a special problem.

Uzbekistan is inhabited by 650 species of vertebrates, its flora being constituted by more than 4,000 species. In an effort to preserve the natural environment in the Republic seven state sanctuaries were established during the last three years. The total area of protected territories has reached 1.15 million hectares with 9 strict reserves, 2 national parks, 2 natural monuments, and ecocentre "Jeiran".

2.7. Environmental problems and the structure of environmental protection and natural resource management

In order to solve aggravating environmental problems and ensure a stable supply of raw materials and fuel resources for the industrial production in the Republic, a number of measures are being taken, special attention being paid to the increase in their social and economic status, and to the development on this basis of a long-term strategy for restructuring the economy, aimed at a cardinal reduction of natural resources use in industrial production and minimisation of environmental pollution.

In the course of the period of transition in the economy of the Republic, "economic aspects of environmental decision-making" (the integration of environmental and economic policies) have been brought to the fore. State management in environmental matters is replaced under new conditions by territorial management and target-oriented programming.

The principal means of economic measures taken in order to ensure the protection of the environment is the implementation of economic instruments into environmental management, which is to be based on payment for resources.

The first steps have been taken to create an integral system of economic regulation of matters of environmental protection and environmental management. A resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan (based on the proposals of the Goskomprirody of the Republic of Uzbekistan) introduced into practice payments for emissions exceeding permit limits, discharges of pollutants into the environment, and dumping of wastes, reviewed and approved new tariffs for the calculation of fines imposed for the damage inflicted on vegetation, and payments collected for reproduction of exhausted water resources.

In 1994 the programme of the implementation of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On the Principles of the State Youth Policy in the Republic" was adopted which pays special attention to environmental education and the spreading of environmental knowledge. At present environmental departments are established at the majority of higher educational institutions and new specialisations for students are introduced, including Ecology and Environmental Protection, Environmental Economics, Environmental Protection and Environmental Management, Water Engineering, Sanitary Engineering, Metrology, Standardisation, Certification and Quality Control. However, the following problems still remain unsolved:

• imperfection of the legislative basis and the economic means of the environmental legislation implementation;

• underdeveloped technological and methodological bases for monitoring state of the environment and sources of its pollution;

• increasing anthropogenic impact on the atmospheric air quality, land, water and biological resources (e.g. the Tashlak District of the Fergana Oblast, and Sariassiya and Uzun districts of the Surkhandar'ya Oblast);

• insufficiency of the production of emission treatment equipment and installations, of environmentally clean and waste-free technologies, high-efficiency watering technologies and techniques, and of the equipment for express analysis for environmental pollution;

• the absence of a system of collection, transportation, and treatment of industrial and municipal wastes;

• the lack of appropriate technological solutions for the on-site treatment of hospital sewage and post-operational wastes cleaning;

• the critical environmental situation caused by the drying-up of the Aral Sea;

• inadequate supply of the population with drinking water, especially in rural areas;

• a need for the preservation and development of the system of protected areas.

One of the major inter-state problems is the establishment of a joint system for the management of water resources of the Aral Sea basin in the interests of all the countries of Central Asia and ensuring acceptable living conditions in the Aral Sea region.

The principal inter-regional problems include transboundary pollution of atmospheric air, water resources, and the transport of wastes; intensive cultivation of new lands, development of adyr zones in Fergana, Surkhandar'ya, Tashkent, and other oblasts.

3. Status of Environmental Information Network

3.1. Sub-national environmental information network

The State Committee for Nature Protection (Goskomprirody) of the Republic of Uzbekistan was formed on October 1, 1988.

The resolution of the Oliy Mazhlis (the Parliament) of the Republic of Uzbekistan of April 26, 1996 No. 232-1 approved the Statute on the State Committee for Nature Protection of the Republic of Uzbekistan. (Thereby the Resolution "On the Approval of the Statute on the Goskomprirody" of December 10, 1990 was declared invalid.)

The Goskomprirody of the Republic of Uzbekistan is a specially commissioned superdepartmental co-ordinating body which exercises state control and inter-sectoral management in the fields of nature protection, the use and reproduction of natural resources, it is subordinate and accountable to the Oliy Mazhlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The resolutions of the Goskomprirody, made within the sphere of its competence, are compulsory for all ministries, state committees, and agencies of the Republic as well as for other juridical and physical persons.

The Goskomprirody exercises state control and inter-sectoral management in the fields of nature protection and natural resources use in co-ordination with state authorities.

When dealing with international and regional environmental problems, the Goskomprirody co-operates with corresponding environmental bodies and organisations of other countries.

The Goskomprirody co-ordinates the activities of the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the State Committee for Safety Supervision in Industry and Mining as well as other ministries, state committees, and agencies with regard to nature protection and rational use of natural resources.

The Goskomprirody interacts with public organisations and the population of the country, and through mass media makes decisions and actions, aimed at improving the environment, as well as the results of environmental activities, known to the population.

The main objectives of the Goskomprirody include:

• state control in the fields of environmental protection, the use and reproduction of natural resources;

• implementation of inter-sectoral all-round management of environmental protection activities;

• the elaboration and implementation of a unified policy of environmental protection and natural resources saving;

• ensuring a favourable state of the environment and its improvement;

• conducting programmes, related to the establishment of environmental quality standards, co-ordinating environmental standards, rules, and norms for environmental protection and rational use of natural resources in different branches of industry, forming a data bank;

• conducting work in metrological maintenance of nature protection activities, providing methodological guidelines for the monitoring of environmental pollution;

• carrying out state environmental review of projects, programmes, concepts, main principles, and layouts of territorial distribution and development of productive forces; of feasibility and project documents; of instructive methodological and standardising technological guidelines; of the state of the environment of regions and industrial sites, as well as of new machinery, technologies, materials, and substances which produce an impact on the environment;

• the elaboration of the structure, content and procedures for environmental monitoring, the establishment and maintenance in co-operation with other ministries, state committees and other concerned bodies of a unified environmental information data bank on the state of pollution, other harmful effects on the environment, and the natural resources use;

• the supervision of protected areas, the maintenance (in co-operation with the Academy of Sciences) of the State Cadastre of Protected Territories; the introduction of proposals on new protected territories;

• participation in the work of state commissions for the acceptance of new-built or reconstructed industrial units, as well as of nature protection constructions and installations; certification of materials, sites, and allotment of land for economic activities of any kind;

• the implementation of a system of activities aimed at fostering consideration for the environment and its resources in the citizens of the country; propaganda and dissemination of environmental knowledge, improving the general level of environmental education, organising contests, displays, and conferences in this field;

• drawing research centres, engineering institutions, design offices, higher educational establishments, centres for scientific and technical creative work and information, researchers and experts into the elaboration of long-term programmes, regional integrated environmental protection plans, the preparation of new environmental legislation acts, the work of the state environmental review, and other activities related to the protection and use of natural resources;

• the establishment and use of the republican and the local nature protection funds.

The head of the Goskomprirody is the Chairman, appointed by the Oliy Mazhlis on the recommendation of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The first deputy and all the other deputies to the Chairman are appointed by the Council of the Oliy Mazhlis on the recommendation of the Chairman of the Goskomprirody.

The Chairman of the Goskomprirody and his deputies are the chief state inspectors. One of the deputies is also the head of the State Environmental Review.

For purposes of decision-making in the field of environmental management and nature protection and the use and reproduction of natural resources the Goskomprirody forms the Board, consisting of the Chairman of the Goskomprirody (the chairman of the Board), his deputies, the Chairman of the Goskomprirody of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, and the heads of the departments of the governing body of the Goskomprirody, of the bodies subordinate to the Goskomprirody of the Republic of Uzbekistan, of enterprises, institutions, and organisations.

The Scientific and Technical Council and the Public Council function under the auspices of the Goskomprirody of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The governing body of the Goskomprirody includes:

• the management (the Chairman, his deputies, and assistant);
• the Department of Environmental Economics and Management with Environment Protection Funds Section;
• the Department of Scientific and Technological Progress and Popularisation;
• the Directorate-General for State Environmental Review (Glavgosekspertiza);
• the Directorate-General for the Atmospheric Air Protection and Waste Utilisation (Glavkontrol'atmosfery);
• the Directorate-General for the Protection and Rational Use of Water Resources (Glavvodkontrol');
• the Directorate-General for the Protection and Rational Use of Land (Glavzemkontrol');
• the Department of Environmental Norms, Standardisation, and Certification;
• the Department of Environmental Legislation;
• the Department of International Co-operation and Programmes;
• the Accounts and Economics Department.

The institutions subordinate to the Goskomprirody of the Republic of Uzbekistan include:

• the State Republican Inspectorate for the Protection and Rational Use of Flora, Fauna, and Protected Territories (Gosbiokontrol');
• the State Republican Inspectorate for Analytical Control (GosSIAK);
• the Department of Environmental Information and Forecasts (Ekoinformprognoz);
• the Tashkent Research Institute for Water Treatment and Preparation (TashNIIVodgeo);
• Self-Financing Research and Production Centre "Water Resources Ecology" (NPKhTs"EVKh");
• Research and Engineering Institute "Atmosphere" (NIPTI "Atmosfera");
• Self-Financing Educational and Research Centre "Ecologist" (UIKhTs "Ekolog");
• the Chatkal strict biosphere reserve;
• the Hissar strict reserve;
• the Bukhara ecocentre "Jeiran".
  

3.2. Other ministries, agencies, and institutions concerned with the environment

The Directorate-General for Hydrometeorology under the auspices of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan (Glavgidromet) carries out hydrometeorological work and monitors the pollution of atmospheric air, surface waters, and soils. The monitoring network of the Glavgidromet embraces over 400 monitoring sites which conduct hydrometeorological and environmental quality observations. The department maintains the water resources cadastre for surface waters.

The Ministry of Public Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan maintains the system of public health institutions in the Republic, monitors and controls the sanitary and epidemiological state, the levels of noise, vibrations, electromagnetic fields, radiation, bacteriological contamination; possesses a well-developed warning and information network; carries out research programmes aimed at discovering environmental factors with harmful impact on public health.

The Ministry of Water Resources (Minvodkhoz) of the Republic of Uzbekistan is in charge of the state inventory of water use by water users. It also maintains the cadastre of water resources used in agriculture.

The Ministry of Agriculture (Minsel'khoz) of the Republic of Uzbekistan maintains the state land use inventory and the land cadastre of the Republic.

The State Committee for Geology (Goskomgeologia) of the Republic of Uzbekistan monitors the geological environment of the Republic, exogenous processes, the state of ground waters, and maintains the inventory of the latter.

The State Committee for Forestry (Goskomles) of the Republic of Uzbekistan maintains the state inventory of the forest resources.

The State Committee for Forecasting and Statistics (Goskomprognozstat) of the Republic of Uzbekistan collects and generalises statistical data on the emissions of pollutants into the air, on the production and allocation of wastes, on the use of natural resources, etc.; it also publishes statistical compendia on nature protection and natural resources use.

The State Committee for Safety Supervision in Industry and Mining exercises state control in industry and mining in terms of compliance with safety standards.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan has an environmental department which controls the levels of harmful substances in the exhaust gases from motor vehicles.

The Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan maintains the state inventory of wildlife and vegetation and monitors their state; in co-operation with the Goskomprirody it maintains the cadastres of flora and fauna of protected territories.

Non-Governmental Organisations

Non-governmental organisations in the Republic include:

• the International Non-Governmental Ecology and Health Fund "Ekosan" (has amalgamated with the former Republican Nature Protection Society and incorporated its sub-national network);

• the Committee for the Protection of the Aral Sea and the Aral Sea Region;

• the International Philanthropic Society "Aral";

• the Republican Women's Committee;

• the Business Women's Association;

• The Public Council, and the Scientific and Technical Council under the auspices of the Goskomprirody of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which have the status of consultative bodies.
  

3.3. Education

The educational level of the people of the Republic of Uzbekistan is fairly high, over 97% of the population are literate. 948 people out of every thousand people employed have an education: 127 - incomplete secondary, 480 - secondary, 199 - special secondary, 142 - higher and incomplete higher. Young people both in the cities and in the rural areas have a universal access to free education at any level. The Parliament has adopted a resolution on the switch-over of the Uzbek language to the Latin alphabet.

The main objectives of national and, especially, environmental education include:

• supporting the access to all levels of education for all citizens of the Republic;

• educational reform, the integration of the Republican educational system into the international one;

• providing the country with a sufficient number of specialists in the following fields: environmental science, bioecology, geoecology, environmental engineering, environmental education, etc.;

• improving the education financing system; the possibility of international financial support of textbook publishing for secondary schools is at present under consideration at the UNICEF;

• the improvement of the quality of teaching and education;

• more active involvement of mass media into raising public awareness concerning environmental issues, increasing the number of educational entertaining programmes on the radio and television, analytical columns in newspapers and magazines, the amount of children-oriented literature on environmental problems and environment-friendly behaviour;

• making good use of folk traditions and creative heritage to bring up the young generation in the spirit of consideration for the environment.

Specialists in environmental science and environmental management for different branches of industry and the system of public education are educated at the departments of environmental science of the following establishments:

• Tashkent Technical University;
• Tashkent Medical Institute;
• Tashkent Textile Institute;
• Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Mechanisation in Agriculture;
• Institute of Oil and Gas;
• Institute of Chemical Technologies;
• Samarkand Medical institute;
• Fergana State Technical University;
• Tashkent Institute of Aviation;
• Tashkent Hydrometeorological Technical College.
  

3.4. Sub-national environmental information network

The Goskomprirody of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, its departments in oblasts (12), and the Tashkent City Committee for Nature Protection are the territorial branches of the Goskomprirody of the Republic of Uzbekistan. They, together with the inter-district, district, and town committees (inspectorates) for nature protection, as well as the institutions and organisations subordinate to them, form the Unified System of Goskomprirody of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The Chairmen of the Goskomprirody of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, of the oblast and the Tashkent City Committees for Nature Protection, their deputies within the areas of their responsibilities are the Chief State Inspectors for Nature Protection of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, of the oblasts, and Tashkent City accordingly.

The management structures of the Goskomprirody of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, of the oblast, and the Tashkent City Committees for Nature protection include:

• the governing body (the Chairman and his deputies), the Public Council, the Board of the Committee;

• the management bodies: the Production and Technology Department, the Department of Environmental Review, the Department of Environmental Standards Environmental Management, the Accounts and Finance Department;

• inspectorates: for analytical control, for the protection of atmospheric air, for the protection and rational use of land resources, for the protection and use of water resources, for the protection of wildlife and vegetation, for mining;

• town, inter-district, and district committees for nature protection.
  

3.5. International networking

One of the main instruments of the implementation of the state policy in the fields of environmental management and environmental protection is the elaboration and carrying out of national and international programmes. Due to the financial difficulties of the transition period the state budget does not allocate enough money for environmental purposes.

The State Committee for Science and Technology (GKNT) of the Republic of Uzbekistan has outlined the priority tasks and methods for environmental problems solving within the framework of state research and engineering programmes. The programme is being implemented by the joint efforts of the institutions subordinate to the Goskomprirody, research institutes of the Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and research institutions of various branches of industry. In 1993-1995 88 projects were worked on in accordance with the programme, in which 28 research institutions participated.

The Nukus Declaration of the Heads of the Countries of Central Asia and International Organisations on Sustainable Development of the Aral Sea Basin proposed the measures for the improvement of the region's system of natural resources integrated management, including:

• the establishment of a regional environmental quality control system, with a special emphasise on water resources;
• the establishment of a system of information exchange and environmental monitoring.

The present-day economic situation adds special value to the technological and financial support provided by other countries and international organisations in the course of joint programmes implementation. Special emphasis in the region is laid on solving social and environmental problems of the Aral Sea and the Aral Sea region.

The Interstate Council of the Aral Sea (ICAS) is implementing 19 projects within the framework of the "Programme of Concrete Measures for the Improvement of the State of the Environment in the Aral Sea Basin", adopted by the Heads of the states of Central Asia in 1994 and partly sponsored by the World Bank.

The Goskomprirody has signed the following inter-state agreements:

1. Inter-Governmental Agreement with the Republic of Turkey on co-operation in the field of environmental protection (May 1996).

1. Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the improvement of drinking water quality in certain regions and environmental education of the population (April, 1994).

1. Agreement with Civil Aviation and Travel Company of Sharjah Emirate on co-operation in the field of wildlife protection and rational use (November, 1994).

1. Record of Intention with a Swiss organisation "Rescue in Case of Emergency Abroad" (1994).

1. Memorandum on co-operation in environmental protection with the Republic of Georgia (September, 1994).

1. Memorandum on co-operation in environmental protection with Latvia (May, 1996).

Draft Inter-Governmental Agreements on co-operation in environmental protection with Netherlands and the People's Republic of China are ready to be signed.

The Republic of Uzbekistan has become a full member of the United Nations in 1992.

Having acquired independence in 1991 Uzbekistan faced the necessity of joining international conventions in order to solve its environmental problems. The Republic of Uzbekistan has joined the following international conventions and agreements:

• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (New York, 1992);
• Convention on Biological Diversity (Rio de Janeiro, 1992);

• Convention on the Control of Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (Basel, 1989);

• Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer (Vienna, 1985);

• Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (Montreal, 1987);

• United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those countries experiencing serious drought and/or desertification, particularly in Africa (June 17, 1994)

• Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (1995), signed in the Hague in the framework of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (Bonn, 1979)

The work on proposal elaboration for the Government on the necessity of joining the following conventions and agreements is carried out at present:

• Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in Transboundary Context (Espoo, 1991);

• Convention on the Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar, 1971);

• Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (Geneva, 1979);

• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITEC, Washington, 1973),

• Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Water Courses and International Lakes (Helsinki, 1992);

• Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents (Helsinki, 1992).

The availability of information necessary for the assessment of potential danger of chemicals for people's health and the environment is an indispensable condition for ensuring their safe use and removal.

For purposes of information exchange on dangerous chemicals the Goskomprirody closely co-operates with the International Register of Potentially Toxic Chemicals (IRPTC/UNEP). National legislation and norms regulating production of chemicals, their use, storage, transportation, and removal are being developed. The National Register of Potentially Toxic Chemicals is being formed.

3.6. Analysis of Legal Framework

The declaration of state independence of Uzbekistan in September 1991, the subsequent choice of the course of future development, aimed at creating a democratic state governed by law, with market-based economy, politically stable and integrated into international economy, the choice of its own way of development provided a powerful stimulus to the process of overcoming economic problems.

Environmental safety is guaranteed to the citizens of the country by the Constitution, the law "On Nature Protection", and the environmental legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan which confirms economic, social, and legislative aspects of environmental safety of the population, based on generally accepted principles of environmental protection and management. The land, mineral, and water resources, as well as the flora and fauna of the country and other types of natural resources, constitute the national wealth and are protected by the state according to the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan (Article 55).

During the transition period the state planning in the field of nature protection is replaced by territorial and target-oriented programming, the principal means of economic influence (the regulator of environmental protection activities) being the system of payments for natural resources. The funding and economic stimulation of environmental activities, research, development, and implementation of projects in the fields of nature protection and rational use of natural resources is carried out through the system of nature protection funds of the Goskomprirody of the Republic of Uzbekistan. A new system of crediting and financial measures meant to provide means for environmental activities is under development at present.

The bodies exercising state control and management in the field of environmental protection include:

• the Oliy Mazhlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which determines the environmental protection policy, elaborates and adopts republican legislative acts, declares and specifies the boundaries of environmental emergency areas, their legal status, and the status of the victims, co-ordinates the control over the implementation of environmental legislation;

• the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which carries out the uniform policy in the field of environmental protection, and regulates the natural resources use;

• local authorities, which conduct the inventories of natural resources and assess their state, register environmentally harmful sites, issue and nullify licences for natural resources use, for dumping and storage of industrial and municipal wastes, supervise activities in the field of environmental protection, make decisions concerning the suspension, complete termination, or alterations in the activities of local industrial enterprises with harmful impact on the environment;

• the Goskomprirody of the Republic of Uzbekistan is subordinate to the Oliy Mazhlis and enforces legislation in the fields of environmental protection and use of land, mineral resources, forests, water, atmospheric air, flora and fauna. The resolutions of the Goskomprirody, made within its competence, are compulsory for state bodies, enterprises, institutions, organisations, and citizens;

• the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Labour exercise control in the fields of labour protection and industrial safety.

The following laws and regulations are currently under consideration and elaboration:

1. The Laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan:

• "On Environmental Control";
• "On Territories with Unfavourable Environmental Conditions and Social Protection of the Population";
• "On Environmental Review";
• "On Recycling Materials and Wastes";
• "On the Development of Agro-Chemistry"
• "On the Protection and Use of the Atmospheric Air";
• "On the Protection and Use of Wildlife";
• "On the Protection and Use of Vegetation, Including Forests";
• "On Natural Resources";
• "On the Main Principles of Payment for Natural Resources".

2. Statutes:

• "Statute on Environmental Monitoring";
• "Statute on Exercising State Control over the Maintenance of Cadastres of Wildlife, Vegetation, Water, and Land Resources";
• "Statute on the Maintenance of the State Cadastres of Land, Water, Wildlife, Vegetation";
• "Statute on Environmental Insurance";
• "Statute on Payments for Pollution of the Natural Environment";
• "Statute on the Development and Functioning of the System of Economic Privileges for Increasing the Efficiency of Environmental Protection Activities and Production of Environmentally Clean Goods";
• "Statute on Payments for Special Types of Natural Resources Use";
• "Statute on Imposing Economic Sanctions for Corresponding Environmental Protection Activities ";
• "Statute on Payments for Incomplete and Irrational Use of Natural Resources";
• "Statute on Environmental Certification".

The legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan currently in force are listed in Appendix 2.

3.7. Economic considerations regarding the implementation of environmental information systems and the dissemination of environmental information

According to the law "On Nature Protection" of the Republic of Uzbekistan the Republican Nature Protection Fund under the auspices of the Goskomprirody of the Republic of Uzbekistan and local Nature Protection Funds under the Auspices of the Goskomprirody of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, the regional, and the Tashkent City committees for nature protection have been formed. Resolution No. 246 (May 24, 1993) of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan approved the "Statute of Nature Protection Funds". The local funds are responsible for financing territorial and interdepartmental environmental protection activities, aimed at reducing emissions of pollutants into the air, discharges of waste waters into water bodies, soil pollution, minimisation and recycling of wastes, conservation and reproduction of wildlife and vegetation.

The Republican Nature Protection Fund allocates resources for national-level and inter-state environmental projects (programmes), other environmental protection activities, and for the elimination of the negative impact of economic activities on the natural environment.

The nature protection funds accumulate payments made by the users of natural resources for releases (discharges) of pollutants into the environment which exceed environmental standards and for the allocation of wastes; fines, imposed for damage inflicted on the environment by accidental, instantaneous, and other releases (discharges) of pollutants and dumping of wastes, as well as for the damage inflicted on the natural environment.

The Goskomprirody is at present working on the draft package of legislative acts, guidelines and manuals, as well as the suggestions for alterations in the present-day legislative system and management in the field of environmental protection, necessary for the implementation of the payment-for-resources system.

Nature protection funds also allocate money for the improvement of systems of environmental monitoring, the establishment and maintenance of environmental data banks, and the republican automated system of environmental information; they also make investments in the development of territorial programmes and comprehensive plans on environmental protection. Among other projects the Nature Protection Fund finances the establishment of the Republican system of environmental information and control, and its testing on the sub-national level.

The "Ecoinformprognoz" department of the Goskomprirody is elaborating the concept of a Unified State System of Environmental Monitoring.

3.8. Information use in decision-making, education, and the media

The best known products of mass media, popularisation, and education are the republican monthly magazine "Environmental Bulletin of Uzbekistan" and the "Nature of Uzbekistan" album. The major newspapers of the Republic - "Narodnoye slovo" ("People's Word"), "Pravda Vostoka" ("The Truth of the Orient"), and "Tabiat Khabarasi" - publish articles by leading specialists and scientists every month. The Goskomprirody has the opportunity to receive information through the Russian telecommunications system "TV-ECOINFORM". The republican television has started a new programme "Olami Asrang"; short sketches on environmental problems are included into the news reviews "Akhborot", "Assalom Uzbekistan", "Pul's" ("The Pulse"), ""Olami Asrang", "Bumerang" ("The Boomerang"), and those produced by the "Marifat Va Fan" studio.

The curriculum of secondary and higher educational establishments include courses with significant environmental components - Biology, Natural Studies, Geography, Nature Protection, Environmental Studies. The following new qualifications have been introduced: Ecology and the Use of Natural Resources, Bioecology, Geoecology, Hydroecology, Agroecology, Chemical Ecology, Industrial Ecology, Ecopedagogics. Environmental museums and schools with optional courses in ecology and environmental studies work in Tashkent. Inter-departmental centres, which deal with issues of environmental education, and environmental experimental research grounds are established at all regional committees.

The prospects for the extension of the dissemination of environmental knowledge and education is represented in the Programme of Realisation of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On the Main Principles of the State Youth Policy", in the part called "Environmental Education of the Youth " (1996-2000). In the future environmental education is meant to become an integral part of the system of general public education in the Republic. The republican public showing-contest, scientific and practical conferences and seminars concerned with issues of continuous environmental education and raising public awareness of the environmental problems are held annually at the higher educational establishments of both the capital and the outlying districts of the country. The mass media highlight the progress of such republican programmes as "Clean water", "Ecology and health", and others, the activities related to the month's campaign for forests, gardens, and planting of trees; periodic press arranges a competition for the best publication on environmental matters, radio and television bring to the fore environmental problems, and decisions and measures taken to overcome them.

Information use in decision-making

The administration of the President, the Consultative and Economic Centre under the auspices of the President use the main environmental trends and information on extraordinary situations in working out decrees, resolutions, and decisions.

The Oliy Mazhlis makes use of draft laws, rules, and annual reports when adopting new legislative acts.

The Cabinet of Ministers receives information from various institutions concerning the use of natural resources, the state of the environment, public health, and the socio-economic data which are used in decision-making, in the resolutions of the Government.

The Division of Environmental Law Enforcement of the Office of Public Prosecutor takes into account information on violations of environmental legislation when delivering judgements on corresponding cases.

Territorial and local official representatives of the Goskomprirody use norms, standards, regulations, results of monitoring and inspections when issuing and nullifying licenses for the use of natural resources, imposing limitations on game hunting, herbs gathering, fishing, and natural resources use.

The users of natural resources, industrial and agricultural enterprises are guided by regulations, norms, standards, and limits in statistical reporting and planning of environmental protection activities.

The Goskomprirody of the Republic of Uzbekistan uses environmental bulletins, a set of statistical reporting forms on the environment of the Main Computer Centre of the Goskomprognozstat (The State Committee for Forecasting and Statistics), collections of documents (bulletins) on monthly and yearly information on the pollution of the environment of the Centre for Observation on the Environmental Pollution of the State Directorate-General for Hydrometeorology, the State Committee for Geology, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Water Resources for purposes of decision-making.

4. General Needs Assessment

4.1. Priority needs of information for decision-making

To provide timely, reliable, and diversified information for administrative as well as political decision-making, it is necessary to establish a centralised system of environmental information management, with information sources accessible at all levels. It is essential to supply the information system with the relevant up-to-date equipment, and to start a regular bulletin on environmental information.

4.2. Legislation regarding the management and accessibility of environmental information

On December 9, 1992 the Law "On Nature Protection" was adopted in the Republic of Uzbekistan, which outlines legal, economic, and organisational principles of the environment conservation and the rational use of natural resources. Article 4 of the law obliges the local authorities to ensure information openness in solving environmental problems; article 9 obliges the Cabinet of Ministers to establish environmental education systems; article 12 proclaims the right of the citizens to demand and receive information on the state of the environment, and the measures being taken to protect it, article 30 obliges the Goskomprirody to supply the population with information on changes in the state of the environment and forecast of its state.

4.3. Financing of environmental information management

During the transition period the state investments into the protection of the environment have been considerably reduced, the activities are financed by the users of natural resources, which brings on the shortage of funds used for the development of environmental information network. The main users of environmental information being the state executive bodies at various levels, it is essential to find resources which would make it possible to increase state investments in this field.

4.4. Improving institutional framework

To improve the systems of information management it is advisable to establish an information support centre for the Goskomprirody and its subordinate bodies, the principal activities of which would include:

• the development and improvement of the environmental information management system;
• the co-ordination of the activities of the environmental information infrastructure on the national level;
• broadening the interaction network with local, sectoral, sub-national, and international systems of information exchange.

The centre is to become the national environmental information support body for users at every level.

4.5. Co-operation with international (global and regional) environmental programmes, including UNEP and UN-wide environmental databases

There is a need to carry out a more intensive integration of environmental information resources into the international system of databases through:

• creating a database on Conventions;
• direct participation in international programmes;
• harmonisation of the national information system in the context of the Aral Sea problem;
• getting access to the UNEP/GRID information system through INTERNET.

It is necessary to form the national register of potentially toxic chemicals based on the ERPTC/UNEP database. It is essential to use the Legal Data File of the IRPTC (File 17), which comprises brief descriptions of legal measures and recommendations in the field of chemicals control for over ten thousand chemicals from 40 countries and 5 international organisations. The on-line access to the Legal Data File through INTERNET should be provided.

4.6. Methodologies for integration of data and information between the sectorial agencies and between sub-national and national entities

One-directional information transmission through the telecommunications system "TV-inform" has been going on since October 1994. Works to establish a publishing house under the auspices of the Goskomprirody, which would produce literature on environmental issues (magazine "Environmental Bulletin") were started in 1995.

At present all the information on the protection of the environment and the use of natural resources the Goskomprirody receives from all the ministries and agencies of the Republic, comes in the form of brochures, collections of articles, and reports, but not in digital form through telecommunications channels.

To ensure the efficient functioning of the environmental information management system, and integration of data between the sectorial agencies and between sub-national ad national entities, it is necessary to implement new information technologies and choose for installing the centralised database management system of a type, which would make it possible to rapidly process large quantities of data. The system should comply with international standards for information technologies, commonly used in international information systems, communications and telecommunications, compatible with the international information exchange system adopted by UNEP/GRID.

4.7. Priority information technology needs

In order to establish and develop a centralised information management system on the protection of the environment and the rational use of natural resources, it is necessary to apply new information technologies and create an efficient computer network. However, work on establishing and improving the information network and the database has been considerably delayed because of the lack of hardware, insufficient supply of computers of the new generation, and, especially, financial problems. The existing telecommunications system is limited to simple modem connections through telephone lines of low quality.

In order to ensure the required information exchange through the Republican information system and improve the quality of information management, it is essential to connect it to the INTERNET, and make it compatible with the international UNEP/GRID network through the establishment of the GRID-Tashkent centre.

4.8. Priority needs for database and meta-database development

For efficient and flexible decision-making in the field of environmental protection and rational use of natural resources, the following activities are indispensable:

• laying down the wildlife cadastre of the Republic of Uzbekistan ;
• publishing "The Red Book" of the fauna of the Republic of Uzbekistan ;
• publishing the cadastre reference book of the fauna;
• laying down the complete cadastre of the vegetation;
• publishing "The Red Book" of the flora of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
• publishing the cadastre reference book of the flora;
• establishing an automated system of monitoring with a databank on the pollution of the environment in the major cities (e.g. Tashkent, Samarkand, Fergana, Andizhan, Navoi), and areas with unfavourable environmental conditions, such as the Tashlak District of the Fergana Oblast, the Sariassiya District of the Surkhandar'ya Oblast, and the Pskent district of the Tashkent Oblast, and the state of the Aral Sea and the Aral Sea region.
  

4.9. Training needs

There is a need to arrange proper training for the specialists of the Goskomprirody as well as of other interested bodies, so as to raise their educational level in the field of environmental information management and information exchange, through participation in seminars and work groups, training of GRID-Tashkent staff, and sharing experience with countries, which operate information systems and data banks on the environment (e.g. the Baltic Sea).

5. Proposed Action

5.1. Proposed action for quick improvements

Establishment of an environmental information centre of the Goskomprirody, equipped with all the relevant hardware and software, with a staff of 3 to 5 people.

5.2. Proposed pilot activities

• Establishment of an information network in Goskomprirody at oblast and district levels, and throughout the Committee;

• Working out activities for the processing of the current list of inter-sectorial, sub-national, and international information exchange materials;

• Elaboration of a programme for the connection to the international information network through telecommunications channels;

• Elaboration of a programme of environmental information support for the Aral Sea region;

• Elaboration of a programme of information support of collection, processing, and dissemination of metadata;

• Elaboration of new legislation drafts for purposes of improving the processes of collection, processing, and exchange of information;

• Devising methods for a switch-over from qualitative to quantitative indicators;

• Preparation of the state-of-the-environment report of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

• The resolution of the issue of funding (state investments) of activities and programmes, aimed at the development of an information network.
  

5.3. Perceived constraints for improvements

• Insufficiency of available up-to-date means of communication and equipment;

• Need for a preliminary training of the staff of the Centre and the regional information network;

• Need for the allocation of adequate funds to finance the improvements in the national information network.
  
  
  

Appendix 1: Relevant Contact Addresses

State Committee for Nature Protection Phone: 41-04-42

700128, Tashkent, A.Kadiri str., 5a Fax: 41-39-90

Konyukhov, Vladimir Grigorievich, First Deputy Chairman Phone: 41-49-23

Fax: 41-39-90

Samoilov, Sergei Vladimirovich, Head of the Work Group Phone: 41:52-03

on the Establishment of the Republican Environmental Fax: 41-56-33

information system, Deputy Head of the Department

of Environmental Economics and Management

Ministry of Public Health Phone: 44-57-20

Ministry of Agriculture Phone: 41-07-64

41-26-26

The Directorate-General for Hydrometeorology Phone: 33-61-80

State Committee for Geology Phone: 56-16-12

State Committee for Safety Supervision in Industry and Mining

Phone: 44-21-20

44-18-26

Appendix 2: Environmental Laws and Regulations

Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan. "On Property", October 31, 1990; alterations adopted on May 6, 1993. "On Enterprises", February, 15, 1991; alterations adopted on May 7, 1993. "On Land Tax", May 6, 1993. "On Dekhkan Farming", July 3, 1992. "On Co-operation", July 14, 1991; alterations adopted on December 28, 1993. "On Lease", November 19, 1991. "On State Sanitary Supervision", July 3, 1992. "On Local Authorities", September 2, 1993. "On Tax Collection From Enterprises, Associations, and Institutions", December 15,