Iran is ready to open a Convention Secretariat to protect the Caspian Sea (Tehran convention), RIA Novosti reports, citing ISNA and the vice-president of the organization for ecological protection, Madjid Shafiipura.
The Caspian Sea Protection Convention was signed on 4 November 2003 in Tehran by five Caspian states – Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan. Representatives from each country are to gather for scheduled or unscheduled sessions.
The temporary Secretariat (Convention) is currently in Geneva. A permanent Secretariat is planned to be opened according to the Convention council on November 24-26. Shafiipur said that Iran would be the best place for the Secretariat’s headquarters.
The Convention came into force on 12 August 2006 and includes measures to prevent, reduce and control pollution in the Caspian Sea from land, underwater and air sources. The measures include melioration of lands and prevention of emergency situations.
The parties to the Convention are to inform each other about industrial accidents and natural disasters and to provide and maintain readiness for emergency ecological situations, including equipment and staff.
According to the Convention, the sides will take measures to protect, preserve, restore and rationally use the biological resources of the Caspian Sea; to maintain and restore populations of sea species; to minimize the losses in fishing; to prevent over-exploitation of biological resources; to protect, preserve and restore endangered species and their inhabitable areas and fragile ecosystems.
The sides are obliged to monitor the environment and use evaluation procedures for any activity that may have a negative effect on the environment of the Caspian Sea and to inform each other about the results of their evaluation.
