«MISCELLANEOUS»

ISAR CASPIAN PROGRAM DECLARATION

The ISAR Caspian Program (hereinafter – the Program) was launched in 1998. Its key objectives were formulated in April 1999 in Baku at a Conference on Establishing and Expanding the Partnership Between NGOs in Solving the Caspian Seas Ecological Problems. Over 50 representatives of regional environmental NGOs attended.

The Program’s main objective is to protect the unique ecosystems of the Caspian Sea.

1. Creation and development of an independent ecological monitoring system in the Caspian Sea Basin. (The Program helps local NGOs conduct independent ecological monitoring in the Caspian and participate in other monitoring programs, national and international.)

2. Promoting public efforts to protect and restore Caspian ecosystems. (The Program contributes to independent evaluations of PNAs and biodiversity in the Caspian, their protection and restoration.)

3. Finding and promoting alternative forms of economic development in the region. (The Program supports the efforts of NGOs and organizations of other sectors to extend the use of renewable natural resources in the region as an alternative to an exclusively oil-and-gas economy. The priorities in this field are: “clean” power engineering and energy-saving programs; eco-tourism and other kinds of environmentally safe recreation; ecologically responsible sea bio-resources exploitation; sustainable agricultural development.

4. Development of liaison between NGOs and transnational corporations (TNC). (The Program supports the development of relations between NGOs and TNCs to provide for transparency and open dialogue between these groups as well as to ensure that TNCs do not ignore the public opinion.)

5. Assistance to the open exchange of information and ecological education. (The Program supports the functioning of informational CaspInfo web-portal, bulletins, conferences and Ecological Education projects.)

6. Facilitation of the public ecological movement in support of the Caspian Sea. (The Program supports the public ecological movement, including the attraction of new foreign donors to work in the region, and is aimed at improving the investment climate for foreign and local charitable organizations and individuals.)

Ecologically responsible development and effective nature conservation in the Caspian region are possible only if the following democratic and civil principles are fulfilled.

1. Utmost development of public initiatives at the local, regional and interregional levels. (Caspian Region Community of NGOs must participate in the decision-making process within all national and international programs related to the present and future of the Caspian Region.)

2. Access to all public and ecologically significant information.

3. Broadening of the role of NGOs in determining the legal status of the Caspian Sea.

4. Imposing a moratorium on military exercises and actions in the Caspian Region; gradually turning it into a demilitarized zone.

1. Conservation of the Caspian’s unique ecosystem — key to the preparation and introduction of any political, social and economic decisions relating to the Caspian Region.

2. Sustainable improvement of the region’s ecology.

3. Improvement of the management system; protection of existing protected natural areas and designation of new PNAs. The reserve status of the Northern Caspian must be restored and restrictions on geological exploration, testing and extraction of hydrocarbon resources must be imposed.

4. Exploitation of Caspian natural resources with general reduction of non-renewable resources and non-destructive use of renewable resources. The strictest international ecological standards should be applied in all the cases.

5. Imposition of a moratorium on investigation, extraction and transportation of hydrocarbon resources in the Caspian’s shallow northern zone pending the creation of new technologies securing biodiversity conservation.

1. Involvement in the Program of all NGOs working to solve regional ecological problems except those using work methods restricted by the law.

2. Ensuring free and easy access to information for all ecological NGOs and interested organizations from other sectors.

3. NGOs participating in the Program should determine their relationship with TNCs on their own and decide themselves how to obtain financial aid from TNCs.

1. Open exchange of information and collaboration with any organizations and other stakeholders interested in Caspian ecosystem conservation, although the Program remains independent in choosing its policy, objectives and priorities.

2. Program decisions are made by a Board of Experts. The Board includes representatives of NGOs from the Caspian Sea Basin and ISAR members form each regional office participating in the Program.

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