AZERBAIJAN STATE COMMITTEE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

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United Nations Development Programme (LA Baku, Azerbaijan Republic

FOREWORD

To a traveller coming from the north, the Caucasian mountains across the Southern border of Dagestan gradually descend to the mellow hills of Sheki, the lowlands of Mingechavir and Yevlak, leading east to the Apsheron peninsula and the bay of Baku, on the Caspian shores. To the south, the coast descends in a riparian landscape of bays, lagoons and inlets, designed by the hands of nature that, up to the border with Iran, play with land and sea like a bizarre sculptor would with clay and water, shaping the bodies of his fantasies.

The hinterland gently extends to the we: i;{puriant vegetation which offers a virtually unlimited palette of colours and where everything in an:elatscenario of natural elements af\df creatures. The skin of the ancient olive treenails the" the old fisherman's face e'alfed by the wind of the Caspian Sea, and remirifi us of the riBus and seductive harmony of mat magic microee;|i^^|ejvAzerbaijan.

For centuries;ttie has attracted explorers, adventurers, biologists, writers, artists or sirjipj; for a place whose JMyi^chness and hospitality of nature 'historical harbour JSSfmSmSS^UfKL from the east and thipist/

The nine climatic zones hosted in the area comprising modern Azerbaijan, the soil fertility, agricultural and fishery resources, the abundant sources of spring water, the enormous gas and olF^otential, have secured prosperity for the population living in the region and beyond. In fact, in Soviet time, Azerbaijan was a source of natural wealth for many other less fortunate countries of the Union. , t '

With the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Wrthof the independent, democratic republic of Azerbaijan, the small Caucasian country woke up iron tf almost lethargic environmental unawareness, suddenly finding itself confronting a situation of < is of central economic planning policy, the intensive exploitation of the country^ •esottrqes, a process of Industrialisation free from environmental safety standards"*" £ate attitude of neglect towards the more and more visible sig^^f pollution, have1* ince virgin nature of Azerbaijan.

g88 Rauf Nagiyev made a film which was a courageous alarm signal of the nascent ehyjr|||prital 'crisis and at the same time am IUIVQ i "J'accuse" against those who were 1 slble for it. Through the symbolic story oftrf |the industrial region of Sumgait, the fe^Dead Zone" depicts a fearful and Vivid fresco^ he consequences for the environment and on public health, of a political and economic decision naking process in which environmental concerns play no role.

The indeperidenc ofJMtiem'ocratization process in 1991 coincide with the development of a new e' |rfs'ei||ge both among the political leadership and people at large. The environment has'-BeS s'f alffon-wide debate shaping post-Soviet Azerbaijan. A thorough and unconstraifie'dI'ass] country's environmental condition has gradually made pupc the level of water,,a| jf|bllliBr1"and the government has pledged its commitment $pe primary concerns of its reform agenda.

T"yE.ENVIRONMENT RE FOREWORD In 1994, a pool of international organizations and financial institutions launched a rescue plan for the region of Sumgait, declared a Special Economic Zone by the President to attract foreign investors, and initiate an industrial restructuring process guided by environmental safety standards. In 1995, the United Nations Development Programme signed with the State Committee for Environment an agreement for the implementation of the first environmental management plan, paying special attention to the protection of State reserves.

At the dawning of the Azerbaijan democracy a new environmental culture is surfacing, a sense of ownership, among people, of the country's national resources, a new model of social behaviour inspired by a true sense of responsibility for the environment; a code of conduct in which everyone acts according to principles of respect, protection and care for the surrounding environment.

If it is wrong to suggest that economic growth is unnecessary for human development, it is also wrong to presume that high economic growth rates will automatically translate into a higher level of human development. Oil-rich Azerbaijan is today more aware that without securing sustainability, the development of its resources (especially oil and gas) will bring more harm than benefit to the population. Sustainability will be the ultimate acknowledgment in the national conscience that the fate of humanity is indissolubly linked to the state of the environment.

The first "State of the Environment Report" published in Azerbaijan has been prepared by a team of scientists from the Azerbaijan State Committee for the Environment, who have been working on this study with remarkable dedication, guided only by the desire to shed light on the real life of their own country. After years 'of underground research hidden beyond the Soviet curtain, ecology has eventually ceased to be a clandestine science. An all-inclusive analysis of the national, ecosystem, the report is devoted to all those who are proud of the beauty of this country and are committed to preserve it for future generations.

May the visitor coming to the country in the year two thousand, still repeat the words from the letter of the 18 century traveller:

".... a land I found, mylord, where a perennial rainbow melts the colours of the mountains in the glimmering crystal of the sky and the strong wind from the east brings the perfume of the sea among the trees, deep into the woods. The fruits of this soil have a taste as sweet as the smile of the natives I encountered here, while coming from the north, the Caucasian mountains across the Southern border of Dagestan gradually descend to the mellow hills of Sheki...."

Paolo Lembo United Nations Resident Coordinator S!f i

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS

page

Foreword 3

Chapter 1 Country profile 7 1.1 Historical perspective 7 1.2 Environmental and geographical characteristics 8 1.3 Social and economic characteristics 14

Chapter 2. National principles of environmental policy in Azerbaijan 18 2.1 The concept of environmental protection 18 2.2 Government institutions responsible for the environment 19 2.3 Legislation 21 2.3.1 Basic regulatory acts 21 2.3.2 Economic aspects of environmental legislation 21 2.4 International relations 22 2.5 Strengthening environmental awareness 23

Chapter 3 Ecology of Azerbaijan 25 3.1 Ecological zones 26 3.1.1 The Kura-Araks ecological zone 28 3.1.2 The Apsheron ecological zone 31 3.1.3 Ecological zone of the Greater Caucasus range 39 3.1.4 The Lenkoran-Astara zone 42 3.1.5 The Karabakh zone 44 3.1.6 The Nakhchivan zone 49 3.1.7 The Caspian zone 51 3.2 Major regional problems 54

Chapter 4 National strategy for the preservation of biodiversity 70 4.1 State reserves 72 4.2 State protected areas 84 4.3 Natural monuments

Chapter 5 Creating a new environmental awareness in Azerbaijan 5.1 The financial cost of environmental degradation to the national economy 91

Charts and diagrams 93 Photos 94 References 95

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT Baku at night. (Photo by F.Mamedov)

1.1 Historical Perspective

The territory of Northern Azerbaijan is one of the ancient hearths of civilization. The results of well-known archeolo gical expeditions which were carried out on the territory of the republic during different periods of time confirm that human beings inhabited this place back in the Stone Age. 350-450 thousand years ago ancestors of Azeri people living within the territory of Azer- baijan did not have permanent settlements. They used to wander in small groups (communities) over rich virgin lands, settling down for short periods of time in fertile valleys. They gathered fruits and roots of various plants, fished and hunted while migrating depending on the time of year and the migration of animals. During winter time they hid in caves, a great number of which can be found in the mountainous parts of the Caucasus.

A considerable number of settlements of primitive men exist on the territory of the Republic, and many caves still have paintings on the walls remaining from ancient times. The most famous and unique among them is Azykh, a cave located in the southern part of the Karabakh region. Numerous ancient items were found in Azykh, such as pieces of stone tools and the tools themselves, made for digging, cutting, etc. These items demonstrate the evolution of our ancestors into intelligent human beings. The settlements of ancient people, found on the territory of Azerbaijan belong to a different period of the Stone Age. Archeological items found in the western part of the country in Taglar, Damjyly and the Dashsalakhly caves in the Kazakh region give us information about the people who were living here 180 thousand years ago. Drawings on rocks at Gobustan, located near the capital of the Republic, belong to the end of the Stone Age and date back to the 8th century B.C. Drawings on rocks in Gobustan and other petrographs which can be found on the territory of the Apsheron peninsula, Nakhichevan, Kelbajar and other regions of the

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT COUNTRY PROFILE Republic are evidence of the life and activities of ancient people and their world outlook. The petrographs with pictures of boats carrying the Sun allow scientists to presume that the inhabitants of these places knew how to navigate ships and even then could navigate by the Sun and stars and had direct contact with the Shumers who belong to the most ancient culture on the continent.

Fireplaces were found in the Azykh and Aveydaga caves, which is evidence that during the Stone Age people could make fires. Evidence of fire—worship can also be found in pictures carved in stone. Since ancient times, fire worship has influenced the culture and everyday life of Azeri people. It is natural that the most authoritative researchers identify the name of the country - Azerbaijan - with "The Land of Fire".

Different tribes, such as Loulloubey, Cuties, Mannas, Caspians, Uties, etc. populated the territory of Azerbaijan during different periods of time. After the 3rd - 2nd centuries B.C. the first primitive territorial settlements started to form with their own economic structures. Atropatena is the most ancient name of Azerbaijan known to scientists. Persians used to call this country "Aturpatan", and Arabs - "Azerbaygan", which literally means "a country of fire keepers".

The process of uniting the tribes in the territory of Azerbaijan later resulted in the formation of a new Albanian state, historically known as Caucasian Albania with its capital located at Kabala. This existed for several centuries. Albania was a country with favorable natural and geographical conditions, and had an active economical life, a well-developed agriculture, numerous crafts, scientific and cultural activities.

Starting from the 7th century A.D. the present territory of Azerbaijan became a battleground for foreign invaders. The Arabic march to the East during the first half of the 7th century resulted in the start of Azerbaijan's conversion to Islam, which became the state religion during the caliph's reign. Much later, when the caliph's regime weakened, several independent and semi-independent states ruled by different feudal families were formed in Azerbaijan.

In the 18th century 14 khanates (feudal states) were formed on the territory of Azerbaijan. The lack of economic union, and their dependence on big powers located to the North and South did not allow the establishment of a centralized and powerful state. Another reason was that the strongest feudal rulers of Azerbaijan claimed the Shah's throne in Iran, therefore the unification of Azeri khanates into an independent state was difficult.

At the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century, the attempted invasions of the Caucasus by Tsarist Russia, the Ottoman Empire and Persia increased, and this led to several wars among these states, the aim of which was to become firmly established in this territory.

Feudal fragmentation and the economic weakness of the Azeri khanates facilitated their invasion and from the beginning of the 19th century Azerbaijan was divided into northern and southern parts. The northern part (current territory of Azerbaijan) was obtained by Russia, and the southern part remained under Persian rule. In fact, Azerbaijan lost its sovereignty for a long time.

Azerbaijan declared its independence only in 1918 when the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was proclaimed. It existed for less than two years. In 1920 the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was invaded by the 21st Red Army and further became one of the republics of the Soviet Union. Only in 1991 did the movement of patriotic forces for freedom bring independence to the Azeri people and restore their sovereignty.

1.2 Environmental and geographical characteristics

The Republic of Azerbaijan occupies the southeast part of the Caucasus isthmus and its small southern part. It covers the southeast of the Greater Caucasus, a part of the Lesser Caucasus, the Talysh Mountains with the vast Kura-Araks depression in between. Geographically the republic is located within the limits of the part of Eurasia, which is closely connected with the Aral -Caspian depression and is located near the conventional border between Europe and Asia.

In addition to the continental part, the republic's territory also includes several islands located along the Caspian coastline. These islands include: Margin, Zhiloy, Bulla, Svinoy and Glinyany.

8 STATE OF THE .ENVIRONMENT REPORT COUNTRY PROFILE Latitudes 38*25" and 41*55" North and longitudes 44*50" and 50*23" East outline the 86.6 thousand sq. km territory, excluding the islands some of which are located beyond the above men- tioned eastern meridian. Azerbaijan borders with the Dagestan Republic of the Russian Federation in the North (approximately 340 km), with Georgia in the northwest (approximately 340 km), with Armenia in the southwest (approximately 760 km), while Armenia separates Azerbaijan from the autonomous republic of Nakhichevan which borders Turkey (11 km), and Iran in the south (more than 600 km). The eastern border lies through the Caspian Sea between Russia, Turkmenistan and Iran, the coastline being more than 800 km. The main part of the border is of natural origin (rivers and mountain ranges) and it only lies on conventional lines in some parts.

The average height of the republic equals 384 m with the highest elevation being 4466 m (Mount Bazardyuzu) and the lowest point - 27 m along the Caspian coastline. 18% of the territory is located below the ocean level; plains and lowlands consist of more than 39%; low and average hills (up to 2500 m) - 39.5%; high mountains (higher than 2500 m) - 3.5% of the republic's territory. The four main relief features are: the Greater Caucasus (part of the Main Caucasus range); the Lesser Caucasus (including the eastern part of the Lesser Caucasus range and Nakhichevan); the Kura-Araks depression and the Talysh Mountains together with the Lenkoran depression.

The southeast part of the Greater Caucasus is located on the territory of Azerbaijan. Both the southern and northern slopes of the Watershed range - the main range of the Greater Caucasus (the south-eastern slopes as far as Mount Bazardyuzu), as well as the eastern extremity of the northern side range of the Greater Caucasus, known as the Side Range, are located in Azerbaijan. This mountain range reaches its highest point at Shakh-Dag Peak (4252 m) and lowers to the southeast. The southern slopes of the Watershed Range are comparatively narrow - 15 to 18 km. They consist of tertiary and partially Cretaceous formations and are covered by alluvia and accumulations of ancient Caspian terrace.

The southern slopes of the Watershed range of the Greater Caucasus are high and include middle- elevation ranges, which drop off rather abruptly and form the Alazan and Agry-chay River Valleys. These slopes consist of a complicated system of folds, and their relief is dissected by transverse gorges and river valleys, flowing from the Watershed range to the southwest and thus representing a system of separate transverse watershed crests of mainly erosion origin. These are separated from one another by the gorges and valleys mentioned above.

The southern slopes of the Watershed range are considerably narrow - 15 to 25 km, with foothills in the southwest. This foothill line stretches parallel to the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus and consists of ranges formed by four lines of folds, each of them consisting of separate links, reaching their highest point in the extreme west in the Prialazan region. The furthest line to the North of the above mentioned folds is a monowedge range called the eastern mouth of the Agry- chay River Dash-Yuz (or Yagublinsky). The second line in the South consists of the fold chain of Koudbarak-Dag Range; the third line further in the South consists of Kodzhashen range folds; and, finally, the forth line, located at the furthest point in the south consists of Boz-Dag range, the main part of which is located in the south of the Kura River. Two more small chains - Boz-yery and Douz-Dag stretch among the modern accumulation along the right bank of the Kura River to the south of Boz-Dag. The height of these foothill ranges does not exceed 450-650 km. The southeast part of the Greater Caucasus consists of the folds of the Apsheron Peninsula. Its northwest section borders with the Dyubrar system in the west. The main heights of the Apsheron Peninsula (up to 350 m) are located here.

The Lesser Caucasus consists mostly of mountainous folds in the south-east (Iranian) direction. These folds form the Shakh-dag, Karabakh and Congur-Alangez ranges. Other ranges of the Lesser Caucasus are almost latitudinal in direction, for example, the Mrov-dag and Daralagez ranges. As well as ridges, the system of the Lesser Caucasus includes plateaus, mostly of volcanic origin (such as the Karabakh plateau), and lowlands, which extend along the Middle Araks area. Near the Kara-kush peak (2516 m) the Aznaburt ridge branches from the Daralagez range and extends southwards to the Araks River. On the left bank of the river, on the territory of Nakhchivan, it turns into the low-lying (up to 900 m) Kivrag highlands. East from the Aznaburt spur, several spurs also branch southwards from the Daralagez ridge. The biggest spur among them is the one branching from the Safar-khan-sangary peak. Together with the adjacent part of the Daralagez range it forms the ravine of the Jagry-chay River, which falls into the Nakhchivan-chay River and

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 9 COUNTRY PROFILE undermines this spur near the Ag-gaya peak by a narrow gorge known as the Daralagez gates. The eastern end of the Middle Araks depression extends south from the mentioned spurs of the Daralagez ridge, in the southern part of Nakhchivan. This part is geomorphologically represented by the Araks lowland. The eastern part of the Araks lowland is divided into the Sadarag steppe, Sharur lowland, Beyuk-duz lowland and Nakhchivan lowland by the spurs of the Daralagez ridge, which in some places descend as far as the Araks River. The Gulustan lowland extends to the south-east of the Darry-dag range and the Lower Alinja-chay River beyond which the spurs of the Zangezur range descend to the Araks River, which together with the range of spurs on the opposite Iranian side of the Araks River form the Ordubad lowland.

The Talysh mountain system is located in the south-west of the Republic and has no links with the other ranges of Azerbaijan. On the south-east it joins the Elbrus ridge, and in the north-west the outskirts of Karadag known as the Salavat Ridge. The Talysh mountain system consists of five longitudinal ridges, which run parallel to each other at a sharp angle from the north-west to the south-east towards the Caspian Sea and end at a distance of 5-20 meters from the sea. The highest of these ranges occurs furthest from the sea and serves as a watershed of rivers falling into the Caspian from one side, and the Kara-su River from the other side, which is a tributary of the Araks River from the Iranian side. Apart from the longitudinal ranges there are also transversal ranges in the Talysh mountain system, which are also exposed to erosive disruption in separate parts, except for the main transversal watershed ridge, which is located at a further distance from the sea than the others and serves as a watershed between the Bolgar-chay River and rivers falling into the Caspian. Due to the criss-crossing of longitudinal and transversal ranges the relief of the Talysh mountain system is typified by a great number of high and low isolated hollows and ravines.

Between the mountain system of the Greater Caucasus in the north and Lesser Caucasus in the south there is a vast low plain, the Kura or Kura-Araks Lowland. This lowland extends from Min- gachevir in the west to the Caspian Sea in the east, and from the foothills of the Greater Caucasus in the north to the mountainous area of the Lesser Caucasus in the south. Thus the Kura-Araks Lowland covers the whole Caspian coastline from the Apsheron Peninsula to (he Kura and Araks River mouths, and the whole area of the lower reaches of these rivers. From the south it sides with a low-lying coastline, which lies at the foot of the Talysh Mountains, and reaches the Iranian border and is known as the Talysh or Lenkoran Lowland.

The Kura-Araks Lowland is a constitutive part of the vast Aral-Caspian depression, which has no discharge to the ocean, and occupies a considerable part of Azerbaijan. From the city of Yevlakh to the Caspian it stretches 250 km across, and from the Greater Caucasus Mountains to the foothills of the Lesser Caucasus it extends for 150 km in its widest places. Gradually widening to the south- east the Kura-Araks Lowland is almost perfectly flat with slight irregularities, and is formed by drifts of rivers - mostly the Kura and Araks Rivers, which are rich in salts. So, the Kura-Araks Lowland is a geologically young structure, the formation of which is still in progress.

Further downstream along the Kura River the lowland has a slight but perceptible slope. Its peripheral parts lie at a height of 0 to 75 m above sea level; the central part and the western end mostly lie below sea level; only separate eminencies, hills and mud volcanoes rise to a height of 120 m. The Kura and Araks rivers divide the Kura-Araks Lowland into three parts: the Shirvan steppe, north from the Kura River, Mil-Karabakh steppe, between the Kura and Araks rivers, and Mugan steppe, south from the Araks River to the lower reaches of the Kura River. The eastern part of the Shirvan steppe is usually considered to be the southeastern Shirvan, and the area between the Kura River and its former branch Akusha is called the Salyan steppe.

The orography of the Republic creates favorable conditions for the discharge of all local waters into the Caspian Sea, and in only a few cases water remains in small enclosed lakes (Adjinour Lake, etc.). The orographic conditions, i.e. the existence of the vast Kura-Araks Lowland and the grouping of mountain ranges in the outlying districts of the Republic has resulted in a weak division of the territory into independent river basins and has given rise to the dominance of the Kura River. Except for the rivers of northeast Azerbaijan and the slopes of the Talysh Mountains, all the other rivers are in the Kura River basin. This basin unites the rivers of Kara-su, the springs and lakes of the Greater and Lesser Caucasus, and is the main water basin of Eastern Transcaucasia.

10 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT COUNTRY PROFILE In accordance with the above mentioned, the rivers of Azerbaijan can be divided into the following three main groups:

1. Rivers of western and central Azerbaijan, belonging to the Kura basin. 2. Rivers of north-east Azerbaijan, flowing directly into the Middle Caspian. 3. Rivers of south-east Azerbaijan, flowing directly to the South Caspian.

The river network of Azerbaijan accounts for more than 8350 rivers of different sizes with an overall length of 33,665 km. All these rivers can be divided into five'groups: the smallest of which is less than 25 km in length; small = 26-50 km; medium-length = 51-100 km; long = 101-500 km; and the longest, more than 500 km; their combined area being more than 85500 km2.

The Kura River is the biggest water way not only of Azerbaijan, but;also of the whole Caucasus. Within the Republic's territory its length is about 900 km, with a total length of more than 1500 km.

The river sources are in Turkey, in the Gel hollow, at the northern foot of the Chaldir watershed at a height of 2741 m above sea level. The river basin covers a vast territory of central and eastern Transcaucasia, a part of Turkey and Iran and accounts for 188042 km2. According to the slopes and geomorphology the Kura River is divided into three areas: upper - from its source to the Borjom ravine inclusive (Georgia); middle - from the ravine to the mouth of the Alazani River; and lower - from the Alazani River (from the Mingachevir duct entrance) to the Kura mouth. The Kura River has very low banks, which are mainly formed by its own alluvia. Being a typical mountainous river in its upper reaches the Kura River performs considerable erosive work there and carries in its waters a great amount of suspended material, from coarse pebbles to fine sands. Because of fine and sandy slime the river water has a typical chocolate-grey and grey color. After the river flow is regulated by a cascade of dams (Shamhkor, Mingachevir), the main mass of alluvia accumulates in water reservoirs, where their weight reaches more than 1.5 million tons.

The second big water way of the Republic is the Araks River, the right tributary of the Kura River. Its source is in Turkey, on the slopes of the Bingel-dag ridges, at a height of 2600 m. Its length is 1072 km, the basin area - 101937 km2. Starting from the upper lands of Julfa and before reaching the plain area, it flows in a deep ravine, which in some places resembles a narrow canyon. In some places the banks of the river rise to a height of 50 meters and more. A high current velocity influences the character of alluvia carried by the river. Bottom alluvia in the southern area consists of pebbles and course sands, downstream the pebbles and sands are replaced by sandy, and closer to the mouth, by sandy-silt material. The Araks is one of the most turbid rivers in the world. On average it carries 2,5 g/1 of suspended particles, which is a higher quantity than that contained in the Nile. According to the amount of 'solid' discharge the Araks together with the Kura also stands out among other rivers of the world: during one year the river bears about 18 million tons of sus- pended matter, and together with the Kura this value reaches 44-46 million tons. In addition the presence of dissolved salts is very typical of the Araks River, which is explained by climatic conditions of the region and the existence of soluble rocks in the basin of the Araks River.

Other rivers of the Republic can be divided into two distinct groups, mountain rivers and plains rivers. The mountain rivers start high in the mountains, at a height of 2000-3500 m, flow in deep ravines, have big slopes, form overfalls and waterfalls on their way, and when reaching the plain area form significant cones of drift, break up into numerous branches, bifurcate (go under ground), and very often do not have permanent river-beds (blind rivers), being lost in the steppe or becoming marsh-ridden. These rivers get their supply of water from rains, melted snow in the mountains, and to a certain extent from springs and mountain lakes.

The latter group of rivers are fully or mainly located in valleys, in sloping plains, and in the vast Kura-Araks Lowland. Their current is calm. In some places they have deep river-beds, which occur as a result of a slight wash-out of alluvial sediments. Their waters contain a lower proportion of drifts. However, due to the existence of the Kura River depression and coastal dune formations, a considerable part of these rivers also become blind water ways and do not have definite mouths. Plains rivers are fed from ground waters, springs, as well as surface flows of mountain rivers. The plains rivers of the latter type are usually called Kara-su (due to strong mineralization) and their existence is mostly associated with mountain river ways.

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 11 COUNTRY. PROFILE There are also a great number of lakes in the Republic (more than 400), some of which were formed on plains areas (mainly in the Apsheron Peninsula) as a result of the discharge of water used in industry or agriculture. The surface area of most of the Republic's lakes is not large: in fact no more than 0.1 km2 . The total volume of water in the lakes is about 40 km3, of which 16-18 km3 is fresh water.

There are 4 big, more than 50 small and medium-sized water reservoirs and about 80 fresh-water irrigation lakes in the Republic. Their total volume is 13638.2 million m3, with a surface area equal to 1373.4 km2.

Glaciers and snowy areas play an insignificant role in the hydrology of the Republic. They are mainly located in the basin of Kusar-chay river and partially in the Kudialchay and Gilanchay rivers. Within the Lesser Caucasus area of the Republic there are almost no glaciers and snowy areas and these do not play a significant role in feeding the river basins.

Due to geographic position and climatic conditions marshes are of limited value in terms of water resources. The mountainous and strongly indented relief does not allow the lands to become marsh-ridden, and small swamps are observed only in the lower part of the Kura-Araks Lowland (mainly old 'akhmazes'), the Lenkoran and Samur—Divichi lowlands in areas of ground waters supported by the Caspian. Small swamp areas may be found near the main irrigation canals as a result of infiltration of their water and an increase in the ground water level.

Underground water resources make up about 25% of the river flow (about 4 km3) and potential usable resources of underground waters are estimated as 14068.4 thousand m3/day.

The output of springs in the area of the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus reaches 7-8 I/sec, and in the northeast slope - 50 I/sec.

It should be noted that Azerbaijan stands out from the other states in the region due to its underground mineral water resources. According to data of the Department of Geology of the Azerbaijan Republic, more than 200 groups of mineral water sources have been discovered in the Republic.

Mineral springs of the Republic are divided into three categories: carbonaceous, hydrocarbon, and hydrogen sulfide mineral springs. They are mainly located in mountainous parts and associated with certain tectonic areas representing 5 major districts:

1. The tectonic area of the Lesser Caucasus system, where more than 30 groups of springs have been identified, the water of which is characterized by a considerable content of spontaneous carbon dioxide, alkali, hydrocarbons and iron ions. The most famous among them are: Istisu, Koturin and Minkend in Kurdistan; Shirlan and Lisogorskie in Nagorno-Karabakh; and Slavyanka in Gedabek. Dump for domestic and industrial waste in the Sumgait industrial zone. (photo - State Committee tor the Environment)

12 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT COUNTRY PROFILE 2. The area of the Greater Caucasus is characterized mainly by hydrogen sulfide water. According to the type, especially distinctive are hydrocarbon and hydrocarbon-chloride springs, the waters of which contain a considerable amount of sodium, potassium and magnesium salts. Among these springs the Elisuy group, Boom group, Girdimanchay springs, Pirsaatchay springs and others are of great interest. The Gonakhkend group, Kholtan group, Shirvan-Istisu, Khinalig, also the mineral springs of Divichi and the thermal springs of the Khudat region and others are the most important springs located on the northeastern slope. An interesting group of hydrogen sulfide waters in the Surakhany oil region of the Apsheron Peninsula are of particular value.

3. The Talysh area occupies the extreme southern part of Azerbaijan. There are cold, warm and hot springs, territorially associated with 5 regions in this area: Astara (7 springs), Lenkoran (11), Masally (5), and others.

The majority of springs are of sulfide-chloride-sodium-potassium type. Their temperature reaches 6° C. The content of iodine and bromine in these waters is extremely interesting.

4.The Nakhchivan area is rich in mineral springs numbering more than 50. This area's mineral waters can be divided into 4 types according to their chemical composition, which is associated with certain geological conditions: bitter-salt (Kizil-Van, Djuga, Toroshin, and Dostin); salt and bitter-salt (arsenic springs Dari-Dag, Vaykhir and others); carbonaceous-lime (Batabat, Gumurg and others); and alkaline (Sirab, Nagadjin and others).

5. The area of the Kura and Araks valleys is of great interest due to iodine brine springs with 35.65 g/1 mineralization, while their iodine content equals 117 mg/1. There are also cold sulfurous springs in the Eldar steppe and Baba-Zanan, the waters of which are of the potassium-chloride type. A number of mineral springs are associated with mud volcanoes; their waters have a peculiar chemical and gas composition. The Naftalan medicinal oil field should be specially mentioned, which is unique in the world due to its balneological and physical-chemical properties.

An artificial irrigation system has been created in Azerbaijan, which includes 6 main, 3 collector channels and more than 50 water reservoirs, including 5 reservoirs with a volume of more than 1 million m3 each and different types of flow regulation, which are of great importance as water resources.

The climate of Azerbaijan is mainly influenced by its geographical position, relief and the Caspian Sea. The Greater Caucasus Mountains protect the major part of the territory from cold northern winds, and the Lesser Caucasus protects it from the south from the continental influence of the Armenian plateau. The Suram range absorbs the humidity of the Black Sea, and the Caspian Sea smoothes temperature drops and enriches the air with humidity and softens the influence of dry and warm winds blowing from the Central Asian deserts. However, the climate changes in higher areas and becomes very cold at a height of 3000-4000 m.

The highest air temperatures occur in the Kura—Araks Lowland and the Caspian coastline, from the Apsheron Peninsula to the Lenkoran Lowland. The average annual temperature here is 14-15° C. With the increase in the territory's height above the sea level in the mountains of the Greater Caucasus, as well as in the Talysh Mountains the temperature gradually decreases. The coldest month is January. However, in the Kura-Araks Lowland and on the Caspian coast winters are soft and warm. The average temperature is usually about 0° C. Only seldom during cold winters are there short-term and weak frosts in the lowland. In the mountains, winters are cold, snowy, and at the height above 3000 m winters are as cold as in the Arctic.

The warmest months are July and August. The average temperature in the lowlands reaches more than 25° C. In summer droughts occur in this region. The annual precipitation varies across the territory of Azerbaijan. In the Kura-Araks Lowland, on the Apsheron Peninsula and in Nakhchivan precipitation is 200-400 mm/year. In the Lesser Caucasus Mountains precipitation increases to 700-800 mm/year, and on the slopes of the Greater Caucasus it increases to 1200-1300 mm/year. Precipitation mostly falls in the southern part of the Talysh mountains (up to 1700 mm) and in the south of the Lenkoran Lowland, providing a humid subtropical climate with luxuriant vegetation. There are great differences of precipitation across the Republic according to the months and seasons. In the east of the Republic the rainiest seasons are autumn and winter. In summer there is

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 1 3 COUNTRY PROFILE very little rain. In the west, precipitation falls primarily in spring and early summer, and in Nakhchivan primarily in late autumn and winter.

Precipitation considerably depends on winds, which are of different types in the Republic. Weak winds of monsoon character (the Caspian monsoon) dominate the Kura-Araks Lowland. Breezes are characteristic of the Caspian coastal area. The mountain-valley winds blow from the valleys to the mountains during the day, and from the. mountains to the valleys at nights. The Apsheron Peninsula is distinguished by its strong northern winds, which are the cold 'khazri' or 'Baku-north' wind, and which blow throughout the year.

In addition, in certain parts of the Republic hot dry winds — 'fens' are observed. Fens occur mainly in winter in the Lesser Caucasus and on the north-east slopes of the Greater Caucasus. Hot dry winds are typical for the warm part of the year and most commonly occur in the lowland areas.

In Azerbaijan, depending on the height of the area and the distance from the Caspian Sea several climatic types are differentiated: arid subtropical, humid subtropical, moderate and cold climates.

The arid subtropical climate is characteristic of the Kura-Araks Lowland and Apsheron. It has a long hot summer, mild winter and a small amount of precipitation. There are several types of sub- tropical climate in Azerbaijan depending on the period of precipitation. This type of climate which allows for artificial irrigation is favorable for the cultivation of valuable technical and subtropical plants — cotton, olives, pomegranate, quince, figs, grapes, as well as cereals and other crops.

The humid subtropical climate differs from the arid subtropical climate in the level of precipitation. This type of climate is characteristic only of the south of the Talysh Mountains and is typical for the mountainous parts and the Lenkoran Lowland. It resembles the humid subtropical climate of Kolkhida (Black Sea coastal area of Georgia), which is favorable for the cultivation of tea, rice and other subtropical crops.

A moderate climate dominates the slopes of the Greater and Lesser Caucasus , covered with forests, and is divided into dry, moderate-warm dry, moderate-warm humid, and moderate cold forest climates. It is characterized by cool summers, comparatively cold winters and rather heavy preci- pitation, especially in the western area of the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus, which falls almost evenly throughout the seasons.

The cold climate is characteristic of the high ranges and peaks of the Greater and Lesser Caucasus, in the zone of Alpine and Subalpine meadows. Winter lasts for several months here, the snow cover '. reaching 1 m, and some of the mountain peaks have small glaciers in this mountainous tundra climate (Bazardyuzu, Shakhdag and others).

1.3 Social and Economic Characteristics

In terms of industrial development, the Republic of Azerbaijan is considered to be one of the most i prospective countries among the newly independent states of Eurasia. The existence of natural resources and its favorable geographical location were the historic prerequisites in creating a base < for the Republic's social and economic complex in the past centuries. By the 19th century oil as the main wealth of Azerbaijan, and industries associated with oil had definitively determined the specifics of Azerbaijan industry and set priorities for many decades.

Today, like a hundred years ago, the oil and gas industries are the main branches of the Republic's \ economy which promotes the development of other spheres and branches. It should be taken into j consideration that the technology of oil and gas production, both onshore and offshore, is being j rapidly updated and improved on the basis of the latest achievements in metallurgical, chemical,; electronic and other industries and with a focus on technical and ecological safety standards. The j Republic's fuel and energy complex is one of the oldest in the world, and it is natural that during • its long history there were periods of both boom and stagnation. In the late 19th and early 20th ] centuries about half of the worlds oil was produced in Azeri oil fields. In 1920, after the forced j reannexation to Bolshevik Russia, Azerbaijan's industry was paralyzed, and this situation im- | mediately influenced the level of oil production. The Soviet Government, realizing the significance j of achieving stabilization in this sector of the economy, placed great emphasis on its technical:

14 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT ; COUNTRY PROFILE modernization. By the end of the 1930's about 25 million barrels of oil were being produced from Azeri oil fields. The technology, then being state of the art, allowed the exploitation of new oil fields, as well as the development of offshore oil production projects. After the end of World War II a new wave started in the Soviet Union to revive the fuel energy complex, which resulted in active subsidization of the scientific-production sector and development of the oil industry. The so called 'Azerbaijan region', where the general tactics and strategy of the Soviet oil and gas production were tested, remained the major base of the oil industry's scientific potential. In the history of the Azerbaijan oil industry the period of the 1960's and-1970's became the years of intensive production. At that time, the Republic not only fully provided itself with oil and oil pro- ducts but also supplied the majority of oil and oil products to other Republics of the Soviet Union.

Since the 1980's with extensive trends in the social and economic spheres of the Soviet Union and the increase in production and export of raw materials, the oil and gas industry of Azerbaijan once again failed to keep up with the rapid technical and technological leap in the world's leading companies and corporations, which having overcome the energy crisis of the 1970's, initiated competition between the West and the East in this crucial branch of industry.

Oil production in Azerbaijan is characterized by two contradictory features. On the one hand, old onshore and offshore oil fields are in a condition of progressive exhaustion. Moreover, their infrastructure is outdated and decayed. On the other hand, big new offshore oilfields, which have the biggest potential in the world, can be developed only with the use of up-to-date technology of offshore oil production. This contradiction makes the simultaneous restructuring of production at the existing oilfields and the effective development of new ones necessary.

The majority of Azeri oil producing regions developed at die beginning of this century are still in use. At the same time, the production rate has been decreasing for many years and the total volume of production reduced from 17.2 million tons in 1975,12.1 million tons in 1985,11.1 million tons in 1992 to 9.161 million tons in 1995. The main part of the original reserve in these fields has been extracted. However, according to experts' estimation, the total volume of oil left in the strata is more than 180 million tons. At the oldest onshore oil fields the well productivity has dropped to a level, which in most cases makes extraction almost unprofitable. In total, about 7500 wells are operative, which annually produce 1.8 million tons of oil thus making the output of each well equal to 0.7 tons per day. In addition, most of the wells discharge a considerable amount of water reaching up to 98 % of the total liquid output, which results in significant contamination of soil by the discharged water. A key approach to oil production at the developed oil fields is the abundance of non-effective wells, and the preservation and modernization of perspective ones.

In connection with the development of oil production all the other branches of industry were oriented towards oil industry requirements. During the Soviet period Azerbaijan was the main cen- ter of oil equipment manufacturing. About 65 % of well service, refurbishment and oil production equipment was manufactured in the Republic. The industrial potential of oil engineering is quite high in Azerbaijan. It consists of 14 big enterprises, which produce hundreds of different types of products. All these enterprises are united to the' Azneftmash' Holding Company. Today practically all the enterprises are in a state of economic crisis, because the specialization system in the FSU made them dependent on the supply of raw materials and spare parts from other former Republics of the Soviet Union.

Oil production influenced the development of oil refining and oil chemical industries. Up to 1992 the oil refineries of the Republic processed both local and imported crude oil. At present oil imports from Kazakhstan and Russia have stopped and only local oil is being processed. The equipment used at oil refining plants is generally old and worn out, especially at the "Azeneftyag" plant, which started its operation about 120 years ago, and most of its equipment has become outdated. The Novobakinski plant, which is of a smaller size has equipment produced in the mid-1960s, but is still out-of-date. A significant part of the oil refineries' products, crude oil and natural gas are used as raw materials in the petrochemical and chemical industries of the Republic, concentrated in Sumgait.

It should be noted that Azerbaijan, as a big oil and natural gas producer for a long time, had no need to develop other sources of energy. Among other energy sources, only hydroenergy is of impor- tance; in 1990, its share in the total produced energy constituted one percent. In this respect, the structure of Azerbaijan's energy sector is rather simple.

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 15 COUNTRY PROFILE

Modern Drilling Rigs in the Caspian Sea. (photo - State Committee for the Environment) In comparison to other CIS countries, Azerbaijan's economy is highly power-consuming due to enterprises of heavy and medium-scale industries concentrated on the territory of the Republic. In 1990, the level of the power consumption (in thousand tons of the standard fuel consumption, necessary for the production of GNP with a total value of one million rubles) constituted 2.35 in comparison to 1.95 in Russia and 2.11 in the Ukraine. The energy potential of Azerbaijan consti- tutes 4,908 megawatts, of which 692 megawatts are produced by hydroenergy, and the rest by thermal energy. The major part of the industry's capacity is out-dated, and the condition of enter- prise in general is unsatisfactory; roughly more than 25% of the facilities have been exploited for more than 25 years. Thermal electric power stations can operate using two types of fuel, the preferred one being natural gas. Since 1992, electric power consumption has been steadily decrea- sing by approximately 12—15 % annually. However, even if the demand increases in the near future, the existing capacities are sufficient to meet this demand till the end of 1990's.

It should be mentioned that Azerbaijan is not using such a potential natural energy resource as wind energy, which was widely used in the Apsheron Peninsula and other regions of Azerbaijan in the past. At present, wind energy seems to be a great reserve for an alternative generation of electric power. Development of this resource will be quite possible under adequate investment.

Among other branches of industry, construction industry based on local raw materials (production of cement, decoration materials, construction stone, etc.), light industry, production and processing of agricultural products are of great importance.

Azerbaijan has a long tradition in agriculture, and this sector plays an important role in the Republic's economy, generating about 26% of GDP. The country possesses a quite sufficient and diversified base for the production of highly valuable fruits and vegetables, cotton, grapes, tobacco and tea-leaves. Approximately two-thirds of the agricultural output constitutes plant-growing products; the rest is the product of cattle—breeding (with the exemption of fishery). The charac- teristics of Azerbaijan's climate and soils determine the specialization of crops. According to data collected in 1992, they are (in terms of the size of the area under crops): grains, cotton, grapes, fruit gardens (apple, pear, pomegranate, and others), vegetables, tobacco, tea, citrus plants. In com- parison with 1987, areas under cereals increased by 40%; while cotton fields decreased by 19% and vineyards — by 45% in comparison with 1985. Also, there is an increase in areas under summer fallow. In meat production, beef makes up about 40%; chicken - 32%; mutton and goat's meat - 21%; pork-6%.

In comparison with 1987, the number of cattle decreased (swine - by 32%; neat cattle - by 9.2%; other cattle - about 4.5%) parallel to the decrease of meat production (beef - by 27%; pork - by 50%; chicken - by 17%; eggs - by 9%; and milk - by 11%). As a result of a range of factors, fishery (a branch, which is relatively capital-consuming and highly mechanized) has sharply reduced. The production is organized at more than 800 state farms (sovkhozes) situated on 440000 hectares and more than 1100 cooperative farms (kolkhoz) occupying an area of about 924000 hectares. At present, private farms (approximately 500 farms with a total area of about 11400 hectares) are in progress.

16 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT COUNTRY PROFILE

Structure of the National Economy of the Azerbaijan Republic

1980 1985 1988 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995

Oil Industry B Food industry Energy sector a Metallurgy Chemical industry B Production of construction materials Light industry a; Heavy industry

About 70% of the output is produced in irrigated fields, 93% of districts have irrigation systems, though they have not been fully used for the last 3-4 years. Approximately 1.4 million hectares are in the zone of farming irrigated by surface irrigation systems. Underground waters are used for drip irrigation on an area of about 65000 hectares, of which about 40000 hectares are operative.

In 1995, the decline in production continued in the majority of industries. As a result of it, in comparison with 1994 the amount of production (aggregate output) decreased by 21.4%. The situation in some industries is as follows: in machinery-building the decline reached 46%; metallurgical industry - 15%; timber and wood industry - 77%; construction industry - 63%; and food industry - 44%.

The decline in the fuel and energy industries is of more moderate character (3-4%). Also, there is some disproportion in the level of decline between the production and processing industries, which has resulted in structural changes in production. For example, in 1995, the share of fuel and energy industry in the total volume of industrial production constituted 49%, while in 1994 it was 33%. For the same period the share of the metallurgical industry fell from 2% to 1%; machinery- building industry - from 11.5% to 9.8%; and food industry - from 11.6% to 6.8%. Despite a sharp decline in output, 12% of the products were not sold. In 1995, the index of wholesale prices for industrial products increased by 18.7 times, including those for industrial-technical products - by 19.7 times and consumer products by 15.9 times.

In 1995, the total population of the Republic was 7.5 million, of which 2.6 million people (about 35%) were engaged in production. 1.8 million people out of the employed (or 71 %) are engaged in the public sector.The unemployed population makes up 1.1 million. According to the data of employment services, by the end of 1995, 66 thousand people were registered as unemployed, of which only 12% received unemployment benefits, and for that period an additional 10 thousand employees were needed in enterprises.

In 1995, the stabilization of the national currency (manat) exchange rate, and the lowering of the rate of inflation led to a considerable reduction in gaps between consumer prices increase and average wages. The population's income increased 4.3 times, while expenditures increased 5 times. At the same time, wages, pensions, etc. remain extremely low. The minimum wage is 5,500 Manats (approximately 1.2 U.S. Dollars, the average wage is 57,500 Manats or 13 U.S. Dollars per month. By the end of 1995 the average wage constituted 71,000 Manats or 16 U.S. Dollars. The minimum wage is 22 times lower than the living wage, and the average wage is 5 times lower than the minimum consumer budget. According to estimations, an average monthly income of about 6% of the population is at the level of the minimum wage, incomes of about 65% of the population are below the monthly average wage, and only 0.5% of the population have incomes of more than 150 thousand Manats. More than 90% of the population have monthly average incomes below the living wage.

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 17 The Greater Caucasus ridge. (photo - State Committee for the Environment)

2.1 The Concept of Environmental Protection

The principles of state policy in the field of environmental protection have been specified in the "Ecological Concept of the Republic of Azerbaijan" developed in the early 1990's by the State Committee for the Environment. As with any other conceptual model, this concept is based on the principles of ecological security tested in practice, which were approved within Agenda 21 at the Conference held in Rio-de-Janeiro in 1992. As in all developed countries, the National Concept of environmental protection is oriented towards the provision of environmental safety and the improvement of the ecological situation in the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The concept is based on selected priorities and general directions with the aim of implementing adequate measures to improve the environment. Briefly, they can be expressed as follows:

• Protection of the biosphere • Continuous utilization of natural resources • Decrease and disposal of waste • Rational use of energy • Reduction of risk associated with human activity

18 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT NATIONAL PRINCIPLES OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY IN AZERBAIJAN In order to realise these principles the development of a National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP) with the aid of the World Bank for Reconstruction and Development is planned. The NEAP will be based on the National Concept of Actions on environmental protection; resolution of the UN Conference on the environment, development and social issues; substantiation of urgent measures and main directions for the provision of environmental safety and improvement of the ecological situation in the Republic of Azerbaijan.

2.2 Government institutions responsible for the environment

Azerbaijan is a Presidential Republic with a unitary state, which is divided into 67 administrative territorial units (districts), including the currently occupied Karabakh region and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic separated from the mother country by the territory of the Armenian Repub- lic. Azerbaijan borders with Turkey, Iran, Armenia, Georgia and the Russian Federation. The capi- tal of the Republic is Baku city, where all the republican management bodies are located. The main functions of administrative management are performed by the bodies of the executive power, including municipal executive power.

Local executive power - 67 municipal and district bodies are governed by the Head of the Executive Power of the district. The local executive power deals with all economic and social issues (including production) on its territory and is the land-owner. The biggest administrative units are Baku, Sumgait, Ganja, Ali-Bayramli, Mingachevir, Gazakh, Salyan and others.

The Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic is an integral part of Azerbaijan and has adequate management structures.

Economic management is implemented by the Cabinet of Ministers. The Cabinet of Ministers is the executive power and performs the functions of state management of the national economy and consists of the management of ministries, state committees and state concerns.

The body which implements Government management in the field of environmental protection is the State Committee for the Environment, which is directly subordinated to the President of the Azerbaijan Republic. The State Committee for the Environment has a central apparatus, 3 specialized departments, 26 territorial municipal, interdistrict and district committees on ecology, 14 state reserves and 20 preservations.

In accordance with the Law of the Azerbaijan Republic "On Environmental Protection and Nature Utilization" adopted in 1992, and Regulations on the State Committee for the Environment, established by the Decree of the President of the Azerbaijan Republic, The State Committee for the Environment shall supervise the observation of all standards and requirements in the field of envi- ronmental protection, and cany out state control over the status and utilization of natural resources.

National Governmental monitoring of the environment is implemented by the State Committee for Hydrometeorology and the State Committee for the Environment. Local monitoring is entrusted to the nature user, i.e. companies using natural resources, which include this provision in their documents.

The State Committee for the Environment, in accordance with the existing legislation implements:

• development and implementation of the ecological policy of the Government • development of recommendations for nature protecting measures • implementation of the Governmental ecological expertise of new and existing projects • suspension or closing down of enterprises, which fail to meet the requirements of environmental legislation • inspection of operating enterprises • issue of permits for the allowed discharge of contaminating substances • suspension of financing of any construction in case of violations of law

The local (district and municipal) committees on ecology are subordinated directly to the State Committee for the Environment and perform the role of governmental control over the environment on the territory within their jurisdiction.

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 19 NATIONAL PRINCIPLES OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY IN AZERBAIJAN

Political Map of Azerbaijan

Sadai

TURKEY

Baku - capital of Azerbaijan

Major cities (Ganja, Sumgait, Mingyachevir, Alibayramli, Evlakh, Khankendi)

Nakhchivan - capital of autonomous republic

20 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT NATIONAL PRINCIPLES OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY IN AZERBAIJAN A Reserve Fund for environmental protection is functioning in Azerbaijan. The Fund is established under the State Committee for the Environment. The Guardian Council of the Fund consists of the Management of the State Committee for the Environment and leading scientists of the Republic. The financial means of the Fund are formed from the fines imposed on violators of environmental legislation, and payments for natural resources utilization.

2.3 Legislation

Legislation designed to protect nature has been based on the principles stipulated in the Constitutional Act on the Independence of Azerbaijan, adopted in the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan (1995), the Law of the Azerbaijan Republic "On Environmental Protection and Utilization of Natural Resources", and the Statute of the State Committee for the Environment is aimed at providing:

• the establishment and development of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Program • review of the existing ecological standards with the purpose of their improvement to the level of standards recommended by the European Community • use of economical mechanisms to decrease contamination levels • improvement of the system of ecological awareness and education • intensification of the cooperation in the field of environmental protection with regional and international organizations • establishment of the "Contaminator pays" principle • improvement of the system of ecological monitoring.

The legislation on environmental protection of the Azerbaijan Republic is based on the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan adopted in 1995, which specifies that the environment and all natural resources of the Azerbaijan Republic belong to the people of Azerbaijan. The Constitution states that citizens of the Republic are obliged to take care of the environment and protect its wealth. The Government on behalf of present and future generations takes necessary measures for the protection and scientifically justified and rational use of land and its resources, water resources, flora and fauna for the preservation of pure air and water, guaranteeing the reproduction (regeneration) of natural wealth and an improvement in the quality of the human environment.

2.3.1 Basic Regulatory Acts

Basic legislation on environmental protection covering all aspects of environmental protection in the Azerbaijan Republic is as follows:

• Constitutional Act on Independence of Azerbaijan, adopted in October 18,1991 • Constitution of the Azerbaijan Republic, 1995 • Law "On Environmental Protection and Use of Natural Resources", February 25, 1992 • Statute of the State Committee for the Environment, September 7,1992, Presidential Decree No 176 • Payments for the use of natural resources, norms of payments for environmental contamination, March 3,1992. Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers No.122.

These documents are new standards in the field on environmental protection and use of natural resources adopted by independent Azerbaijan. Together with these legislative acts, there are laws (codes) on water, air, land and state standards concerning health and safety issues effective on the territory of the Republic, which were adopted during the Soviet Period. At present, there is an urgent necessity to draft and adopt 12 laws, 6 regulations and rules, more than 25 other standards and instructive materials, which meet the requirements of the sovereignty and new economic conditions of the Republic. The preparation and adoption of a package of legislative documents in the field of ecology and environmental protection is complicated by the lack of financial means and an overload in the Parliament of Azerbaijan.

2.3.2 Economic Aspects of Environmental Legislation

Decree No.122 of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Azerbaijan Republic, dated March 3, 1992 on "Payments for the use of natural resources, estimate of payments for environmental contamination

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 21 NATIONAL PRINCIPLES OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY IN AZERBAIJAN and use of the means received as the payment for the use of natural resources" establishes the rates for payments and is based on the "Contaminator Pays" principle. Fines for contamination are imposed by the State Committee for the Environment via its local (district) departments.

Penalties and fines are imposed on physical and official persons in accordance with the Code of Administrative Violations with amendments made in accordance with the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan (1992). At present, there are no regulations on tax privileges in the legislation, however, financial means obtained from the contaminators are used for both the reconstruction of existing and for the building of new environmental protection facilities. Ecological privileges are planned to be introduced into currently drafted bills on taxation.

At present, design institutes are developing regulations on permissible standards for discharges for newly established enterprises. These regulations are to be approved by relevant structures of the State Committee for the Environment. Standards of permissible discharges (SPD) are reviewed every 5 years and may be changed in accordance with changes in technological processes and changes in the environment. Agreements on SPD are made by relevant structures (the department on expertise) of the State Committee for the Environment. The documents submitted for receiving a license for SPD are to include detailed information about the location of the enterprise, its name, description of the technological process, existing regional and local ecological regulations and estimates of expected discharges of contaminants. If the enterprise does not have approved SPD, all discharges are considered to be above the standards and the claims imposed increase tenfold. Operation of the enterprise may be suspended if actual discharges do not correspond to the adopted standards.

2.4 International Relations

In previous years the State Committee for the Environment was deprived of the chance to pursue an independent international policy and make contact with foreign, environmental organizations. This resulted in a situation whereby the Republic's ecological problems appeared to be isolated and passed over in silence. f During 1991-1995, the State Committee for the Environment established close contacts not only i with international ecological organizations, but also with various Government departments resppn- I sible from the environment of many foreign countries. The Management Members of the Com- mittee were at the head of the State delegation participating in the Conference on the Creation of the Committee of the Caspian countries to solve the problems of the Caspian Sea, which was held in the Islamic Republic of Iran. They also took part in the Istanbul Conference of Ministers of Environment from the Central Asian, Black Sea and Balkan regions, at the meeting in Sofia of Ministers of Environment from European countries and at other meetings. These meetings drew world attention to the ecological problems of Azerbaijan, of the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region in general.

International policy of Azerbaijan and, in particular, the State Committee for the Environment is f based on the principles of mutually beneficial cooperation and common interests in the field of environmental protection and the rational utilization of natural resources.

As a state body, the State Committee for the Environment proceeds from the interests of the [ Azerbaijan Republic to protect the safety of the natural environment. Their main efforts are directed ! towards international recognition of the policy in the field of ecology, scientific and engineering j- potential of the Republic and use of this potential by the international community. t i i Cooperation with the UN mission and UN Development Program (UNDP) in Azerbaijan enabled | a number of international organizations to cooperate in the field of ecology. Negotiations have been \ held with the representatives of UN, UNEP, UNESCO, World Bank for Reconstruction and i Development, environmental protection organizations of the USA, UK, Germany, Turkey, Iran and f CIS countries. The results of these negotiations were: adoption of the "Agreement on cooperation | in the field of ecology and environmental protection between Azerbaijan and Turkey", on the basis r of which seminars have been held and specialists of the Republic have been trained, also the issues t on rendering technical assistance in the realization of monitoring the trans-boundary rivers are I being solved. Other documents resulting from these negotiations were: "Protocol on Cooperation f1

22 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT NATIONAL PRINCIPLES OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY IN AZERBAIJAN between the Environmental Protection Ministry of the UK and the State Committee for the Environment"; "Agreement on cooperation between the British Petroleum Company and State Committee for the Environment in the field of Ecology and Environmental Protection". In order to resolve the ecological problems in the Caspian Sea, a number of proposals to the Islamic Bank for Development on financing the program to study the problems of the Caspian Sea have been prepared for the Government of the Republic. The visit of experts from this organization for the consideration of the Agreement is expected.

In 1991, the First Baku International Conference on the Problems of the Caspian Sea was held, which was attended by the representatives of 158 countries. On the basis of the final documents of this Conference, the State Committee for the Environment has worked out the principles and priorities of improvement of cooperation in the Caspian region.

The State Committee for the Environment initiated the establishment of a Coordinating Council on Cooperation to solve the problems of the Caspian Sea with the participation of international organizations. The initiative was supported by the UNDP, UNEP and the World Bank of Recon- struction and Development. A joint group of experts of these organizations within the framework of the "Caspian Initiative" studied the ecological situation in the Caspian states and a drafted cooperation program was prepared and approved at the joint meeting in Tehran in 1994 by the representatives of all Caspian states. The UN Development Program (UNDP) is carrying out a joint project on the improvement of scientific, technical and educational potential in the field of ecology and environmental protection. The programs of modern management for Ismailly and Shirvan State Reserves are being worked out, and a technical base for laboratories is being improved. Within the framework of the final document of the conference of the European Environment Ministers (Lucerne, 1993; Sofia, 1995), the State Committee for the Environment of the Republic is starting to develop a National Environmental Action Plan in the field of environment, supported by the UNDP and World Bank for Reconstruction and Development. With the direct participation of the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation in Europe in 1995 a seminar was held, upon which the concept of the National Environmental Action Plan, representing the basis for further activities, was prepared.

Effective work is being performed by experts and specialists of the State Committee for the Environment at the international conferences and symposiums, where they have always taken an active part. The participation of the representatives of the republic at the conferences and seminars on the problems of climate change (Moscow, 1993, 1994; Geneva, 1995), ozone destroying substances (Vienna, 1995), disposal of wastes (Moscow, 1994; Ankara, 1995), preservation of bio-diversity (Moscow, 1993; Saint-Petersburg, 1994; Manila, Australia, 1995), coordination of the National Environmental Action Plan (Warsaw, 1995), etc. can be cited.

A database of regulation materials of the USA, UK, Germany, Turkey, Norway and CIS countries has been created, which enables the use of these materials during the development of the ecological laws and regulations for the Republic.

2.5 Strengthening Environmental Awareness

For many decades the ecological education and awareness in the Republic has been of a politicized character, and as a result the general level of ecological culture in the Republic did not meet the modern requirements. Taking into account the extremely unsatisfactory level of ecological education and lack of literature available for the general public, the State Committee for the Environment published a number of books and manuals on different aspects of ecology and environment during the period of 1990 - 1995 at the expense of the Reserve Fund. Among them were: "State Report on the Environmental Situation and Environmental Protection Activity in the Azerbaijan Republic"; "Ecological Concept of the Azerbaijan Republic"; Manual on Ecology by Professor M.M.Salmanov. "Essays on Ecology"; Methodological Manual on Ecology by Professor G.A.Mustafayev; "Medical Ecology" - manual for students of medical universities, by professor D.Gadjiyev; "Ecology of the Caspian Sea", research work by A. Kasumov, Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences of the Azerbaijan Republic; "Enemies of enemies or our friends" (Azeri) by Professor S. Aliyev; "Infectious diseases" - fundamental research by professor N. Aliyev. The second edition of the "Red Book of the Azerbaijan Republic" is being prepared for publishing, but at the present time the possibilities of the State Committee State Committee for the Environment in this respect are also zero.

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 23 NATIONAL PRINCIPLES OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY IN AZERBAIJAN Scientific-documentary and full-length documentary films have been made by the order of the State Committee for the Environment and have been shown to the general public. The State Committee for the Environment attaches great importance to the issues of the training of environmental specialists, and with this purpose seminars are systematically organized, involving leading specialists of the Republic and experts of international organizations for delivering lectures. A number of such seminars with the participation of the specialists of the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation in Europe, Environmental Protection Ministries of Turkey, Sweden, Lithuania and Croatia were organized during the period of 1991-1995.

Considerable attention has been paid to the mass media. Under the direct assistance of the State Committee for the Environment the Republic's TV channels systematically broadcast programs on the problems of environmental protection and nature utilization. Newspapers regularly publish news and information concerning environmental conditions in the Republic.

Taking into account the great deficiency of textbooks about ecology in the secondary schools and the necessity to involve the leading specialists in the raising of ecological awareness among the nation's youth, the State Committee for the Environment regularly holds meetings and seminars in the schools of the Republic. Such meetings are meant not only to familiarize the participants with the principles of ecological culture, but also to attract the attention of young participants to the problems of ecology and to form a modern ecological mentality in the growing generation. During such seminars and meetings textbooks on ecology and environmental protection are donated to school libraries free of charge. Unfortunately, at present, financial difficulties resulting from the military conflict over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh do not allow the active continuation of this new tendency, and the only hope is for the assistance of international organizations, first and foremost UNDP and UNICEF.

In order to involve the general public in modern ecological problems and achievements in this field the State Committee for the Environment held the "ECO-KHAZAR-93" International Ecological Exhibition in November 1993. The Academy of Sciences of the Azerbaijan Republic, State Oil Company, Caspian Shipping Company, State Committee on Geodesy and Cartography, Depart- ment of Municipal Economy under the executive power of Baku city, and other organizations took part in this exhibition. Western oil companies - BP/Statoil Alliance, AMOCO, SHELL and Pennzoil companies took a very active part in the exhibition. During the exhibition there were meetings of western and Azeri specialists and scientists in the field of ecology, as well as briefings and seminars held for participants. Open access to the exhibition allowed not only the specialists but also a great number of young people to visit as well. In total, the exhibition was attended by over 110 thousand people.

24 .. . STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT Tugai forests in the Kura zone. (photo - State Committee tor the Environment)

Definition: The environmental problem refers to undesirable changes, which occur in the environment as a result of human activity and which have a negative influence on human health, the state of the ecosystem and the ability of the environment to function.

Analysis of the environment in Azerbaijan revealed that the most acute problems are in the area of environmental preservation.

From the territorial point of view, the parameters of the distribution of the negative influence of anthropogenic processes on the environment are quite different and spread to a certain extent all over the territory of the Republic.

Almost 30% of the coastal area is exposed to contamination. More than half the rivers (50.6%) ¥• which are more than 100 km in length are considered to be contaminated. All the lakes of the low- lying parts of the Republic are exposed to the changes of the thermal, biological and chemical regimes. The lakes of the Apsheron Peninsula and the Kura Araks Lowland with a total area of more than 200 km2 are in a critical state.

Baku, Sumgait and Ganja are on the top of the list of the cities with a high level of environmental contamination. In these cities, the contamination level according to the amount of different I contaminants is several times higher than the average level in the Republic. More than 60% of the STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 25 ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN

Republic's territory is already exposed to erosion processes of various intensity, including 16 /o being strongly-eroded, 14.8% being averagely-eroded and 31.2% being slightly eroded. Up to 80% of the mountainous area and more than 45 % of agricultural lands are exposed to erosion. The area of salinized lands all over the Republic is almost 1JS million hectares or 50% of all agricultural \ands. The area of technogenicatty damaged and contaminated regions constitutes almost 25 thousand hectares.

Among the most acute and typical problems relating to the protection of flora are: an extremely high (83.8%) share of woodless territories, pollution of forests by industrial waste (12 thousand hectares), cattle pasture (15.5 thousand hectares) and recreation activities (about 2 thousand hectares).

The strongest anthropogenic impact on forests is the felling of timber for fuel, which has become especially acute during the last years due to a rapid decrease in the natural gas supply and the lack of other types of fuel (bituminous coal, kerosene and others). Practically more than 65% of the population of the Republic suffers from a lack of fuel, and due to this, the use of timber for heating living spaces has increased 3-4 times, mainly using local resources. There has been a depletion in the forest berry fields, mushroom areas and medicinal flora. Due to military hostilities and the presence of more than 1 million refugees resulting in demographic redistribution, there has been a sharp increase in population pressure on the central regions. Growth in the number of agricultural animals displaced from the territories under occupation is a real threat which may cause over- grazing and a depletion of the main plain pastures of the Republic. The situation with fauna is in close correlation with flora. With the reduction of habitat areas and an increase in anthropogenic pressure, the abundance and variety of fauna is reduced. The list of rare and endangered species of fauna and flora to be included in the "Red Book" has been considerably extended.

3.1 Ecological zones

Diversity of orography, soils and vegetation are characteristics of the environment of the Azer- baijan Republic. The climatic conditions of the Republic are diverse in particular the microclimates which do not require large homogeneous areas.

According to the character of orography, vegetation and topsoil, Azerbaijan is roughly divided into 5 climatic zones: the Greater Caucasus, the Lesser Caucasus, Nakhchivan, Lenkoran and Kura- Araks; each of these zones is characterized by different natural conditions, which serve as a basis for identifying the physical-geographic districts. There are 19 physical-geographic districts. The territory of Azerbaijan belongs to 2 physical-geographic countries: the Caucasus and the Front- Asian plateau. The Caucasus includes 4 regions: the south-eastern part of the Greater Caucasus, Lesser Caucasus, the Kura intermountain hollow, the Lenkoran zone. The Front-Asian plateau coveres the Middle Araks zone.

From the geological history of the Caucasus it is known that all the steppe area of Azerbaijan approximately till the second part of the Tertiary period was under the waters of a large sea.

The Greater and Lesser Caucasus, which protruded from the sea, as well as the Talysh Mountains, were covered by subtropical vegetation, the remains of which are preserved in certain zones to this day (the Talysh region). They are evidence of a mild, warm and humid climate which dominated at that time.

With the retreat of the sea, gradually increasing areas of land appeared on the surface of the Caucasus. Upon these areas the modern climatic conditions of the central steppe region and the Nakhchivan region were formed.

While analyzing the modern state of the climatic zones it is necessary to note that anthropogenic factors play an important role in the formation of the micro-climate, relevant orography and vegetation. For the description of ecological districts it is necessary to identify the extent and duration of population pressure.

The task of this section is to analyze the state of the environment, to define priorities and the range of environmental problems. Their selection was based on two criteria:

26 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN • whether the problem creates a serious threat to human health • whether the problem may cause irrevocable changes in ecosystems, that will result in the reduction of biodiversity and the degradation of landscapes.

\ Work on the assessment of the ecological situation has been carried out in the Republic with the use of the following indices: reproductive capacity (on oxygen and water), demographic capacity, power consumption level, a module of hazardous substances discharged into the atmosphere, an integrated index of the municipal construction impact on the environment.

The reproductive capacity of the Republic's territory of oxygen was determined on the basis of the biological productivity of plant ecosystems, the coefficiency of a transition from biological productivity to free oxygen.

The total oxygen production of Azerbaijan is estimated at 36.2 million tons per year without taking into consideration the oxygen production of the Caspian ecosystem. The maximum productive capacity being in the central part of the Greater Caucasus in the Sheki-Zakatali region (over 6 million tons), the lowest reproductivity being in Nakhchivan and the Apsheron Peninsula (0.7 and 0.8 million tons per year respectively). The reproductivity index of atmospheric oxygen as applied to specific territories varies from 1.4 in Nakhchivan and 6.6 in the Karabakh zone. Among the administrative districts the index value ranges from 0.04 in Baku city to 13.7 in Sheki district.

In terms of surface waters the reproductive capacity of the Republic's territory constitutes 7.6 billion m3. The Lenkoran and Sheki-Zakatali regions of the Republic are distinguished due to the highest reproductive capacity, which is 2.5 and 2.4 billion m3 respectively. The lowest value of reproductive capacity falls in the following regions: Araks region - 7.8 million m3, Apsheron region - 10.5 million m3, Mugan-Salyan region - 14.6 million m3.

The demographic or threshold capacity of the territory is the maximum number of people that can be located within the territory, provided that the most important daily needs of the population at the expense of local resources are met, and the economic balance is guaranteed. Based on recreation, water and agricultural resources, the demographic capacity of territory has been identified for 11 regions of the Republic.

Calculations of the demographic capacity of the territories are mainly of empirical character, however, they permit different characteristics of the regions of Azerbaijan to be recognised. This makes it possible to divide the landscape-geographical structures into ecological zones. The range of differences in the recreation capacity index of the territory is constituted of 5.6 thousand people (Sheki region) to 27.8 thousand people (Lenkoran region); on the water resources index - from 54 thousand people (Baku region) to 2,651 thousand people (Sheki region); in the index of suburban agricultural lands - from 40 thousand people (Agdam region) to 260 thousand people (Ganja region).

As one of the integral indices of population pressure on the environment, the level of total electric power consumption (for production needs) has been used, estimated as one million km2/year in the regions of the Republic, and this has enabled us to identify the following categories of the regions of the Republic:

• with a very high level of consumption (more than 350 thousand KWatt hour/year) - the Apsheron region (6.7 % of the republic's territory) • with a high level of consumption (161 thousand - 350 thousand KWatt hour/year) - Ali- Bayramli, Mingachevir and Ganja regions (16.1 % of the republic's territory); • the rest of the territory (72.2%) belongs to regions with an average and low level of power consumption.

The amount of contaminants per km2 is shown in the module of hazardous effluents to the atmosphere. By this index, the territory of the Republic is differentiated into the following groups: slightly contaminated (18 districts), contaminated (25 districts), highly contaminated (14 districts), critically contaminated (14 districts), as well as the territories of Baku, Sumgait, Ganja, Mingachevir, Nakhchivan and others.

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 27 ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN During the study of the state of the environment in Azerbaijan about 500 problematic situations have been revealed. According to their priority they may be classified as follows: 64 ecological problems caused by contamination of water resources; 48 — by air contamination and trans- boundary transmission of contaminants; 281 - by contamination and destruction of topsoil inclu- ding those caused by big cattle—breeding complexes and mineral mining; 30 — by the critical impact of the anthropogenic activity on flora and fauna; 71 - by town-planning in urban settle- ments and motor transportation.

Proceeding from the seriousness of the ecological consequences, the problematic situations have been classified into 4 categories: very serious, serious, average and weak. Such a classification has enabled an understanding of the priorities of the ecological problems, and has also outlined the ecological districts.

According to the state of the ecological situation and the character of the landscape and climate, the territory of the Republic may be classified into the following categories:

• with the most acute ecological situation (the Apsheron Peninsula with Baku, Sumgait cities, the Kura River with Ganja, Mingachevir, Ali-Bayramli cities), where more than 70 % of the Republic's population lives • with a serious ecological and town-planning situation (Nakhchivan and practically all of the Kura-Araks lowland) with a total population of 315 thousand people • with individual ecological problems - the remainder of the Republic's territory.

The main sources of contamination and degradation of the natural environmental components are:

• water resources - industry, agriculture, municipal domestic sector, energy, heating, recreation • air basin - industry, mainly petrochemistry, motor transport, municipal-domestic sector • land resources - agriculture, industry, water supply system, town planning activity, transport, engineering infrastructure, recreation • flora and fauna - agriculture, recreation, transport, engineering infrastructure and industry.

Taking into account the level of anthropogenic impact, the state of the environment, climatic landscape peculiarities and the existence of ecological problems, the territory of the Republic may be divided into the following ecological zones, which form several physical geographic regions:

1. The Kura-Araks zone, including the Kura-Araks plain, middle and lower reaches of the Kura river and the Araks river (Kurd - Shirvan, Araks and Kura-Araks physical-geographic regions). 2. The Apsheron zone - the Apsheron Peninsula with Baku and Sumgait cities (Gobustan - Apsheron physical-geographic region). 3. The zone of the slopes of the Greater Caucasus range, foothills and slopes of the Southern spurs of the Main Caucasus range (Samur-Divichi, Gonagkend, Zakatali-Lagich, Alazan-Agrichay and Shemakha physical-geographic regions). 4. The Lenkoran - Astara zone - the south-eastern part of the Republic (Lenkoran and Talysh physical-geographic regions). 5. The Karabakh zone, covering the eastern spurs of the Lesser Caucasus range and the upper part of the Kura depression (Ganja, Karabakh regions; the district of volcano plateau, Aker, Ajinavur-Jeyranchel, Kazakh-Karabakh physical-geographic regions ). 6. The Nakhchivan zone - the territory of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (Sharur- Ordubad, Kungud-Gapidgi physical-geographic regions). 7. The Caspian zone, covering the coastal area and Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian water area.

3.1.1 The Kura - Araks Ecological Zone

The relief of Azerbaijan has the form of a chute, stretching from the northwest to the southeast, the socket of which is oriented to the Caspian. Such a location is very favorable in the climatic sense, for the country is directed towards the southeast and the Caspian Sea, which directly influences all the country up to the most remote areas. The central part of this chute is occupied by the Kura- Araks lowland, the climate of which is arid subtropical. Due to its territory and share in the national economy, the zone is of great importance. In this region cotton-growing and cattle-breeding are

28 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN highly developed; also there are many valuable subtropical fruits: pomegranates, figs, olives, pis- tachios, almonds, Japanese per- simmons and others.

The climate is warm with a pro- longed hot summer and mild win- ter. In the central part, the number of hot months is 4-5. With the increase of the area above the sea level from the east to the west towards the spurs and slopes of the Greater and Lesser Caucasus, the Tugai forests in the climate gradually turns to mo- Kura zone; derate-warm, mainly due to the lower reaches reduction in hot months to 3 of the Kura river. months and the temperature (photo - State Committee decrease during the coldest month for the Environment) down to 0-1° C.

In the largest continental zone precipitation falls mainly in late spring and early summer (May - June). Towards the Caspian the maximum precipitation occurs in earlier months (March - April), and in the coastal area it occurs during the autumn - winter period. Mostly local periodical winds dominate: monsoons in the valleys of the Kura and Araks rivers, coastal breezes, mountain - valley winds and fans.

The zone is divided into three natural regions: Shirvan, Mill-Karabakh and Mugan-Salyan, which are very similar in the ecological sense and represented by moderately changed natural landscapes (long-term crop culturing) and identical ecological situations and problems.

The Shirvan area occupies the territory on the left side of the Kura-Araks lowland from Mingachevir to the Caspian. It includes two plains: Shirvan and South-east Shirvan.

The Shirvan plain is situated in the northern part of the lowland, adjacent to the foothills of the Greater Caucasus. It is formed from the flat cones of mountainous river drifts joined together. In the southern part, adjacent to the Kura river, which is the southern border of the plain, there are swamps, and soils are mostly sierozems (grey desert soils).

South-east Shirvan occupies the left side of the Kura lower reach. It is adjacent to the foothills of Gobustan in the north, and washed by the waters of the Caspian in the east. Because of the high salinization of soils and water deficiency considerable areas of southeast Shirvan are used for winter grazing pastures. However a part of the territory is meliorated and planted with cotton.

In the coastal area, oil has been discovered and its industrial extraction is carried out by the enterprise "Shirvanneft".

The Mill-Karabakh region is situated between the Kura and Araks rivers and consists of two plains: Karabakh - in the northwest and Mill - in the southeast.

The Karabakh plain is formed from the drifts of the Lesser Caucasus rivers. Its surface is jagged by river beds and irrigation channels. A considerable part of the land is ploughed. The main crop is cotton. There are many orchards on the plain, a pistachio grove has also been preserved.

The Mill plain is very similar to the Karabakh plain according to its surface structure and topsoil, however in its eastern part there are marsh-ridden areas, for example in the Aggel and Sarisu areas, where a considerable number of waterfowls and coastal species of migrating birds stay over winter.

At present the lands of the plain are mostly developed and are covered mainly by cotton crops.

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 29 ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN

The upper and lower Karabakh irrigation channels go through the region (from north to south) from the Mingechavir water reservoir, where more than a hundred agricultural channels start.

The Mugan—Salyan region occupies the right bank of the Kura river, north and northeast from the place where the Araks falls into it. This is the flattest part of the region and completely situated below sea level. It consists of two plains: the Mugan and the Salyan.

The Mugan plain, which extends along the right bank of the Araks and Kura rivers has a net of irrigation channels, which irrigate the numerous plantations of cotton.

The Salyan plain is situated between the Kura river and its former branch - Akush. It has a smooth plain surface.

The given characteristics suggest that the landscape and climatic features of all the regions of the Kura-Araks lowland, as well as the topsoil and vegetation, have many common features. In addition, the main peculiarity of this ecological zone is the long-term history of agriculture, which has strongly affected the whole environment.

These landscapes according to resistance to population pressure are included in the resistant category. At present more than 58% of the Kura-Araks lowland territory is cultivated for cotton and vines, as well as for grain and gardening areas. Considerable areas are used for winter grazing pastures.

As a result of long-term irrigation, the water - physical properties of soils, their mineral composition, as well as the number of micro-elements, and humus, have strongly changed. Soils over a rather big area have been exposed to repeated salinization, swamping and ravine-formation, which has had a considerable impact on the productivity of the landscape. There are a number of general problems common for the whole zone caused by long-term anthropogenic pressure: preservation of bio-diversity and natural landscapes, contamination and degradation of topsoil, degradation of vegetation and contamination of water resources.

Besides, the Ali-Bayramli, Mingechavir, and Salyan industrial regions create problems of air contamination, and the existence of the Ganja and Apsheron industrial regions close to the border of this region aggravates this problem. A considerable contribution to air contamination is made by motor transport. The share of contamination due to motor transport in the region is 65%, and near the motor ways it reaches 88%. The total amount of hazardous discharges into the atmosphere in this region reaches 40 thousand tons/year, including about 15 thousand tones from stationary sources and 24 thousand tons/year from motor transport. Air contamination results in the contamination of soils, especially near the highways, where the contamination by lead and other heavy metals is observed, which exceeds the MAC by ten times.

Lower reaches of the Kura river. 'photo by F. Mamedov)

30 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN The development of melioration and irrigated agriculture contribute to the degradation of topsoil and an acceleration in erosion. The main factors of soil degra- dation in Azerbaijan, and in the Kura- Araks lowland in particular, are erosion, salinization, soil consolidation, techno- genic disorders, wash-out of humus and other nutritious substances from the soil profile, and aggravation of water-physical properties.

Salinization of soil mainly occurs in the Kura-Araks lowland, where the total area of salinized lands is more than 387 thousand hectares, of them more than 40 thousand hectares are strongly salinized - and more than 80 thousand hectares are very strongly salinized. Among salinized Takyr in the Southern lands the most dangerous are graden- part of the Kura-Araks salinized soils, the area of which is 133.7 Lowland. thousand hectares. Violation of the regime (photo by F. Mamedov) and norms of land irrigation have considerably developed this repeated salinization. Over 83% of irrigated lands need a certain form of melioration.

Water and wind erosion on the territory of the Kura-Araks lowland also significantly influences soil conditions. Over 35% of arable lands and 25% of winter pastures are exposed to erosion processes. Almost 134 thousand hectares of lands are eroded to a certain extent, and more than 66 thousand hectares are strongly eroded lands. The violation of the regime and norms of irrigation in the Kura-Araks lowland resulted in the wash-out of almost 400 thousand hectares of lands.

Chemical contamination of soils is caused by the use of mineral fertilizers and chemicals. Generally, in the Republic, during the period of 1988-1992 more than 800 thousand hectares were annually treated by chemicals, including almost 400 thousand hectares by herbicides (up to 15 kg of chemicals were used per one hectare of land). Over 68% of treated areas belong to the Kura- Araks lowland. The use of chemicals has resulted in considerable contamination of soil by chlorine organic substances - pesticides (COPs) and heavy metals. The most eco-toxicological regions of the Kura-Araks lowland are in the southeastern part - Mugan-Salyan region, where the average content of COPs equals 0.94 mg/kg with the amount of residual DDT exceeding permissible standards by 9 times. The reduction of chemical use by ten times during 1993-1995, associated with the disruption of economic relations with the CIS countries and relatively high prices for pre- parations, resulted in a sharp decrease in residual COPs and other toxic substances, including heavy metals and residual DDT; their concentrations in soil, are now practically within the permissible standards.

It should be noted that as a result of intensive town—planning activity, particularly during the last five years, there is a tendency towards a decrease in agricultural lands and an increase in technically destroyed, contaminated and cluttered lands. In the Salyan-Shirvan steppes more than 50 hectares of lands are contaminated by oil products; almost 3 thousand hectares of lands along the channels are under dumps; 12 hectares have been mined and 6 hectares - used as dumps for domestic wastes.

3.1.2 The Apsheron Ecological Zone

According to its orography and climatic-landscape characteristics, the Apsheron ecological zone is included among the regions of the Greater Caucasus, representing its southeastern province. The specific nature of the Apsheron relief is mainly associated with the existence of the immersion of the Greater Caucasus folds, which resulted in the lowering of relief and the formation of folds, deviating from the main course of the Caucasus folds. The zone includes the Apsheron Peninsula and adjacent archipelagoes of the Apsheron and partially Baku's Islands, as well as the southern iPORT STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 31 ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN

2 t part of Gobustan. The western part, including Gobustan, is of foothill character with rather high plateaus and ridges, the highest of which is up to 340-350m (Yunus-dag, Koun and others). In the northern part of the peninsula the surface is of a wavy character, with main hills turning into plain areas of salines and salinas (saltlakes) with cones of mud vol- canoes. In the southwestern part of the peninsula relatively high synclinal plateaus are observed, cut through by ledges. Examples are the Guzdek, Baku and other plateaus. Among the valleys the most significant are the Yasamal and Kobiy. In this part of the The Apsheron peninsula there are many mud recreation area. volcanoes. (photo - State Committee for the Environment) The zone is distinguished by an arid subtropical climate and strong north winds (khazri). The average annual temperature is +14.2 °C, with +3.4 °C in January and +25.5°C in July. The annual rainfall is about 220 mm. The peninsula soil is of grey soil character; poor vegetation consists of typical semi-desert (worm-wood and salsola) representatives and ephemeral plants. In autumn and winter the coastal area of Apsheron becomes the resting point for migrating birds. On the islands of the Apsheron Archipelago there are rookeries of seals. The northern coast is famous for its recreational resources, orchards and vineyards. Rare crops, such as saffron and olives, which are very valuable due to their properties, also figs and grapes, are cultured on the Apsheron. Vegetable-growing and cattle-breeding are developed as well. Farming is irrigated by water from the Samur-Divichi irrigation channel.

The most notable feature of the peninsula is the availability of numerous oil and gas fields. Among the oil-rich regions of the world the Apsheron region has its own unique place. Oil production in this region has a long history. However, the information about the amount of oil production has only been available since 1821. For the period of 1821-1872 the total amount of production was 319.6 thousand tones of oil. Since 1873 the production volume increased reaching a maximum of 11 million tones in 1901.

Oil fields of the Apsheron peninsula are mostly associated with the so-called productive strata (Pliocene). The capacity of the productive strata on Apsheron reaches 2000 m and is divided into three parts (sections): upper, middle and lower sections, which are subdivided into suites and oil- bearing layers.

Because of the long period of oil production, the industrial development of the Apsheron zone was oriented to meet the requirements of the oil industry.

At present, more than 70% of the industrial potential of Azerbaijan, is concentrated in the Apsheron Peninsula, mostly in two big cities - Baku and Sumgait. Baku is a center of oil refining and the oil engineering industry, Sumgait is a center of petrochemistry, chemistry and metallurgy. According to a survey of the ecological situation, the whole territory of the Apsheron Peninsula falls into the category of a territory with acute ecological problems. Thus, an estimation of the ecological situation shows extremely low indices of reproductive capacity of the territory: 0.8 million tons/year in oxygen reproduction, with the index equal to 0.04; 10.5 million m3 in water resources, that gives the index of demographic capacity of water resources equal to 54 (the lowest in the Republic). The low reproductivity of the territory is in contrast to the large population (more than 40% of the population - approximately 2.8 million people live in this region) and high consumption (the electric energy consumption index is very high - more than 350 thousand KWatt-hour/year) which have an impact on and further aggravate the ecological problems. Based on the analyses the Apsheron ecological zone is regarded as an area with acute ecological problems.

32 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN At present more than 80 big, 370 medium-size and 2000 small industrial enterprises are concentrated on the territory of the Apsheron zone. The concentration of such a number of enterprises within a limited territory has a historic prerequisite.

The start of industrial oil production required the development of oil equipment manufacturing and preliminary oil processing plants. A thermal power station which is one of the biggest in the world was put into operation in Apsheron. Also an electric railway was constructed for the first time in the world and this connected major oil fields with plants. The oil engineering industry of Azerbaijan represents the biggest concentration of such enterprises in the world after the USA.

Oil production stimulated the development of oil refining and oil chemistry industries. The equipment used at oil refineries is generally old and worn-out, especially at the "Azeneftyag" enterprise, which started its operation about 120 years ago, and most of the equipment is out-of- date. The Novobakinski plant, which is smaller in size, has equipment made in the mid-1960's, but still is out-of-date. A significant volume of oil refinery products, crude oil and natural gas are used as raw materials in the petrochemical and chemical industries of the Republic, which are concentrated in Sumgait. It is necessary to note that the majority of industrial enterprises operated without treatment facilities, and the available facilities were enough to meet only 50% of the demand.

The Sumgait industrial center was formed in late 1950's as a center for the chemical and petrochemical industries, and today it is the most saturated, by ecologically hazardous production standards, part of the Republic. Sumgait occupies 9495 hectares, of which 33.7% is an industrial area, 21.5% a living area, 4.3% collective green areas, and 30.6% orchards and kitchen-gardens. The area of green plantations is 946.96 hectares, that makes up only 34m2 per capita, which is far below the existing sanitary norms. Discharges into the atmosphere and water reservoirs during 1980-1990 resulted in high contamination of the environment, therefore the State Committee for the Environment declared Sumgait to be a zone of ecological disaster in 1992. In order to improve the ecological situation more than 1 billion manats was additionally allocated for the reconstruction of treatment facilities. These measures caused a reduction in the discharges of contaminating i o substances by almost 12%. Beginning from 1990 industrial production in the Sumgait industrial ? region started to decrease, caused by economic decline and the disruption of relations with former Republics of the USSR, which contributed to the decrease of discharges into the environment by 2-3 times as compared with 1988-1989. The initiative of Mr. Heydar Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan on the establishment of a Free Economic Zone in the Sumgait industrial region will attract modern ecologically safe technologies and finally solve the environmental problems.

hi 1995, industrial and municipal bodies of Sumgait Sumgait used 152.6 million m3 of water, of industrial zone. which: 74.9 million m3 was technical water (photo • State Committee from the Jeyranbatan reservoir; 11.9 million tor the Environment) m3 was drinking water from the Shollar water supply system; 69.8 million m3 water from the Caspian (saline). The total amount of water used by the industry for technical purposes was 96.6 million m3 per year. The « s-- discharge of used water constituted 107.8 ».* million m3: 95.8 million m3 by industry; and 12.8 million m3 by municipal services. Of them 32.8 million m3 was treated, 60.0 million m3 was nominally pure; and 2.2 million m3 of industrial sewage and 12.8 m3 of domestic sewage were discharged untreated. It should be noted, that major industrial enterprises use 15-20% of their capacity due to economic decline, which resulted in a considerable reduction in the discharge amount. Thus, in comparison with 1990 the amount of discharge was reduced by almost 5 times.

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 33 r

ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN

Discharge of Used Water in Baku

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995

S Non-treated I Clean Water Mechanically treated Biologically treated

Water consumption by the industrial, municipal and agricultural enterprises of Baku reaches 900 million m3/year. Water is supplied from the Kura river by two lines of Kura water supply system (with a project capacity of 11.92 m3/s), which starts near Sabirabad city (Smaller Talysh village); and through two lines of the Shollar water supply system (108 thousand m3/day and 232 thousand m3/day) from the Shollar group of springs of the Kuba-Khachmas region of the Republic. For technical needs water is supplied from the Jeyranbotan water reservoir, fed by the Samur-Divichi channel, in the volume of 1,106.9 m3/year. About 162 million m3 are used from underground sources and 150 million m3 from the sea. From this amount 218 million m3 are used for domestic purposes and drinking; 211 million m3 — for industrial purposes, and 8 million m3 - for irrigation. The losses constitute 67 million m3.

The industrial enterprises of the city have an enclosed system of water supply with a total volume of used water of 512 million m3, and 153 million m3 of water being reused for technological purposes.

There are more than 20 inland water reservoirs at the Apsheron peninsula, some of which are natural lakes and the major part is of artificial origin, mainly associated with oil and gas field development on the Apsheron. Industrial development and an increase in population on the Apsheron peninsula led to intensive housing construction and the formation of numerous settlements, which do not have sewage systems and adequate treatment facilities. Sewage waters of these settlements, as well as industrial sewage have been discharged into the nearest water reservoirs, which resulted in their contamination by bio-genie elements and toxic substances, contained in industrial sewage. The most hazardous among them are Beyuk Shor, Bui—Buli, Red, Khyzil-Nogur, Chukhur-Dara, Ganli-Gel, Gaji-Gasan, and Massazir lakes.

Water Consumption of Baku

700000

600000

500000

400000

300000 4-

200000 - • 100000 + m • • 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995

I Treated • Technical Clean Water Total I Used

34 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT mme ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN For a better understanding of the problems associated with the ecological state of the inland water reservoirs of the Apsheron peninsula and the possible consequences for the national economy, given below are the characteristics of the most ecologically dangerous water reservoirs.

The Beyuk Shor lake is situated in the central part of the Apshe- ron peninsula. The area of the lake is 11.7 km2, water volume - 36 million m3. The variation of the surface level is typical for the lake, and depends on the season and the volume of untreated dis- View of the coastal charges from the adjacent settle- area of Baku. ments and industrial enterprises. (photo by F.Mamedov)

In the early 1990's about 65 thousand m3/day of sewage water from 17 industrial enterprises and 5 settlements entered the lake. The water of the lake is highly mineralized and contaminated. Ions of chlorium, sodium, calium, surfactants and oil hydrocarbons are dominant there.

In September 1994 a pump station of the Binagadi district was put into operation, which pumps out to the municipal sewage collector and even further to the treatment facilities of Govsan settlement (35 thousand m3 of sewage of the Balajari and Rasul-zade settlements), which was formerly discharged to the lake.

In order to decrease the level of Beyuk Shore lake the Pump Station No.12 (Balakhani settlement) pumps out about 25 thousand m3/day of water to the Govsan channel. Due to incomplete provision of the sewage system of Baksol and Binagadi settlements and settlement No.205, about 25 thousand m3/day of their sewage continues to be discharged into the lake.

As the result of measures taken the disbalance between the entering and pumped out volume of water has been eliminated, which has enabled the level of the lake to stabilize, but the degree of contamination still remains high and hazardous for human health. In addition, a change of climate in the Caspian region has resulted in a considerable increase of precipitation and the taken measures still do not guarantee the stability of the lake's water level.

The further increase of the lake's level may result in the flooding of vast territories used in the national economy, as well as damage to the Baku-Mardakyan highway, which is the main means of communication with Baku airport.

The Red Lake is situated in the Karadag region, south of the Lokbatan settlement. Its area is 7.2 km2, its water volume is 8.3 million m3. Up to 1996, the lake was used as a collector of produced water from oil extraction. The lake's water is contaminated by oil hydrocarbons, suspended substances and is highly mineralized. Approximately 25 thousand m3 of untreated sewage of the Lokbatan settlement, as well as the produced waters of oil wells enter the lake daily. The rise of the water level resulted in the flooding of the Baku-Tbilisi highway in the Lokbatan area near the Primorsk settlement and put more than 15 oil wells out of action. There is a threat of flooding to a number of other oil wells.

In order to decrease the water level in the lake, the construction of a pumping station for the pumping of sewage from Lokbatan area to the biological treatment facilities of the SPS (Shelfproyektstroy) was started in 1989. The construction of one line of collector has been finished, but it has not yet been put into operation.

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 35 ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN

Concentration of Atmosphere Contamination in Baku (exceeding MAC)

1985 1990 1992 1993 1994

Benzopyrene ; Formaldehyde Nitrogen dioxane Soot I Sulphur dioxane

The Kyzyl-Nogur Lake is situated between the Pirshagi and Kurdakhani settlements. The volume of sewage entering the lake is about 5 thousand m3 (domestic, drainage, ground and contingency leaks of fresh water from the water-carriers). Discharge of domestic sewage to the lake is caused by the lack of a sewage system in the Kurdakhani settlement. A considerable amount of the discharge is drainage water, because of the lack of an adequate drainage system in the Pirshagi settlement. Accumulation of water in the lake started in 1960 after putting the Samur-Apsheron channel into operation and because of the infiltration of water from it. It should be noted, that the state of the Apsheron channel is critical. In 1994, a critical level was achieved, which resulted in the wash-out of the dam and flooding of a considerable part of the Pirshagi settlement.

The Ganli Gel Lake is situated in the southwest of Baku city in a natural hollow. It was formed in the 1960's also as a collector of produced waters. The area of the water surface is 1.7 km2 and the volume of water is 17 million m3. The sewage of Yasamali settlement, Yeni-Yasamali residential area, as well as ground waters, leaks from the water supply and sewage systems, and sewage of the Plant for TV and Radio repair sets enter this lake. During the last years the dimensions of the lake have increased significantly and plantations in the area of Volchyi Vorota and a part of the old municipal cemetery turned out to be under water. Despite the daily pumping out of water for irrigation, the water level continues to rise. The water in the lake is highly contaminated by organic domestic and human waste products. It is also mineralized and contains heavy metals.

The Jeyranbotan water reservoir has been created as a reservoir of fresh water and is the biggest water reservoir of the Apsheron. The water reservoir is fed by the water of the Samur-Apsheron channel in the amount of 26 m3/s. The water reservoir serves as a source of technical water for Baku and Sumgait cities, as well as for Jeyranbatan, Guzdek and other settlements. The decrease in the water level was caused by the technical state of the Samur-Divichi channel. In the south- western part of the reservoir, directly in the sanitary protected zone, there is a discharge of sewage from the northern part of the Khirdalan settlement and the Khirdalan poultry farm. As a result of this an artificial lake with unfavorable bacteriological indices was formed in the sanitary zone, strongly contaminated by domestic and human waste and organic chemical substances. The water level constantly rises and there is a threat of a wash-out of the coffer-dam and overflow to the Jeyranbatan reservoir. In that case the water reservoir will be highly contaminated, which will create a real epidemiological threat to the residents of Sumgait and Baku cities and other settlements of Apsheron.

The Baku industrial region has a number of treatment facilities, mainly for the treatment of domestic sewage in the volume of 317 million m3 (Govsan biological treatment facilities with a capacity of 600 thousand m3/day and with a project capacity of 940 thousand m3/day; Gaji Gasan mechanical treatment facilities - 18.6 thousand m3/day; Mardakyan-Shuvelyan mechanical treatment facilities - 18.6 thousand m3/day; Zikh mechanical treatment facilities - 126 thousand m3/day; "Shelfproyektstroy" biological treatment facilities - 17.6 thousand m3/day; "Azerneftyag" three mechanical treatment facilities - 86.4 thousand m3/day, 152 thousand m3/day, 20 thousand m3/day).

36 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN

Distribution of Radioactive Contamination of the Apsheron Peninsula

| Isograms J Drains | ~|Technological anomalies

The construction of the "Big Baku" sewage system with the complex of Govsan treatment facilities which was started in the 1970's, was planned to be finished in 1980. However, so far it operates at 60% of the capacity. Provision of a sewage system for half of the settlements and districts of Baku has not yet been completed, construction of treatment facilities in the north-eastern and south- eastern parts of Apsheron (Lokbatan) has also not yet been started.

In the beginning of the century the Apsheron peninsula practically did not have trees, because of the deficiency of fresh water. At present Baku has 12278.42 hectares of plantation, which constitutes about 70 m2 per capita, with a norm equal to 96 m2 per capita. Among the plantations there are big areas such as Primorskiy park - 63.7 hectares; Nagorniy park - 40 hectares and others. Big amounts of plantations occurred also on the territory of garden areas, which occupy a big part of the coastal area of the peninsula.

Discharge of hazardous substances into the air of Sumgait in 1995 constituted 42.88 thousand tons, of which 39.92 thousand tons is due to stationary sources and 2.96 thousand tons due to motor transport. The main contaminators are: sulfur anhydride - 8825.67 tons/year, ammonia - 24.91 tons/year, fluorides - 1782.88 tons/year, chlorine - 35.88 tons/year, chlorine hydrate - 7.78 tons/year and sulfur hydrate - 2.07 tons/year.

• STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 37 ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN

Concentration of Atmosphere Contamination in Sumgait (exceeding MAC)

1985 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994

85 Benzopyrene I Nitrogen dioxane Chlorine Fluorine, Hydrogen H Dust

The maximum peak of discharges in the Apsheron region occurred in 1989, which was more than two million tons. A rapid increase in the air discharges in 1989 could be explained by the fact, that since that year the actual air discharge of associated gas from the offshore oil fields has been taken into account. In 1994 more than 1.5 million tons of associated gas at the Oily Rocks oil fields were collected by new compressor units, which considerably reduced the amount of air discharges in the oil industry sector. Reduction of air discharges during 1993-1995 is also associated with the fact that a part of the enterprises have not been working at full capacity because of economic crises. The situation is aggravated by the fact that among more than one thousand sources of air contamination over 60% have organized discharges and only 40% of them have dust and gasproof ing equipment. The average treatment rate of discharged substances is about 75%, 93% in Sumgait, and the trapping rate of liquid and gaseous substances is extremely low - about 30%. In 1995 air discharge in Baku constituted 623.93 thousand tons, in 1994 - 972.6 thousand tons, including 241.1 thousand tons from motor transport. Air discharge in the Apsheron constitutes 70.5% of the total air discharge in the Republic (Baku - 66.1 %; Sumgait - 4.5%). This fact demonstrates how tense the ecological situation in the region is. The situation is aggravated by the fact that the major part of dust and gasproofing installations work ineffectively, and some of them do not operate at all. Thus, 10% of the 2,000 pieces of equipment checked by the experts of the State Committee for the Environment in Baku in 1994-1995 were inoperative, and 150 worked ineffectively.

Industrial enterprises of the region produce more than 97 thousand tons of waste, which also contain toxic substances. Especially difficult is the situation in Sumgait, where more than 47 thousand tons of 52 different types of waste are produced, of which 39.5 thousand tons are re-used in production. The problem of toxic waste disposal is the most acute. Due to a delay in the construction of an area for the burial of industrial waste, enterprises of the city have to store them on the territory, or throw them out to non—organized dumps. Among such enterprises is the "Khimprom" production unit, on the territory of which more than 100 thousand tons of mercury- containing waste is stored. This situation is caused by the fact that the problem of the construction of an area for the burial of toxic waste - a slurry slump - has not yet been solved in the Republic mainly due to the lack of financial means. At present two areas for waste burial are used: the slurry slump of the "Caspmorneftegas" production union with an area of 4.5 hectares and the special ground of the "Azselkhozkhimiya" Production Union with an area of 1.5 hectares, which are both in unsatisfactory condition. There are more than 80 illegal dumps with a total area of more than 300 hectares on the territory of Apsheron. Solid domestic waste (SDW) also causes a great problem because the Baku experimental Plant on SDW processing stopped its operation in 1995 due to economic difficulties. Moreover, due to the lack of specialized waste containers for glass, textile, paper, plastic etc., the problem of preliminary SDW separation remains unsolved. At the same time their industrial processing is impossible without the solution of this problem.

Air discharge, as well as sewage and produced water discharge of the oil fields, negatively influences the radiation state of the region. Within the Apsheron peninsula the normal radioactive

38 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN background is constituted of 3 microroentgen/hr on the Caspian coast to 9 microroentgen/hr in the areas of tectonic disorders. However, there are contaminated areas, where the radioactivity reaches 500-600 microroentgen/hr. These radioactive areas are situated on the territory of the oil fields and are associated with oil extraction. The contamination is observed both as little spots and areas up to 200 m2. Contamination is mainly caused by radium waters of natural origin, which are contained in produced water, extracted together with oil. Radioactive elements accumulate in soil near wells, oil pipelines and other elements of oil production, which are in direct contact with oil and produced water.

Deactivation of soil and equipment contaminated by radioactive elements is not carried out at present in the Republic because of the lack of adequate equipment and technology. The "Isotope" Production Union designed to control the storage of radioactive substances on the territory of the Republic has only one burial ground, which does not meet modern requirements and is overfilled. Considerable financial means are required for the reconstruction of existing ones and for the construction of a new modern storage (burial) ground for radioactive waste, as well as for the acquisition of new technology and equipment for the deactivation of contaminated areas.

The Apsheron peninsula has considerable recreational resources, a great number of sunny days, long beaches, numerous springs and medicinal mud, which provide good conditions for rest and recuperation. However, a high level of contamination of the air and the Caspian coastline makes a great part of these resources useless. At present the most favorable conditions are in the northern part of the Caspian coastal area, where more than 100 recreation establishments (sanitariums, rest- homes, children's camps) are located. Because of the necessity to accommodate a great number of refugees from the areas of forced migration due to the military occupation of these territories, over half of these establishments do not function.

3.1.3 Ecological Zone of the Greater Caucasus Range

The zone of the Greater Caucasus slopes is situated in the northern part of the Republic. The zone is a mountainous area, edged from the east and south with the belt of foothills. The height varies from 25 to 4480m. The zone includes 5 natural geographic regions: Samur-Divichi, Gonag Kend, Zakatali-Lagich, Alazan-Agrichay, Shemakha and the mountainous area of the Gobustan- Apsheron regions (Guba-Khachmas, Shemakha-Gobustan, Sheki-Zakatali and Ajenaur- Jeyranchel natural-economic regions).

The Samur-Divichi region consists of the low-lying-plain area stretching from the Samur River mouth to the Bogaz lowland inclusively. From the Caspian to the north and north-east the relief gradually rises. The surface is formed by alluvial, aOuvial-prolluvial and alluvial marine upper- quaternary sediments. The rivers coming out from the foothills form a range of cones, which create unevenness (protuberant central axial rising and intercone lowerings) and sharply broadening, flow together in an eastern direction. A reduction in the number of rivers and their branches sharply decreases the linear breakdown of the The Greater Caucasus relief from the north to the south. In the Ridge, Ismailli region. foothill part of the Shollar plain there are (photo • State Committee many springs, which feed the Shollar for the Environment) water supply system of Baku.

The Samur-Divichi lowland is charac- terized by the moderate warm climate of the steppes and semi-deserts. The average temperature of the coldest months depen- ding on the height of the relief fluctuates from -3°C to +18°C, and in the warmest months - exceeds 22°C. The annual precipitation constitutes 300 mm/year in the south, and 400 mm/year in the north. The number of snowy days per year makes up 10-20. In April and September the number of days with hot dry winds reaches up to 30 days, which influences

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 39 ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN

the productivity of agriculture. In this region western, north-western and northern winds dominate. The annual average wind velocity reaches 10 m/s. The meadow-timber landscape dominates in the northern part of the lowland on alluvial-meadow-timber carbonateless soils, and wormwood- Salsola landscape dominates in the southern part on the grey-brown salines. As a whole, the soils and climate of the zone are favorable for agricultural production, oriented to gardening and vegetable-growing. In the lowland part orchards and kitchen gardens are situated. On the Caspian coastline close to Siazan there is an oil field, corresponding to the Maykop suite of sediments (Siazan oil field).

The Gonag Kend region occupies the mountainous part of the northern slope of the south-eastern Caucasus, the relief of which is from 200 to 4500m above sea level. There are lots of ravines, canyons, and valleys on the territory. The following types of climate are characteristic for this region: moderate with an almost even distribution of precipitation (low-mountain relief); cold with a dry winter (middle-, partially high-mountain relief); the climate of high mountains - moun- tainous tundra. Depending on the relief the annual average temperature decreases from 10°C (low- mountain relief) to 6°C (middle-mountain relief), and further on, below zero (high-mountain relief). The absolute minimum air temperature during the year is - 22°C for low-mountain relief; below - 30°C for high-mountain relief, and the absolute maximum is + 40°C and +10°C respectively. The annual precipitation constitutes 400mm for low-mountain relief and 1,200mm for high-mountain relief. Snow cover remains for about 40 days in low-mountain relief, up to 120 days in middle-mountain relief and over 160 days in high-mountain relief. Western and eastern winds are dominating in this region. The rivers of the north-western part are fed mainly by snow water and to a lesser extent by subsoil waters, and the rivers of the south-eastern part are fed by snow water and subsoil waters. The mountainous-timber brown typical and carbonate-moun- tainous-timber brown soils are developed in the low and middle-mountain areas. The moun- tainous-meadow-sod soils are spread in Subalpine and Alpine areas. Being highly productive, these soils provide for the development of gardening, cattle-breeding, grain-growing and vegetable-growing. The mountainous forests and meadows, which dominate in this region are of a certain economic importance. The forests mainly consist of beech, oak, hornbeam and lime-trees. The healthy mountainous climate of middle-mountain and high-mountain relief is very favorable for rest and recreation, and together with the mineral springs (Jimin, Hashin, Haltan, Galalti, Kakhun and others) creates good conditions for health and a medical care facility.

The Zakatali-Lagich region occupies the area between two rivers: Mazimchay in the west and Girdimanchay in the east. The region borders with the watershed line of the Major Caucasus Ridge (from the north) and Alasan - Agreechay depression (from the south). Its relief varies within 600 - 4500 m.

Middle-mountain areas dominate in the relief. High-mountain areas are mainly in the watershed region of the Major Caucasus Ridge. Low-mountain parts are characterized by a moderate warm . climate with an almost even distri- Forests of the middle bution of precipitation, and the high zone of the Greater mountain areas - by the climate of Caucasus. mountainous tundra. The latter occurs (photo - State Committee only in the near peak parts of the for the Environment) mountains and does not make a single line. The annual average air tempe- rature decreases from 10°C in a low- mountain area to below zero in the high—mountain relief. According to if the annual average precipitation (1,400 mm), this region is in second place in the Republic after Lenkoran. m However, in the low-mountain area the annual precipitation is less than 1,200 mm. The number of days with hail is 5 and with thunderstorm more than 45 (during a year). Storms are often accompanied by mud flows which cause damage to the economy.

40 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN Due to their frequency and destruction force they take one of the leading places in the Caucasus. The number of days with snow cover is more than 160 in the high-mountainous areas, and about 40 in the low-mountainous areas. Dominating winds are: northern, north-eastern and north-western. The topsoil is mainly represented by mountainous- timber brown, mountainous-timber brown typical as well as mountainous-meadow turf soils. The whole region is covered with forests and moun- tainous meadows with rich flora and fauna. On the territory with mountain-meadow landscape gar- dening, cattle-breeding is developed, and within the territories with mountainous-meadow land- scape, summer cattle-breeding is developed. Prior to the economic crisis of the 1990's, light and food industries had rather rapid growth in this region.

The Alasan-Agrichay region is situated at the foot The upper boundary of the southern slopes of the Major Caucasus Ridge of trees in the Greater and Ajinaur-Jeyranchel low-mountainous area. In Caucasus forests. the west the region borders with Georgia, in the east (photo - Slate Committee it is limited by the Girdimanchay river. The relief for the Environment) altitude is 200-600 m. The climate is moderate- warm with a dry winter. The average annual temperature is 12° C, its absolute maximum during a year is 16°C and absolute minimum -35° C. The average annual amount of precipitation is 600- 900mm and snow remains for 20 to 40 days. The northern part of the region is represented by alluvial-meadow-timber soils without carbonate, and the southern part by alluvial-meadow- timber carbonate soils. Within forest landscapes alder and Pterocarya, partially oak, Ulmus campes- tris, hornbeam, and others prevail. The Alasan-Agrichay region is one of the main agricultural zones of the Republic. The main branches are tobacco-growing, fruit-growing (nut-growing), silk- worm breeding, cattle-breeding, grain-growing and vine-growing. Fanning is mainly irrigated.

The Shemakha region occupies the mountainous Shirvan, east of the Girdimanchay river and west of Gobustan. The region borders with the Major Caucasus Ridge in the north and the area of mud volcanoes "Akhtarma-Pashalli" and the Gijaki mountains in the south. In the northern part of the region the relief has an altitude up to 2200m (Bubrar mountain), in the south it decreases down to 500m of absolute height. The climate of the region is of several types: moderate warm, semi-desert and dry steppes climate with a dry summer; moderate warm with a dry winter; cold with a humid winter. The annual average air temperature varies from 14°C in the south to 2°C in the north. The absolute minimum is -18° and -26°C respectively and the absolute maximum is +40°C and +30°C

I respectively. The precipitation amount during the year rapidly increases from the south (300 mm) to the north (900 mm). Western winds are dominant here with an annual average velocity up to 15 m/s. Within the mountainous Shirvan (from the south to the north) the dominating soils are chestnut and light chestnut, mountainous chestnut, mountainous grey-brown, mountainous low power chernozems, carbonate and mountainous-middle chernozem soils with dry steppe, steppe, mountainous-meadow and mountainous-timber vegetation. Vine-growing, cattle-breeding, grape-growing, fruit- and tobacco growing are widely developed in the region.

The ecological zone of the Greater Caucasus Ridge is characterized by a maximum reproductive indices: in oxygen production more than 30 million tons/year, with the average index in the physical-geographic regions from 5.6 in the mountainous Shirvan to 13 in the Zakatali-Lagich regions; reproductive capacity on surface waters — more than 3 billion m3. The whole foothill area of the Greater Caucasus is an area of low electric power consumption, which implies a low density of industrial enterprises in the zone. The main industrial enterprises are concentrated on the periphery of the ecological zone, Kuba-Khachmas and Sheki-Zakatali regions and are mostly represented by light industry (Sheki) and food industry (Khachmas, Kuba, Zakatali). Air discharge of contaminants constitutes about 0.5 % of the discharge in the Republic. Water resources are the purest in the Republic and are of great value as a source of qualitative drinking water, the supplies of which are estimated as approximately 2 billion m3/year.

STATE OFTHE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 4] ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN In the background of a favorable state of environment and basic natural resources it is necessary to note the urgency of such problems as: deforestation, the preservation of bio-diversity and the strengthening of erosion processes. In addition, for the last period of time in connection with the change of the Republic's demographic structure due to the migration of a considerable number of IDP's and refugees, anthropogenic pressure on the environment has increased and it has resulted in a deterioration in the recreational resources of the zone. Taking into account that among the others CIS countries, Azerbaijan is characterized by the scarcity of forests, the zone of the Greater Caucasus is represented by quite vast forests, which make up more than 48.8% of all the forest areas of the Republic. Practically more than 40% of all the physical-geographic regions of the zone are covered by forests. The forest flora of the Greater Caucasus is unique for the Caucasus region. The vertical distribution of forest belts is clearly observed. In the interval 500 - 1000m above sea level oak-groves of Quercus iberica (Georgian oak) mixed with hornbeam, Caucasian lime-trees, chestnut, maple, Taxus baccata, ash-tree and others, are distributed. In some river forests the representatives of Girkan - Kolkhidian dendroflora - Caucasian persimmon, Salsola, Zelkova carpinfolia, walnut, ironwood, Quercus castaneifolia and others, are found. Here fragments of natural groves with Platanus orientalis are preserved which is not typical for the flora of this region. In the area from 1,000 to 2,000m, the dominating formation is beech forests mixed with hornbeam, maple, ash-trees and others. At the height of 1,500m in the hard-to-reach areas Carylus colurna, pine, and in bushes layer - cornel, hawthorn, yew, medlar and others have been preserved. At the altitude of 200 to 2,500m there are Subalpine sparse growths of Quercus orientalis, Betula, Sorbus caucasicus and high-mountain maples.

An Intensive growth of erosion processes has been observed over the last few years. That has resulted in the denudation of mountain slopes and an increase in the volume of surface flowing water and the formation of mud flows, which has not only caused considerable damage to the national economy, but has also lead to human victims. Lately mud flows happen every year, and practically all the regions of the zone suffer annually from their consequences. One of the main reasons for the occurrence and strengthening of erosion processes in the mountain—timber area is the irrational felling of forests and logging of timber on the steep slopes. It has been stated that in such areas the wash-out reaches 246m3/l hectare.

Areas of mud flows and landslides in the zone constitute almost 210 and 280 km2 respectively. More than 1 million m3 of arable strata are washed out by mud flows annually, and landslides damage not only land resources but also industrial facilities.

3.1.4 The Lenkoran - Astara Zone

The Lenkoran-Astara ecological zone covers the Lenkoran and Talysh physical—geographic regions. The Lenkoran region occupies a low-lying area which extends along the western coast of the Caspian. It begins in the north-west of Jalilabad and extends to Astara, being adjacent to the foot of the Talysh mountains in the west. The relief of the lowland rises up to 100m in the western part. The climate of the lowland is moderate/warm with an arid summer. The annual average air temperature is 14°C, the annual precipitation amount is more than 1600mm in the south-east and 900mm in the north-west, i.e. two times less. The majority of precipitation occurs in the coldest part of the year. Western and partially south-eastern winds are dominant. A sharp difference in the amount of precipitation, as well as a deficiency in evaporation during a year (100mm in the south- east, 700mm in the north-west) leads to the change of the lowland topsoil. In the east zheltozems (the yellow soils) - podzolic grey soils, and in the west - zheltozems - strongly and average podzolic soils, dominate. In the north-west these types of soil turn into brown post-timber alkali soils. Middle and mainly post-timber vegetation combined with bushes and light forest are spread in the eastern part of the lowlands. Close to the foot of the mountains there are deciduous forests with a dominance of Girkan relic types, and in the north-west of the Lenkoran region there are steppe like post-timber meadows. The natural landscapes are sharply reduced because of the cultured landscapes. The tea-growing, early vegetable-growing, subtropical fruit-growing and vine-growing are developed in the Lenkoran region.

The Talysh region borders with Iran in the west and the Lenkoran lowland in the east. Its relief rises from 50m to 2436m (Gizyurdi mountain). The territory of the region is formed from paleogenic, volcanogenic and vplcanogenic-sedimentary deposits. The Talysh region is adjacent to the low- mountain relief in the east and to the middle-mountain relief of denudation-structural origin in the

42 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN south-west. Mineral thermal springs of hydrocarbon composition along the foothill line and sulfate-carbonate mineral springs having medicinal properties have been detected in the north- western part of the region. On the relatively small territory of the Talysh mountains five climatic types have developed. The eastern area is characterized by a moderate/warm climate with an almost even distribution of precipitation. The central part is characterized by a moderate/warm and dry summer, which turns into the climate of moderate-warm semi-deserts and dry steppes with a dry summer. In the near peak part of the Kumurkey mountains a climate of cold semi-deserts and dry steppes with a dry summer is normal; north and north-west of the Kalapatu mountains (2903m) along the watershed line the climate is cold with a dry summer.

In the east of the Talysh mountains low power mountainous zheltozems (yellow soils) and podzolic soils are widely spread. To the west of them up along the mountainous slopes mountainous-timber, brown, typical and brown typical alkali soils are developing. The eastern slope of the Talysh Ridge is under mountainous-timber brown soils, and its watershed line is under mountainous-meadow turf soils. Between Yardimli and Lerik deciduous forests have been preserved, which consist of Quercus castaneifolia, breeches, box-trees, and others. The remaining parts of the mountains are under bushes. The upland xerophytes occur on the lower area of the Talysh Ridge and Subalpine meadows and meadow-steppes occur mostly in the protuberant parts of the watershed.

In the steppe and semi—desert regions of the mountains summer cattle-breeding is developed, in the middle (steppe) areas - cattle breeding, grain-growing, tobacco-growing, vine-growing and fruit-growing; in the north- west - vine growing and grain-growing are developed. I The Lenkoran-Astara zone is characterized by rather good indices of environmental conditions. The oxygen reproduction capacity of the territory is less than only that of the Greater Caucasus zone, whereas on reproduction of water resources this territory exceeds that of the Greater Caucasus by 2.5 billion m^. Electric power consumption of the main part of the zone is low with the exemption of the mountains of Lenkoran, where the consumption of electric power constitutes about 100 thousand KW/year. According to forest area indices the territory of the zone is favorable — about 40% of the territory is covered by forests which constitute more than 14.5% of the forest reserves of the Republic.

At the same time there is an increase in problematic situations, firstly agricultural, industrial and recreational problems. As a result of it degradation of vegetation, depression of fauna, disorder and contamination of lands, wash-out and flooding of the coastal area is observed.

The state of the unique forests of the zone are of particular concern. Forests of the Talysh moun- tains are represented by Girkan type relic forests, which occurred about 70 million years ago. The endemic species of the Caucasus such as: Zelkova, Caucasian persimmon, box-tree, Girkan fig and others, all grow in these forests. A peculiar subtropical climate with prolonged summer draughts and heavy precipitation in other seasons of the year is typical for the Talysh mountains. The relief zones of topsoil and vegetation are presented in a vertical order here. From the coastal area of the Caspian (-23, -24 m) to 600-700m a subtropical timber vegetation is observed with a dominance of iron trees, Quercus castaneifolia, hornbeam, Zelkova, Caucasian persimmon, Girkan poplar, which often form mixed forests. In the river valleys rare relic types are preserved such as alder, Salsola, maple, and others. The dry sunny slopes of the foothill area are under silk acacia. Small areas of evergreen Ruscus hyrcana, box—tree, Ilex hyrcana have been preserved separately. In the middle mountainous area, from 600 to 1300m on the slopes, Quercus castaneifolia, Quercus hyrcanus and hornbeam dominate. The upper forests (1200-2000m) mainly consist of Quercus orientalis mixed with Sorbus caucasicus, hawthorn, sweetbrier, partially Zelkova, Quercus castaneifolia, etc.. Structural-phenological features are quite evident in the Talysh mountains. These features are typical of the forests of the damp-subtropical regions of South-East Asia. First of all this expresses the richness of the species and the multi-layer nature of plantations. Due to the richness of flora (more than 30 species per 1000 hectares) Talysh is in first place in the Caucasus.

An intensive agricultural production of mainly early vegetable and citrus plants has been provided for the development of middle mountainous area slopes due to the destruction of forests. Another negative influence of agricultural production is the increase in the number of cattle. As a result of the destruction, natural vegetation on the slopes has sharply strengthened erosion processes. From more than 63.5 thousand hectares of the zone's territory, 22% is slightly eroded, more than 10%

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 43 ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN

is strongly eroded and more than 30% already has washed-off topsoil. As a result of agricultural activity the lower border of the forest rose by more than 100m and the upper one lowered down to 1100-1200m.

Intensive use of fertilizers and chemicals in the cultivation of vegetables has resulted in the degradation of topsoil, deterioration of aggregate composition and accumulation of residual chemicals and heavy metals. Wash-out of soil resulted in their accumulation in the sediments of water objects (on the territory of Kizil-Agach Reserve the sources of DDT accumulation exceeded permissible standards by 5-10 times).

3.1.5 The Karabakh Zone

The Karabakh zone includes the physical-geographic regions of the Lesser Caucasus area (Ganja, Karabakh, Volcanic plateau, Aker) and the highest part of the Kura intermountain depression - Kazakh-Karabakh region.

The Ganja region is situated on the north—eastern slope of the Lesser Caucasus. In the north it borders with the Ganja-Kazakh lowland, in the south - with the watershed lines of the Shakhdag and Mrovdag ranges. From west to east it extends from the Armenian border up to the Injichay river. The highest peaks of the southern part of the region are 3000-3722m (Garnish mountain). In the northern direction the relief gradually decreases down to 500m. The territory of the region has a dense network of numerous narrow valleys sharply changing in width down-stream of the river.

The region is rich in natural resources. These are hydrocarbon and hydrocarbon-chlorine mineral springs. There are three types of climate: mountainous-tundra, cold with a dry winter and moderate/warm with a dry winter. The annual average temperature along the mountain foot is 14°C. In the near peak areas - below 0°C the absolute minimum temperature during the year is - 14°C in the low mountain relief, and -25°C in the high mountain relief, the absolute maximum being +37°C and +10°C respectively. The volume of precipitation during the year gradually increases from 300mm in the foothills to 900mm in the high mountain relief. 3 to 7 days of hail are observed in the mountains and the number of days with snow cover in comparison with the low mountain relief (20) is 8 times more (160). Western and north-eastern winds are dominant in the middle mountain relief. Almost all the rivers are fed from the ground and rain flow and are referred to as the area of middle gutter in the middle and upper reaches, and the area of small gutter in the low reaches. In the near peak areas of the mountains, mountain-meadow peat, primitive and mountain-meadow turf soils are developed, in Forests of the Lesser the lower areas of the middle-mountain relief Caucasus. the topsoil becomes more variable. Mountain- (photo - State Committee timber brown, mountain—timber humus- for the Environment) carbonate, mountain—timber chernozems, carbonate and alkali soils are developed here. In the northern direction, i.e. down along the slopes of high mountains, Alpine mountainous meadows with rocky tallus vegetation join the high mountainous Subalpine meadows and meadow-steppes. Mountainous deciduous forests (Quercus orientalis, beech-trees, horn- beam and others) are preserved in the upper parts of the middle mountains and along the river valleys. In the central area of the middle mountains and in low mountainous relief they are felled and vegetation is represented by meadow, mainly post-timber formation combined with bushes and light forests. In the basin of the Karkarchay river Quercus cas- taneifolia grows. High mountain areas are like summer pastures. In the middle-mountain areas cattle-breeding, potato-growing, grain- growing, tobacco—growing, gardening and vine-growing are developed.

44 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN The Karabakh region covers the Karabakh Ridge and its spurs. The relief rapidly decreases from the west (2700m) to the east (500m). In the north-west the border of the region goes southwards from the watershed of the Murovdag ridge, only in the south-east does it reach the foothills of the inclined plains on the left bank of the Araks river. The orographic and geomorphological structures of the Karabakh region are almost similar to those of the Ganja region. In the river valleys (especially in their middle reaches) there is a series of hollow-shaped dilations. The area is rich with natural resources (chromite, copper, purites, construction rocks and others), there are hydrocarbon and The Aksu river, thermal springs (Nuraddin). The in the Lesser Caucasus. climate is the same as in Ganja - (photo - State Committee moderate/warm with a dry winter. for the Environment) The rivers are shallow and mainly fed with rain water. Meadows are developed along the watershed line of the Karabakh ridge. The forest cover on the slopes of the mountains sharply narrows to the south-east and develops an island character. Meadows in the same direction turn into arid-loving species of vegetation. In place of felled forests in the meadows, post-timber vegetation dominates. In the lower-mountain relief, forests turn into bushes. The vine-growing, grain-growing, cattle-breeding, silk-worm breeding, gardening, in some places even potato breeding, are well developed here.

The area of volcanic plateau occupies the territory of the river source near the Ter-ter and Aker river sources. In the east it borders with the western slopes of the northern part of the Karabakh range and in the west - with Armenia. The highest part of the plateau (3400-3600m) is the Dalidag, Kechidag mountains and the lowest parts are the valleys of the above mentioned rivers (1500m). The relief of the plateau is violated by the centers of tertiary and Pleistocene volcanism, resembling two separate dry peaks of cone-like hills. Here deposits of molybdenum, pearlite, copper, mineral dyes and others, occur. The thermal springs available with temperatures up to 60-70°C are of the hydrocarbon-chloride-sulphate type, for example the mineral springs of Istisu-a high-mountain resort. The region is characterized by two types of climate - cold high-mountain (mountainous tundra), and cold with a dry winter. The annual average temperature is 6°C (in the lower parts of the plateau) and below zero (in the near peak parts of the mountain). The annual amount of precipitation is 900mm, there are 7-8 days of hail and up to 40 days of thunderstorms during the year. The duration of snow cover is 160 days, its average height is 70-100cm. Rivers are fed mainly by the ground and snow water. The peak of the annual flow is in June. In the near peak areas of the mountains mountain-meadow peat and primitive soils with high-mountain Alpine meadows and meadow-steppes are developed. In the lower areas mountain-meadow turf soils with high- mountain Subalpine meadows and meadow-steppes are developed. The territory is used as summer pastures, in some places tobacco-growing, grain-growing and gardening are practised.

The Aker region covers the middle and lower reaches of the Aker river and the mountainous territories adjacent to it. In the north-western end the relief increases up to a height of 1500m, in the south-east it decreases down to 600m. The mountains are intensively indented with Aker tributaries. The climate is moderate, warm with a dry winter. In the south it turns into a moderate warm climate in the dry steppes with a dry winter, the annual average air temperature is 12°C, the precipitation amount during the year exceeds 600mm. Up to 30 days with hot dry winds are observed during a year. Rivers have a little flow, fed mainly by ground and partially snowy waters. In the high- mountain areas, mountain-timber brown and alkali soils, dominate, and in the low mountain areas - mountain-timber brown typical and carbonate soils. Mountainous deciduous forests are found in some places on mountain slopes at heights of 1200-1300m or more. To the south and south-west,

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 45 ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN

Average Copper Concentration in the Kura River and its Tributaries (MAC)

1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995

@ Kura river (v. Mayak) a Kura river (v.Shihli) Kura river (v. Alibairamli) Ohuchai river a Leori river arid-loving species of timber types are more often found in these forests. These forests consist of oak, hornbeam, only south-west - Araksin oak and in the extreme south - archa (juniper). There are forests consisting of beech-trees on a small territory near Lachin. The place of the felled forests have been taken by post-timber vegetation combined with bushes. Cattle-breeding, grain-growing, tobacco-growing, gardening and vine growing are developed in the region.

The Kazakh-Karabakh region occupies the whole Kazakh and Ganja plains, which are adjacent to the highest areas of foothill inclined plains. The relief of these accumulative alluvial-pluvial plains is complicated with protuberant central parts of drift cones, intercone depressions and a ravine- valley net, cut into the surface. Between the Kurakchay and Ter-ter rivers the Naftalan inclined plain is situated, which is characterized by arid-denudation processes. There is a unique field of Naftalan medicinal oil on this plain, on the base of which a balneological sanatorium functions.

The climate in the region is that of the moderately warm semi-deserts and dry steppes with a dry summer. The average annual temperature reaches 14°C, the annual amount of precipitation - 400mm and the number of days with hot dry winds makes 30. Rivers flowing from the mountains are distributed for irrigation. Soils are chestnut and light - chestnut with wormwood and wormwood - Salsola vegetation. Vine-growing, cattle-breeding, vegetable-growing, potato- growing and grain-growing are developed in the region.

The Karabakh ecological zone is of a complicated structure, which can be divided into several sub- zones, characterized by a different state of natural resources and problematic situations. However, the close interrelation of the physical-geographical regions and even the distribution of industrial centers over the territory (Kazakh-Akstafa, Ganja, Mingechavir-Yevlakh, Khojali and other industrial zones), the well expressed vertical distribution of zones, developed agriculture and complex of ecological problems, which are typical for all regions, enable us not only to distinguish certain subzones, but also to consider them as an interrelated complex with acute ecological problems.

A characteristic feature of the Karabakh zone is the average amount of industrial load in the atmosphere, even taking into account the transboundary contamination from the territory of Georgia, which has significantly reduced due to an economic crisis (Rustavi industrial zone), the strong transboundary contamination of main water flows, soil degradation and erosion programs, depression and degradation of flora and fauna. As a result of intensive and irrational use of forest resources of the Karabakh zone a considerable proportion of forest has been destroyed, particularly sharply reduced forests on the slopes, watersheds and in the basins potential mud flow rivers. The high-mountain ecosystem, higher than 1500m above sea level, is especially exposed to intensive anthropogenic impact. As a result of the systematic pasturization of cattle, the upper climatic border of forests has been sharply reduced..

46 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN Forests of the Lesser Caucasus, which constitute 34.2% of the Republic forests are very peculiar due to their composition, and occupy vast territories from the Akstafachay river basin in the north- west to the Khachimchay river in the south-east, parallel to the Kura river. On the south-east spurs parallel to the Araks River, the indented forests of xerophyle complex, consisting of Araks oak, Celtis caucasica, hornbeam and others, have been preserved in small fragments. Bushes are widely spread. Mezophilic forests are spread on the north eastern spurs of the Mrovdag ridge. In beech forests the evergreen bushes are preserved: Girkan ilex and berry yew. In the high mountain area, the park oak groves of Quercus orientalis are represented by rather big tracts. In the forest area of the Lachin region juniper forests are widely spread, and in the high and middle mountain areas forests of Quercus orientalis and accompanying it highland maple are widely spread. In the middle and lower areas the main forests consist of Quercus iberica, Caucasian hornbeam and accom- panying types: field maple, lime and others. In the middle mountain area from 700 to 1,600m beech orientalis dominates on the northern slopes. On the sunny slopes mixed forests of beech and Georgian oak grow. In the lower part of the area the forests consist of Quercus orientalis and in the upper part of fragments of Caucasian hornbeam. It is necessary to note the existence of purely coniferous (pine) and purely birch forests in this zone (more detailed information about the species composition and state of the forests of this zone is given in chapter 5). The forests of the Karabakh zone as a result of the permanent anthropogenic load are highly damaged and weakly recovering, only 12-13% have a high rate of recovery (0.8-0.9). The forest density of the zone is uneven and varies according to the administrative regions from 0.5% (Agdara) to 21.7% (Dashkesan). Felling of forests and extirpation for agricultural purposes have strengthened the erosion processes. Practically the whole zone is exposed to erosion, which covers over 65 % of the territory in some physical-geographical regions. Here the depth of the erosion basis is from 200 to 600m and on the slopes with a gradient of 45-50° it is 800-lOOOm. The annual growth of ravines and gorges in length is from 1 to 4.3m, in width - from 0.5 to 1.5m, in depth - from 0.4 to 1.5 m. According to the data of long-term studies a direct correlation between the development of erosion processes and a low level of agriculture has been stated. In almost all the economic mountain and foothill regions, slope lands are used without taking into consideration the erosion danger and the real capacities of soil-relief conditions of each area. Thus, on the slopes with a gradient of 20-25% both cereals and intertiller crops are cultivated, whereas for the latter the maximum gradient allowed is 7-8°. As a result of it soils are intensively washed off and in the weak places parent rocks denude practically within a season.

Only in the regions of Nagorno Karabakh up to 85% of arable lands are not applicable for intertiller crops. However, corn, beat, potatoes and other crops are cultivated on these lands, and this results in a considerable decrease in the yield amount and the development of erosion processes.

The water resources of the Karabakh zone have a significant anthropogenic load which deteriorates the ecological situation. The main water ways of the area are transboundary channels - the Kura and Araks rivers, etc.. More than 74% of the Kura balance is formed out of the Republic's borders,

Average Oil Products Concentration in the Kura River and its Tributaries (MAC)

1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995

g Kura river (v. Mayak) H Kura river (v.Shihli) Kura river (v. Alibairamli) Ohuchai river S Leori river

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 47 ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN

Average Phenol Concentration in the Kura River and its Tributaries (MAC)

1988 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995

Kura river (v. Mayak) Kura river (v.Shihli) Kura river (v. Alibairamli) Ohuchai river «' Leori river

and its ecological condition depends mostly on Georgia and Armenia, where the river flows and has its tributaries. On average, 3 billion m3 of domestic and industrial sewage of such big industrial centers as Tbilisi, Rustavi, Gardabani and others are discharged into the water basin of the Kura river each year. The annual average concentration of the Kura river contamination in the Shikhly near-boundary area of the Kazakh District is several times higher than the MAC (Maximum Allowable Concentration).

It is important to note that more than 35% of the settlements both of Georgia and Azerbaijan have no treatment facilities, and those available are mechanical and out-of-date. On the territory of the republic approximately 200 thousand cubic meters of sewage water is being discharged every day. Gazakh, Akstafa, Shamkhor, Tauz, Gandja, Mingachevir and other towns are situated in this region, the water treatment systems of which are not in good condition. Out of these towns Gandja and Mingachevir contaminate the water reservoirs more than the others. Only 50% out of the 60- 65 thousand cubic meters of sewage water of Gandja, and 18 thousand out of the 50 thousand cubic meters of sewage water of Mingachevir are being treated, the remaining volume enters the Kura river without any treatment. The Akstafachay river, the right tributary of the Kura River, the basin of which is located in Armenia, is highly contaminated by chemical dyes, oil products, phenols, ammonium nitrogen and other contaminating substances, which enter the river with sewage (more than 1 billion m3 / per year) from Injevan, Dilijan and other cities of Armenia. The Alasan and lori rivers, which are the remaining tributaries of Kura are contaminated on the territory of Georgia and reach Azerbaijan with a nitrogen and nitrates content increasing the sanitary norms by 4 times, oil products - by 2-6 times, copper and phenols by 20 times. The water of the Araks river is even more contaminated.

The waters of its remaining tributaries, the Razdan, Arpachay and Okhchuchay rivers, bare oil, phenols, ammonium and nitrite nitrogen, heavy metals with concentrations exceeding the sanitary norms by several tens of times. The water of the Okhchuchay, where the Kadjaran ore mining and processing enterprise and Gafan copper-ore enterprise discharge their sewage (this constitutes more than 150 million m3 per year), is extremely contaminated. In the period of intensive discharges, the water in the river looks almost like a black muddy flow. As a result of irrigation and the domestic use of these contaminated waters, soils are highly contaminated by copper and molybdenum, the productivity of agricultural plants and animals has decreased, the birth of young animals has slowed down, and different patogenous changes and diseases have occurred. In addition, more than 40 thousand hectares of plain area are saline soils. The main reason for salinization is the use of highly mineralized and polluted water for irrigation.

The industry of the zone considerably impacts the atmosphere as well. The main industrial centers are located at the peripheral part of the zone along the line of Kazakh-Ganja-Mingachevir. The total discharge of contaminating substances by the industrial enterprises of these cities constitutes approximately 5.7% of the total discharge amount in the Republic. The maximum discharge is

48 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN produced by the Republic's hydroelectric power station at Mingachevir - about 20 thousand tons/year. In addition, about 25-30 thousand tons/year come from the territories of Georgia and Armenia. Taking into account the transboundary contamination coming from the territory of Georgia and Armenia, as well as the 15-20% increase in discharges from motor transport in connection with the increase of cargo transportation via the Tbilisi-Baku highway, air contamination in the plain and low-mountain areas of the zone is above the average level, and over 50% of the territory is exposed to the contamination of the air basin. According to the contamination of the air basin and the area of impact, the Karabakh zone is in second place (after the Apsheron zone). It is also important to mention the existence of a great amount of natural resources in the zone. The deposits of gold - Zod (developed by Armenia), Agduzdag, Soyut- luchay, Agvend and others; copper and purites (Khachinchay, Khirmalin, Agkend and others); iron ore (Dashkesan, Khalaflin, Magavuz and others); tungsten, lead, mercury, arsenic and others have been discovered. At the same time about 30% of the territory possesses high recreational resources, mainly the middle and high-mountain areas - Shusha, Kedabek, Khanlar, Dashkesan, Kelbajar and others, have a favorable climatic landscape potential and big reserves of mineral waters. The area of forests of recreational value constitutes about 39 thousand hectares, and taking into account other categories of forests, capable of being used for recreation purposes, and the great number of historical and cultural monuments, this area is twice as large.

3.1.6 The Nakhchivan Zone

The Nakhchivan ecological zone combines the physical-geographical regions of the Middle Araks subregion of the front Asian plateau.

The Sharur - Ordubad region occupies the left side of the Araks river and extends along the foothills. Its relief increases to 600-1300m of absolute height. The main forms of relief are: cones of drift, river terraces and alluvial plains. The climate of the region is represented by the climate of cold semi-deserts and dry steppes with a dry summer. The annual average air temperature is 14°C. The absolute minimum is -32°C. The absolute maximum air temperature is + 43 °C. The sum of average daily temperatures over 10°C is 4400°C, the evaporation deficiency during a year makes up 1000mm, the precipitation amount is no more than 300mm. The number of days with hot dry winds is maximum in the Republic - 70. The dominating winds are northern and the north-eastern winds are transit only. Soils are mainly sierozems and meadow-sierozems, along the Araks river valley they are alluvial—meadow carbonate. The vegetation is of the semi-desert type (wormwood, Salsola, small bushes). Vine-growing, grain-growing, cattle-breeding are developed in the north- west and gardening, vine-growing, silk-worm breeding, cattle breeding, flower-growing - in the south-east.

The Kungut-Kapiji region occupies the mountainous territory of Nakhchivan. Its relief increases up to 1300-3900m. The major part of the territory is formed of volcanogenic and volcanogenic- sedimentary deposits. The territory has deposits of copper, sulphur and other natural resources. The territory between the Nakhchivanchay and Gilaychay river basins is rich with View of the Nakhchivan mineral springs with various chemical plain and llandag mountain. compositions. Among them there are (photo by F.Mamedov) such famous springs as Badamli, Sirab, Vaykhir and others, that were widely used in the Republic and outside its '•-«• borders prior to the military conflict over the territory of Nagorno- Karabakh. The region is characterized by two types of climate: cold with a dry summer and the cold climate of the high mountains. The first type covers the whole mountainous territory and the latter - the narrow line of the near peak areas of the Zangezur range (3200-3900m). The annual average temperature here varies from 0°C and lower (in high mountain areas) and

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 49 ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN 14°C (in the lower part of the middle- mountain area). The absolute maximum temperature from the low-mountain area to the near peak areas decreases from 30 to 22°C, which is associated with climate inversion. The annual precipitation is 1200mm. In the high-mountain areas up to 7 days with hail and 45 days with thun- derstorm are observed during a year. The rivers of Nakhchivan are shallow and mud-flow bearing. The main flow occurs during the period of April-June. The development of topsoil is in strict accor- dance with the vertical distribution of zones. The mountain-chestnut soils with plateau - xerophite - phrygoide vegetation and post-timber meadows and meadow steppes are spread in the low-mountain The "Vaykhir" mineral areas and in the low part of the middle- spring in Nakhchivan. mountain areas; mountain-timber brown (photo by F.Mamedov) typical and alkali soils with high mountain - Subalpine meadows and meadow steppes are spread in the middle mountain areas. In the high-mountain area mountain-meadow turf soils with high-mountain alpine meadows are developed. In some places separate forest blades dominated with Araks beeches (in the basins of the Nakhchivanchay and Alinjachay rivers) have been preserved. Cattle-breeding, grain-growing, tobacco-growing, gardening and vine-growing are developed in the region.

The Nakhchivan ecological zone according to its reproductive capacity of oxygen has the lowest index - 0.7 million tons/year, and the index of atmospheric oxygen reproductivity is 1.4, which implies the minimum biological productivity of plant communities. The low productivity of the landscapes is mainly associated with the deficiency of water, because the zone has a fresh water flow of about 7 million m3/year. Electric power consumption in the territory is low. The Nakhchivan industry is oriented to the processing of agricultural production (fruit and light industry), which is represented by 2 canneries, 8 enterprises on vine-processing, meat/milk integrated works, tobacco fermentation plant and a bread-baking plant. At the same time, there is a developed construction industry, which is mainly oriented to local raw materials.

The main branch of the Republic is agriculture, which is based on the irrigated agriculture. At present agricultural lands make up 147417 hectares, of them 23299 hectares are arable lands, 7813 hectares - long-term plantations (orchards, vine-yards), 126567 hectares lie fallow, 2683 hectares - hayfields, 87053 hectares - pastures, 55456 hectares - lands of irrigated agriculture. Taking into account the limited water resources, measures on rational use of natural resources are used in Nakhchivan to the maximum extent. In 1995, 294 million m3 of fresh water were taken from the water facilities, including 268.9 million m3 - for irrigation, 8 million m3 for industrial purposes and 17.1 million m3 - for domestic economical needs. The blockade of Nakhichevan resulted in a reduction in production by 2/3 times, due to this, water consumption for industrial purposes decreased. A major consumption in industry falls onto Nakhchivan city - 4.5 million m3. Discharges of used water constituted 4.5 million m3 as industrial and domestic sewage, of which 2.5 million m3 - was mechanically treated in the treatment facilities of Nakhchivan city. It should be noted, that the blockade of the Nakhchivan Republic by Armenia, going on for 6 years, has caused great damage, not only to industrial potential, but to the agriculture of the Republic as well. The extreme deficiency of fuel and electric power did not allow meliorating and taking soil- recreating measures. Taking it into account, that the whole territory of the Republic is prone to salinization and erosion, inadequate implementation of meliorating measures leads to a rapid strengthening of these processes. At present more than 63% of irrigated land needs to be meliorated and is exposed to a certain extent to salinization. Out of 53630 hectares of land, 18.9% is weakly eroded, over 24% - medium eroded and almost 32% - strongly eroded. Almost 402 "thousand hectares have lost a humus cover to a certain extent. The strengthening of erosion processes is associated with an extremely small area of forests (0.5% of the territory). In total, forest areas are

50 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN considered to constitute 3,395 hectares, of which 2,006 hectares are covered with forests, 1,236 hectares - with meadows, 95 hectares - with plantations (forest restoration), 58 hectares are hayfields. In 1995, forestries carried out activities on the restoration of forests - 50 hectares, instead of the planned 110 hectares. Forests were preserved only in the high-mountain area and they resemble the oak groves of Quercus orientalis. Green plantations in Nakhchivan make up only 59.8 hectares, which is less than 1/10000 percent of the whole Nakhchivan territory.

The Nakhchivan republic suffers from an acute deficiency of electric power. In 1995, almost all enterprises worked at 20-25% of their capacity. Fuel and electric energy were supplied primarily to such enterprises as bread-baking plants, heat power stations, etc. In total the amount of air contaminants discharged by these enterprises constituted about 800 tons/year, including industrial enterprises — 765.01 tons, motor transport - 78.82 tons. Due to these discharges 120 tons of dust and solid substances, 408 tons of carbon monoxide, 134 tons of nitrogen oxide, and 181 tons of hydrocarbons entered the atmosphere, which is several times less than the air discharges in 1988- 1990.

Among other natural resources the big reserves of mineral waters should be mentioned. At present only 2-5% of the output of the Badamli spring in the Shakhbuz settlement; Sirab - two springs at the height of 1400m in the Sirab settlement; Daradig near Julfa at the height of 800-900 m and others, are used .

The main problems in the use of the mineral waters of these springs are related to the lack of market conditions for their sale, caused by the blockade of transport routes along the Armenian border. In 1989-1990, more than 90% of the water produced was exported outside Nakhchivan.

3.1.7 The Caspian Zone

The Caspian Sea is the greatest among the lakes of the earth with a surface of more than 400 thousand km2 and is a unique enclosed water reservoir. Situated on the juncture of European and Asian continents, the Caspian is stretched in the meridian direction for more than 1,200 km with an average width of 310 km. The shoreline length due to the water level variations is changeable and exceeds 6,000 km. The volume of the sea is estimated to be almost 80 thousand km3, which is more than 44% of the general lake water resources of the earth. The waters of the Caspian Sea wash the coasts of Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran and its basin involves the most important, densely populated regions of the European continent with developed industrial potential.

A unique flora and fauna, including 90% of the world's sturgeon stock has been preserved in the Caspian till present. A deterioration in the ecological situation has first and foremost influenced the endemic fauna. The number of commercial fish (sturgeon, herring) has considerably been reduced, some fish species have been included into the Red Book, and two species have practically disappeared - the zander and Caspian thorn fish.

Flooding of the Sumgait Coastal Area. (photo - State Committee for the Environment)

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 51 ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN The Caspian is divided into three uneven parts: North, Middle and South. The southern border of the North Caspian extends from the Chechen island to the Tub-Karatan cape. The Middle Caspian is situated between this border on the line extending from the Sworn Rock island (Apsheron Peninsula) to the Kuulin cape on the eastern coast. The South Caspian is situated south of this border. The North Caspian has an average depth of 5-6 m, the Middle Caspian - 190 m. The deepest water part is in the South Caspian - 1025 m in the area east of the Kura Mouth, the shelf area in general is within 100 m here. The water border of the Republic, as well as the length and legal status of the water area, has not been defined until now. However, more than 800 km of the shoreline falls onto Azerbaijan.

The Caspian shoreline from the Samur River to the Apsheron Peninsula is a relatively straight line. There are no peninsulas or gulfs strongly cutting into the Caspian, and there are no islands. From the Apsheron to the Akstafachay River the shoreline is rather twisting: a number of protuberant capes and spits, together with the Kizil-Agach Bay and a big group of islands, create a unique picture of this region. In the South, Caspian islands form archipelagoes: Apsheron (Zhiloy, Urnus, Peschany and others) and Baku (Bulla, Svinnoy, Duvanny, Glinany and others). The development of mud volcanoes is characteristic of the South Caspian. Almost all the islands of Baku are periodically active mud volcanoes. Eolian-sandy (dunes, hillock sands, sand reaches) landscape and sandy beaches are dominant in the coastal area of the Middle and South Caspian. The distribution of vegetation groups depends upon the marine zone distribution, conditioned by chan- ges in the water and salt regimes. Typically from the sea to the shore, parallel to the shoreline, vegetation groups consequently vary from primitive to more complicated as follows:

• wet salinized sands, fixed Distribution of Contamination in the Caspian and semi-movable, the main components of which are cane, Limonium caspica. Lactuca tatarica. Cane is met in depressions. Rush and tamarisk sometimes occur

• Dry weakly-winnowed and non-winnowed sands, where perennial grass, semi- bushes, ephemerals and ephemeroides meet

Vegetation groups in the coastal area of Apsheron are destroyed and do not form a dense cover. The plants are represented by species and subspecies of undemanding plants typical of dry semi- deserts.

The vegetation of the coastal area of the South Caspian has some differences. The main type of vegetation is represen- ted by Halocnemum, Halo- stachys-cane and Salicornia formations, which are deve- loped on salines.

The Halocnemum vegetation occupies the main part of the -i— —I 48° 50° territory. The main species is Halocnemum strobilaceum.

52 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN

Concentration of Oil1 Products in the Caspian m.?. Mg/liter

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995

m Baku harbour I Mouth of the Kura river The Sumgait Sea-Shore Gousan harbour I The oil rocks

Halocnemum bushes grow on hillocks, and the smooth surface between them is covered with a crust of salt. Herbage makes up on average 50%.

Halostachys phytocenosis have a more complicated structure and a richer species composition than Halocnemum.

The Caspian is a natural fish nursery which is exclusively valuable due to the number of commercial fish. More than 85% of the world's sturgeon and 90% of black caviar is produced here. In 1930-1935 up to 6 million metric centers of commercial fish were caught in the Caspian, of them sturgeon, salmon and big bony fish constituting 1.75 million metric centers; herring -1.3 million metric centers; vobla - 265 million metric centers; and sprat - 0.34 million metric centers. Prior to the regulation of the Volga River (1951-1955) the average catch constituted 2.9 million metric centers (without sprat), including: big bony fish - 1.08 million metric centers, vobla - 0.79 million metric centers, herring - 0.54 million metric centers, and sturgeon - 0.12 million metric centers. The sturgeon catch during 1980-1990 decreased from 0.25 million metric centers to 0.13 million metric centers. In 1991, 4.05 million metric centers offish were caught in the Caspian, of them sturgeon constituted - 10.08 thousand tons; salmon - 0.02 thousand tons; big bony fish - 11.3 thousand tons; herring - 1.51 thousand tons; and sprat - 365.16 thousand tons. During the following years the catch of commercial fish species kept decreasing on average by 10%. As is seen, the species composition of some catches changed sharply: sprat production significantly increased, but the catch of valuable commercial fish decreased by 9-10 times. At present, there is an even further decrease in the catches and a reduction in the density of valuable fish species.

The socio-economic development of the whole Caspian region depends mostly on the state of the Caspian ecosystem and its natural resources. The ecological capacity of the water reservoir, characterizing the self-purification ability of the ecosystem, is practically exhausted for the Caspian because the permanent income and the absence of flow leads to an accumulation of contaminating substances in seabed sediments. The Caspian ecological zone makes a great climate-forming influence for the whole region, and the condition of the water reservoir is a determinant for the whole environment of the Republic.

Systematic water sampling in different parts of the Caspian basin show contamination by phenols, oil products, surfactants (synthetic surface active substances) and others. It should be noted that more that 12 billion m3 of contaminated sewage is discharged into the Caspian annually, 95% of which comes from the Volga river.

Azerbaijan has been taking measures to reduce environmental pollution. Only during the last decade, 59 water protecting measures have been undertaken and about 170 water treatment facilities have been constructed. As a result of these measures, the project capacity of the treatment

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 53 ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN facilities of the Republic constituted 1.28 million m3 /per 24 hours, the capacity of circulating and repeated-consecutive water supply systems reached up to 4.46 million m3 per 24 hours. At first sight the taken measures enabled a decrease in the negative effects on the ecology of the Caspian, reduced the discharge of untreated sewage by half a million m3 per 24 hours. However, these measures did not take into account the increase in the sewage amount and turned out to be insufficient. Today Azerbaijan discharges about 0.3 billion of highly contaminated, and 300 million of nominally treated, sewage. As a result, these waters bring 4 thousand tons of oil products, 28 thousand tons of suspended substances, 500-550 thousand tons of solid residue, 74 thousand tons of sulfates, 150 thousand tons of chlorine, 300 tons of surfactants, 5 tons of phenols and other substances hazardous to the ecosystem, to the sea.

Today in Azerbaijan six oil and gas extraction departments (OGED), seven drilling departments (which have more than 2,000 oil and gas wells on their books), over 400 stationary platforms, 180 km-long stockades, 255 thousand km of underground and more than 1.5 thousand km of understocade oil and gas pipelines, about 600 vessels of different destination, which also influence the ecosystem, function. Wells and vessels which are out of operation are of serious concern. About 300 hydrotechnical facilities and 78 vessels, which are out of operation and are in flooded or semi- I flooded condition, represent a threat of repeated contamination.

A serious problem for the Caspian is the water level variation. During the last 17 years the water level rose from -28.8 m to -26.5 m, that means 2.3 m. This problem is of great concern to all Caspian Republics. The water level increase which started in 1977 resulted in intensive wash-out of coastal areas, flooding of wide regions and was a great hindrance to engineering constructions. In Azerbaijan, the agricultural lands of Lenkoran-Astara, Neftechala and Khudat economical districts are already flooded; railways and highways are endangered; almost all the Apsheron beaches have been lost under water and there is a danger of secondary contamination from the flooding of the technogenic territories situated in the flooded areas. The approximate damage constitutes 3-4 billion US $.

3.2 Major Regional Problems

Taking into account the great number of problems and their similarity in different regions, it would be expedient to estimate their state and characterize the most vulnerable territories. I4' Water Resources

The Republic has limited water resources. The estimates show that the total transit and flow of Azerbaijan's rivers on average (50% of provision) constitute 29.7 billion m3 a year, and in case of

Water Use in the Azerbaijan Republic

mln. meter3/year 100000

Total for Republic The Kura basin Baku Sumgait

B Natural sources S Underground sources Consumption of fresh water Consum. of food prod, sector • Consum. of productive sector Si Used tor irrigation Agricultural requirements Discharges of polluted waste • Dis. of non-polluted waste Discharges of treated waste Loses during transportation m Capacities of treatment utilities • Water recycling

54 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN Total Amount of Sewage in Azerbaijan

660000 600000 540000 430000 420000 360000 300000 240000 180000 120000 60000 0 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 moderate and extremely arid years (75% and 95% of provision) they decrease to 25.5 and 20.7 billion m3 respectively. Only 30% of river flow resources are formed within the republic itself, and depending on the year, are estimated to be within 9.2; 7.3; 5.4 billion m3.

According to the amount of national water resources, estimated per capita and per unit of the area, Azerbaijan is in last place among neighboring countries.

Estimations show that according to the amount of water resources per 1 km2 of the area and per capita, the worst situation is in the Mugan-Salyan zone (3 and 7), Apsheron Peninsula (15 and 0.04), Araks lowland (19 and 0.04), Mill-Karabakh region (39 and 0.5), Kazakh region (74 and 1.3) and Nakhchivan (17 and 1.6).

A general shortage of water for agriculture in an average year constitutes 3.7 m3, with 4.75 m3 in arid years.

The irrigation system is comprised of 10 main canals and 2 water escape collectors. In the Republic, 4.1% of all permanently active canals (38.9 thousand km in length) have artificial coatings, and 95.9% have ground canal beds, that results in the loss of 2.5 -3.0 billion m3 of water. This causes the rise of ground water level, as well as secondary salinization and swamping associated with it.

The annual intake of fresh water from the water reservoirs of the Republic is approximately 16 billion m3, with 1.1-1.2 billion m3 being from underground layers. The actual consumption of water makes up 11-13 billion m3, of which 25-30% is used for industrial and domestic purposes. Discharges to water objects make up 4.5-5 billion m3, including conventionally pure - 3.5-4.5; nominally treated - 0.25-0.32; polluted - 0.25-0.30 billion m3. The ecological state of the water facilities of the Republic is presented in diagrams.

Available Water Resources of the Caucasus Region

800 -i

For 1 KM2 thous. m3 For1 men100m3

i Russia a Georgia Armenia Azerbaijan

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 55 ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN State of the atmosphere

The state of the atmosphere in the Republic remains to be threatened by high levels of pollution. Annual discharges depending on the utilized capacity of production constitute from 1.2 to 2.6 million tons of hazardous substances. Thus in 1991 according to the data of the State Committee on Statistics, the total amount of hazardous air discharges constituted 2.6 million tons, including 112 thousand tons of solid dust, 93 thousand tons of sulphur dioxide, 638 thousand tons of carbon oxide, 82 thousand tons of nitrogen oxide, 1665 thousand tons of carbons, 37 thousand tons of volatile organic substances (VOS). According to the amount and density of air discharges Baku and Sumgait are in first place. Their air basin is poisoned by oil refineries, oil chemistry, energy, metallurgy, construction enterprises. A big portion of air contamination is due to motor transport.

Ganja, Mingachevir, Alibayramli, Sumgait and Baku cities have a high contamination level, not only of air, but of the environment as a whole. A great part of contaminants discharged into the atmosphere come from Baku (66.1%) and Sumgait (4.5%), less in Ganja (3%), Mingachevir (2.5%) and Alibayramly (5%).

The density of hazardous discharges for the period of 1990-1991 constituted in average per unit of area 400 tons km2 - in Baku; 1200 - in Sumgait; 550 - in Ganja; 1000 - in Alibayramly; 480 - in Mingachevir; and in average throughout Azerbaijan - 24 tons km2, which was 10 times more than the former average level in the Soviet Union.

Beginning from 1993 due to the collapse of the former Soviet Union and disruption of economic relations the majority of enterprises operate at an average of 35 % of their project capacity, and the amount of discharges decreased. However, the number of hazardous ingredients remained at the same level (60-70 different ingredients for Baku and Sumgait).

The main reasons for the contamination of the air basin of these cities are: the wear and tear of equipment and out-dated technology, which have not been renewed for the last 40-50 years, a rapid decrease in the use of natural gas as a fuel on the thermal power stations, thermal centers and the use of highly sulfurous mazut, regular non-fulfillment of planned and necessary protecting measures and lack of sufficient investment for environmental protection. Thus, the data analysis from 1980-1991 shows that 0.5-0.6% of investments into industrial development were allocated for environmental protection, but that is not enough to compensate for the negative impact. From 1993 to 1995 the means for the reconstruction and renovation of treatment facilities have not been allocated.

Total Air Pollution from Stationary Sources Thous. Tons 2400

2000

400

1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994

B Total M Solid pollution as Gaseous pollution

Harmful materials

56 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN Considerable discharges are also produced by motor transport. The total amount of contaminants discharged from motor transport for the period of 1989-1995 are given below (in thousand tons per year).

Total Air Pollution from Motor Transport Thous. Tons

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995

& Baku at Sumgait a Gandja Mingachevir B Alibairamli H Total

A rapid increase in air discharge in 1989 is associated with the fact that, since that year the actual air discharge of associated gas has been taken into account in statistical records, especially in 1993-1994.

The concentration of hazardous substances in the air of big cities remains rather high.

Land Resources

The peculiarities of relief, geomorphology, climate (aridity, strong winds, great temperature amplitude), hydrography and hydrology (uneven distribution of surface and underground waters according to area and time, mineralization of rivers), geomorphologic structure (existence of weak soils, their alternation with rocky soils, powerful strata of clay, especially of sedimentary soils), tectonics and seismic tectonics (intensive rise of mountain systems and lowering of hollows, high seismicity and others) with intensive anthropogenic pressure (especially during the last 70 years) and intensive development of exogenous geological processes and events have resulted in the different degrees of damage to the territory depending on the vertical distribution of zones and geological structure.

0.86 Land Resources of the Azerbaijan Republic

2.2

Plough-lands Plantations Pastures Hay fields Deposits Forests I Tech. violations Non-agricult. lands Protected

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 57 ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN

Thous. hectares Land Erosion in the Regions of Azerbaijan 1400 -r

• Under erosion a No erosion

Land resources are extremely limited in the Republic of Azerbaijan. Thus, there are 0.2 hectares of arable lands and 0.6 hectares of agricultural lands per capita. In the structure of agricultural lands the share of pastures is 51.6%, arable lands - 30.2% and the share of perennial plantations is 12.8%. Hayfields and fallow lands make up 5.4%. Approximately one-third of the Republic's land resources are not suitable for agriculture. Irrigated lands constitute 1350 thousand hectares including 950 thousand hectares of arable lands.

The most common type of erosion is water erosion, which occurs in plane, ravine and irrigation forms. Plane wash-out is intensive at slopes, where it varies from 105 to 516 nvVhectares per year. Wind erosion mainly occurs in the coastal area of the Republic, at the Apsheron Peninsula, south- eastern part of Shirvan, Djeyranchel, etc..

The economic damage of erosion processes constitutes more than 5 billion rubles, with relation to prices before 1990.

Mud flows and land slides are also wide-spread, covering 310 km2 and 420 km2 respectively. More than 1,5 million m3 of fertile lands are washed out by mud flows annually and the land slides cause damage, not only to land resources, but also to industrial facilities.

Formation and Use of Toxic Waste

1991 1992 1993 1994

Recycling Organized Not organized

58 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN

The Constituents of Solid Domestic Waste in Azerbaijan

0 Food

The role of anthropogenic factors in the destruction of topsoil is extremely high. One such factor is chemical contamination caused by the use of mineral fertilizers and toxic chemicals. In total, in the Republic, more than 840 thousand hectares are treated by toxic chemicals, including 400 thousand hectares treated by herbicides. The decrease in the use of chemical fertilizers and toxic chemicals by almost 10 times during recent years has resulted in a decrease in soil contamination in agricultural regions. Particularly dangerous for soil and landscape is a discharge of heavy metals together with poisonous chemicals, as their accumulation in the soil may result in irrevocable changes to the soil.

As a result of intensive economic and town-planning activities, there is a tendency towards an annual increase of technogenically destroyed, contaminated and cluttered up lands, the area of which exceeds 20 thousand hectares, including those contaminated by oil - 12 thousand hectares, waste from the chemical industry - more than 100 hectares, dumps along the canals - 5.6 thousand hectares, excavation of mineral resources -1.6 thousand hectares. The annual economic damage caused only from contamination by solid domestic waste constitutes more than 50 million rubles (in prices prior to 1990).

According to preliminary data, in order to prevent erosion processes it is necessary to arrange protective forest belts in an area of 24.5 thousand hectares, including forest shelter-belts - 10 thousand hectares, afforestation in ravines, gullies, along the irrigation network, banks of rivers and other water reservoirs - 226 thousand hectares, terracing of steep slopes - 105 thousand hectares, afforestation of steep slopes - 30 thousand hectares.

The total area of low-quality lands in irrigated agriculture constitutes 596.6 thousand hectares, where for their qualitative improvement it is necessary to develop a collector-drainage network on a territory of 192 thousand hectares, to rearrange the irrigation system - 476.4 thousand hectares, to improve the water supply system - 359.3 thousand hectares and to arrange capital planning on a territory of 173.8 thousand hectares.

In the Republic, areas designed for the reconstruction and implementation of different measures up to the year of 2000 are as follows: restructuring the irrigation system - 854 thousand hectares, improving the meliorative state of the land - 437 thousand hectares, increasing the water provision - 390 thousand hectares and planning - 416.3 thousand hectares.

It is necessary to put 226.6 thousand hectares of newly irrigated lands into operation.

The main factors of land degradation in the Republic are: erosion, salinization, soil compaction, technogem'c disorders, wash-out of humus and the deterioration of water-chemical characteristics. Salinized soils are mainly distributed in the area of the Kura-Araks lowland. The overall area of salinized soils makes up more than 500 thousand hectares. Most of the salinized lands are in Agdash (220 thousand hectares), Kurdamir (40 thousand hectares), Agdjabedi (38.4 thousand hectares), Salyan (32 thousand hectares), Agsu (21.4 thousand hectares), Imishli (26.6 thousand hectares), Saatli (32 thousand hectares), Sabirabad (40 thousand hectares) and other regions. f STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 59 ,!• 5= ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN Water and wind erosion on the territory of the Republic results in wash-offs, wash-outs, blow- outs, ravines and landslides. According to the data of recent years the area of eroding lands con- stitutes 3685 thousand hectares or 42.5% of the Republic's territory, with shares of different natural-economic regions varying from 10 to 84%. 33.7% of arable lands, 68% of summer pastures, 15% of hayfields, 16% of orchards, 24% of vine yards and 26% of forests are subject to erosion.

In order to avoid the contamination of land resources by waste it is necessary to build about 10 waste processing and waste incinerating facilities in different cities of the Republic, as well as 10 landfills for the burial of toxic waste.

Plant Resources

Plant resources of the Azerbaijan Republic are represented by rather rich flora, the number of species exceeding that of the other regions of Caucasus and constituting 64% of its total number of species. Plant species growing here are comprised of 125 families and 920 genera. Almost all the types of big plants growing in the world are represented in a relatively small territory. Together with plant species widely distributed in the Caucasus and other regions there is also a great number of endemic species (more than 270 species - 7%), which are typical only for Azerbaijan and this even in relatively small regions.

The natural vegetation of the Republic appears to be a great natural productive force. Forests and meadows are of immense agricultural and ecological value.

Azerbaijan has many regions with a scarcity of forests. The total area of forestry lands is 1178.5 thousand hectares — 13.6%. There are 0.14 hectares of woody area per capita. The spatial distri- bution of forests is very uneven with 48.8% of the Republic's forests being in the Greater Caucasus, 34.2% - Lesser Caucasus , 14.5% - Talysh Mountains, 2.5% - Kura-Araks Lowland, and 0.5% - Nakhchivan. Together with treeless areas (Zardob, Bilasuvar, Salyan, etc.) there are areas with dense forests (Belocan-49.3%; Lenkoran-44.1%; Zakatala-41.5%, etc.).

Forests of the Republic, which fall into the first group according to their functions, are divided into: water protective - 10.7%, protective - 69.8%, sanitary and hygienic - 11.6%, special - 7.9%. The main area of forests belongs to the state forests fund - 934.5 thousand hectares with the public and municipal areas making up 54 thousand hectares.

As a result of intense productive human activity, not only separate species of flora and fauna, but also whole natural complexes have started to disappear. The remnants of virgin nature turned into small pockets of land have been disbursed along a vast area of anthropogenic landscape. The capacity of the plant communities for natural self-regulation and self-production has rapidly decreased. The habitat of the high-mountain park forests has significantly decreased and the borders of the forests have been lowered down to 100-150 m.

Due to the intensive pasturization of cattle the area of eroding forests has increased. Due to the drainage of swamps on the lowland the habitats of water-swamp, meadow, reed and wormwood vegetation have been reduced. Around the big industrial facilities the natural biocenosis specific for this area have been endangered. The plant complexes of the summer and winter pastures have been exposed to strong degradation.

According to estimations, the annual economic damage from the destruction of forests constitutes at least 300 million manats. At present, one of the most dangerous trends of the anthropogenic impact on the population of the forests is cutting the trees for heating (about 1.8 million m3 per year). In total, 37 flora species are under the threat of disappearance.

Despite the taken measures the structure and composition of the protected and to be protected plant communities continues to change and the number of plant species, which need to be protected, increase.

60 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN

A herd of red deer in the forests of the Greater Caucasus. (photo - State Committee for the Environment)

Fauna

The fauna of Azerbaijan is characterized by an exclusive variety and is represented by 99 species of mammals, 123 species and subspecies of fish, 360 species of birds, 54 species of reptiles, 14 thousand species of insects.

However, the tendency of all natural components towards contamination, observed during the last decades, the disorder of the ecological balance, the reduction in natural landscape areas, in combination with a number of other factors associated with human activity, have resulted in the decrease of the species composition of animals and in the considerable reduction in the distribution of their geographical habitats. This tendency, not only remains, but even strengthens.

At present, mainly due to the expansion of the areas utilized for agricultural production and town- planning activity, 14 species of mammals are endangered. Jeyran (Gazella subgut) is preserved only in protected areas. The irrigation of lands, the change in the hydrogeological, hydrochemical and biological regimes of the reservoirs and a reduction in the surface area have led to a situation where 35 species of birds including 14 species documented in the Red Book of Azerbaijan, are endangered. ""' .

40 species of insects and 10 species of reptiles, 7 Griffon-Vulture, of which are included in the Red Book of the Zakatala State Azerbaijan, are endangered. Reserve. (photo - State Committee The most active consequences of the anth- for the Environment) ropogenic activity were expressed in the changes to the ichthiofauna of Azerbaijan, particularly to the commercial fish.

After the regulation of the Kura river flow and the use of a large amount of water for irrigation, the Kura river, which is associated with the repro- duction of the most valuable species of fish (stur- geon, salmon, carp), has changed its appearance. The reduced water volume and the change in the character of flow distribution, temperature, trans- parency, etc., has resulted in the rapid decrease in the volume of commercial fish catch.

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 61 ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN Prior to the regulation of the Kura river in the Caspian-Kura basin about 93 thousand metric centers of sturgeon were caught annually, at present this figure is only 1.3-1.7 thousand metric centers. After the regulation of the Kura river the catch of the Caspian salmon, which is one of the most valuable types of commercial fish also drastically decreased from 2.5 -1.4 thousand metric centers to 20 metric centers. Such commercial fish as lamprey, the white- eyed lamprey, spine, shemaya and others, have almost entirely disappeared.

Recreation resources

Today mostly due to the presence of 1 The "Zagulba" million refugees, the Republic's rec- sanatorium. reation resources are under strong (photo - State Committee anthropogenic pressure. The necessity to for the Environment) give shelter to such a great number of people forced the republic's government to accomodate them in recreational - tourist and balneological establishments of the republic. As a result the anthropogenic load in the recreational zones has increased extensively. Of more than 12000 places in tourist complexes, which are unsuitable for permanent living, more than 10000 are occupied by refugees; more than 70% of the recreational and 50% of the balneological places have also been allocated to refugees.

In accordance with an integral estimation of the Republic's territory in terms of the availability of recreational-balneological resources, a range of regions, each combining a number of medical and sanitary factors, landscape-aesthetic advantages and tourist complexes may be identified: Apsheron, Nabran, Kura, Lenkoran - sea regions (the duration of the beach season is up to 5 months). There is a number of mineral springs and thermal waters, also medicinal mud in: Guba, Shemakha-Ismailli, Belokan-Gabala, Kelbajar, Karabakh, Kedabek, Nakhchivan, Ganja- Naftalan - mountainous regions with forest landscapes, part of which are in Alpine and Subalpine zones. There are mineral springs, thermal springs (Nakhchivan, Karabakh) and medicinal mud and oil (Ganja-Naftalan).

In general, more than 252 recreation zones have been identified in these regions with an area of 35.1 thousand hectares, the greater part of which is under forests. The potential area for national parks and recreation zones constitutes 267 thousand hectares.

It should be noted that due to the rise in the level of the Caspian, its coastline was changed and the main beach territories were washed-out and a great number of recreational establishments, located in the coastal areas were flooded.

State of the water-level and coastline of the Caspian

A serious problem of the Caspian is the variation in its water-level. The problem of the long-term variations in the level of the Caspian has always been a complicated one in scientific, economic, ecological and social respects. A 50-year period of sea-level fall from 1927 to 1977 decreased the area of its surface from 425 thousand km2 to 370 thousand km2, which led to the increasing development of the coastal territories and the necessity for the construction of new facilities, such as berths, coast-protecting dams, channels, roads and numerous recreation facilities all with engineering communications, based on the forecasts for further decreases in the sea-level. In 1901 to 1977 there was a constant decrease in the level from -25.58 m to a critical, by ecological standards, level of -29.01 m. This process was recognized in science as irreversible and great losses to the economy were predicted.

62 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN

The Cost of Damage to the Azerbaijan Republic Caused by the Caspian Sea-level Rise

Mln. Rub. - in 1900 year prices. 895.00 795.00

-5.00 1978-82 1883-87 1988-91 1992 1993 1994

sa Populated areas B Agricultural lands Auto and railway roads Ports and other constructions • Oil and gas industry 0 Recreation complexes m Fishery Other

However, since 1978 a backward cycle has started and during the period of 1978-1995 the sea- level increased by 2.3 m up to 26.5 m. According to some estimates an increase in the sea-level by the year 2010 is possible for another 1.5-2.5 m. There are predictions estimating an even more intensive rise of the sea level. At present there is not a scientifically based theory of this process. In scientific spheres there is an active discussion of several theories. Their authors take into account only one of the global processes, not considering all of them in complex. These theories are about die tectonic processes of the Caspian region and the increase in the Caspian sea-bed connected with them, or the formation of fractures in underlying rocks, which connect the Caspian Sea with the Aral and Black Seas. There is also a natural climatic theory about the general global cooling of the earth and change in the radiological conditions in the solar system and, finally, a change in evaporation from the sea surface, because of strong contamination. Such a difference in the opinions of scientists have led to the lack of a common theory of sea-level variation dynamics, and as a result of it, of a uniform governmental program on the prevention of the consequences of sea- level variation.

The most probable reason for the decrease in the Caspian sea-level was considered to be the change of the fresh water flow into the Caspian, of which about 75% (80.3% of the river flow) is from the Volga river. As, in the beginning of the current century, the construction of flow regu- lating dams was started (8 - on the Volga river, 3 - on the AMA river, 1 - on the Ural river, 3 - on the Kura river) and the "irreversible" losses of water for agricultural and industrial purposes increased (from 1950 to 1992 water consumption made up about 900 km3), all this was regarded as the reasons for the sea-level decline. There was a real threat that an inevitable increase in the anthropogenic water consumption and the contamination in the basin of this water reservoir would result in drastic shallowing and in considerable losses to the national economy (this threat was substantiated by the catastrophic situation with the Aral Sea, which was observed for 20-25 years, the main reason of which turned out to be the blockade of the fresh water flow from the Amudarya- Sirdarya rivers).

The dominating climatic hypothesis, which explains the mechanisms of the long-term dynamics of the Caspian sea-level rise, is based on the balance of surface and underground flow, the precipitation and evaporation from the surface, but gives inaccurate values and poorly proofed forecasts due to the non-accuracy of the measurements of its components. The data is obtained from paleographical, archeological, historical, as well as direct observations. The complex periodicity of the level variation processes is associated with the fluctuation processes of atmospheric conditions and adequate changes in global and local climates of different intensity, depending on the changes of solar activity and other planetary cosmic phenomena.

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 63 ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN Another hypothesis, often called tectonic, as an important component of long-term sea-level variations suggests periodical processes of changes of inner tension (contraction-stretching) of the earth-crust, which results in non-tectonic movements of the seabed and coasts and considerable variations in the underground flow volume. The rhythm of such a fluctuation process is shown according to seismic data, however, the scale of caused changes influencing the volume of the sea • lake bed, the amount of underground flow and the localization of the probable areas of water discharge are estimated only by indirect data.

At present it would be correct to assume that several processes influence the dynamics of the Caspian level: climatic, tectonic and anthropogenic.

The Caspian Sea is an integrated system where hydroclimatic, endogeological, cosmic and anthropogenic factors interact.

The tendency of the sea-level to rise has a stable character and practically all the authors of prognoses note the continuation of the rising cycle until the years 2000-2005, and according to the balance method, predicting the level could reach the 24.8 m point.

Flooding of the Caspian coastline has already led to a number of negative consequences and a further probable sea-level increase will flood the coastline along the whole perimeter of the water area of 50m width, in addition it will subflood 10-20 km of the adjacent lands. The flooding of the coastal areas, especially in the zone of the oil fields (Apsheron, Mangishlak peninsula, the north- eastern coast of Kazakhstan), which are highly contaminated with oil products, may result in the rapid oil contamination of the whole ecosystem of the sea and the degradation of the main biotypes.

Irreversible damage will be caused to cities and settlements, railways and highways, ports and oil fields, agricultural lands and the recreational complexes.

At present the increase in the Caspian level is observed at a rate of 144 mm/year or 12 mm/month. The Azerbaijan coast, 830 km in length, is totally exposed to flooding. The depth of the possible maximum flood is 25-35 km and of subflood is 35-45 km. All cities located in this area, settlements and industrial facilities require to a certain extent engineering protection or removal.

According to the data of the State Committee for the Environment, 7 cities and 35 settlements, more than 120 cattle-breeding facilities, recreation constructions, warehouses and utilities, rest zones with a total population of about 700 thousand people are located within the flooding zone of the sea-level increase up to 26 m. The sea-level rise directly influences 150 thousand people (22%), who are permanent residents of the flooded area.

According to a preliminary estimation of Azerbaijani experts the cost of the main assets in the ecologically dangerous zone constitutes 3 to 4.5 billion dollars.

The implementation of a complex of measures to decrease the damage from the rise of the sea- level, first of all, is connected with the possibility of a long-term prognosis of this process. By the initiative of the State Committee for the Environment a team of scientists has been established, which includes practically the whole scientific potential of the Republic working on the Caspian problems. This group has carried out research since 1993 on the "Water balance and long-term prognosis of the Caspian sea-level", accomplished in 1995 and, at the moment, this group has prepared a preliminary prediction on the Caspian sea-level.

The Population's Health

The policy in the field of population health protection is provided by the following legal acts and regulations:

• The Azerbaijan Republic Law "On Environmental Protection and Use of Natural Resources" • The Azerbaijan Republic Law "On Sanitary-Epidemiological Well-being" • The Azerbaijan Republic Law "On Labor Protection"

64 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN

Morbidity Rate from Infectious Diseases

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995

Diphtheria Burzselous Virus Hematite Sibir ulcer

Apart from these laws numerous regulations are in force in the Republic, including sanitary norms and rules, hygienic standards and constructional norms and rules, which provide safe conditions for people's life, labor, food and rest. t ~K It should be noted that the contamination of air, drinking water, surface water, etc., not only directly l influences the population's health, but also has an impact on th<~ general state of the environment. First of all, it leads to an increase in epidemic diseases, caused by microbiological and virusological contamination of the environment, more precisely of atmospheric air, soils and water; a worsening of the sanitary situation and hygienic quality of drinking water and food and insufficient sanitary knowledge of certain groups of the population. All this contributes to the creation of conditions favorable for the occurrence and spreading of such infectious diseases as acute respiratory virus infections (ARVI), diphtheria, acute intestinal diseases, including cholera and tularemia.

An insufficient amount of agrarian-meliorative measures on the drainage of swamped areas has contributed to the occurrence and spreading of malaria, the pathogenic of which is transmitted by the mosquito, POX ARCOFLES. A slight fall in the activity of the epidemiological control of I bodies has resulted in the increase of imports to the Republic of ecologically non-qualitative food products. Improper storage and violation of trade rules have lead to the realization of food products presenting a threat to human health. Cutting the meat in unsuitable areas leads to microbial contamination of the soils and as a result the creation of conditions favorable for the occurrence and spreading of such zoonoze infections as anthrax, tularemia and brucellosis. On the other hand, the military occupation of more than 20% of the republic's territory has resulted in demographic

Natural Dynamics of the Population of the Republic (per 1000 people)

nr

5 t

1986 1987 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994

born l died natural growth I died before 1 year old

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 65 ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN

Children's Mortality Rate According to Economic-Geographical Zones of the Republic (per 1000 born)

1985 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1993

g Apsheron g Shamahi Ismailli Kuba Hachmas Lenkoran Astara m Kura Araks m Belokan Zakatala a Gandja Kazah Kelbadjar Lachin m Nakhchivan a Republic changes, as well as in the occurrence of tent camps where a large portion of IDP's (about 0.5 million people) are accommodated. It is natural that the concentration of such a great number of people in inadequate conditions increases the risk of the occurrence and spreading of infectious processes. All these factors undoubtedly have a grave impact on human health.

The state of the population's health is characterized by the following indices:

• birth rate • average life-span • morbidity • mortality (including infant's) • natural growth of the population

It should be noted that there are differences in morbidity indices between the urban and rural population, as well as between the population of big and small (non-industrial) towns.

As an illustrative example of the state of the urban population health, the situation within Baku city (which includes more than 55% of the urban population of the Republic) may be considered. For the period from 1991 to 1995 there have been no essential changes in the health of its habitants.

Natural Dynamics of the Population in the Guba-Khachmas Zone (per 1000 people)

1991 1992 1993 1994

» Kuba ft Divichi Hachmas Kusari a Ismailli a Gabala a Shemaha Republic

66 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN

Children's Mortality (under 1 year) in the Guba-Khachmas Zone (per 1000 born)

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994

natural growth S died before 1 year old

The information on the morbidity rate is based on data from reports from the curative-preventive medical establishments and state statistics.

Among the most common causes of both adult and children morbidity are the diseases of the respiratory system (31.7% - for adults, and 46% - for children), the nervous system (8.2% for adults, 15.2% - for children) and of cardio-vascular diseases (16.4% in adults as well as gastrointestinal ones - 10.6 % in adults and 6.9% in children).

The total morbidity rate in Baku during the last 5 years has reduced a little, approximately by 0.5- 0.8% for children and over 19% - for adults. At the same time there has been an increase in the morbidity because of different nozalogical forms. Thus, from 1991-1995 the average number of cases of blood diseases increased by 5%, anemia cases being more than 18%, psychic disfunctions — by 4%, various blood circulation system diseases, particularly rheumatism in active form — by 7%, acute infarct - by more than 15%. From the group of respiratory organs diseases the number of cases of allergic rynites among adults increased by more than 60%, pneumonia - by more than 5%, bronchial asthma — almost by 10%. Among the children the number of cases of this group of diseases was observed on chronic pharyngitis (almost by 2 times), chronic bronchitis and emphysema of lungs (by more than 70%), bronchial asthma (by 3 times). During the last years as compared with 1991, the number of cases of skin diseases increased by 13% among adults and 2.8% - among children. A similar situation is observed with congenital anomaly, the number of cases increased by 13.2% among adults and almost by 25% among children.

Analyses of the health problems of the rural population clearly demonstrated a high level of morbidity in all classes of diseases in certain rural regions, both among adults and children (under 14). The Kakh region can serve as an example of a region with the highest rate of morbidity and Causes of Infant Mortality (per 1000 born)

1992 1993 1994

E3 Infections 9 Nervous system Respiration system Digestion system B Inborn anomalies :j: Prenatal period a Accidents Other

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 67 ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN

Main Causes of Mortality (Diseases) (per 1000 dead)

350

100 50 0 II 1 1991 1992 1993 1994

endocrine system H blood and related tissue nervous system blood system new formation

The morbidity rate from diabetes mellitus (35%), from the class of endocrine system diseases, remains high. The number of cases of chronic diseases (chronic otitis, chronic disease of tonsils) has increased, mainly among children. A comparison of the morbidity indices of the populations of the Kakh and Belokan regions show that in 1994, in the Kakh region neoplasms were 25% higher than in the Belokan region, in blood diseases - by 6.1 times, nervous system diseases by 1.6 times, congenital anomaly - by 2.6 times.

Together with the United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Azerbaijan, Azeri specialists have carried out research on identifying the causes of children's mortality. The Guba region, as one of the regions with high indices of children's mortality, was selected as a research area. Considerable differences in two diseases were observed: respiratory and gastrointestinal Infections. An urgent necessity to improve the medical aid quality and to reorganize the ambulance-stationary structures in the region have been identified.

Natural dynamics is the natural increase of the population, which is determined by the difference between the number of people born and number dead. The birth rate index in the Republic (per 1 thousand people of the population) was as follows:

27 - 1991 / 27 - 1992 / 24.9 - 1993 / 21.4 - 1994 / 22.9 - 1995.

In the Absheron, Agdash, Akstafa, Agsu, Agjabedi, Beilagan, Belasuvar, Barda, Gabala, Kakh, Guba, Divichi, Gusar, Zakatala, Yardimli, Kurdamir, Lencoran, Saatli, Sabirabad, Ujar, Dzhalilabad regions this Index is higher than the average republic's value. Baku city, Agdam, Gubadli, Zangelan, Kelbajar, Fisuli and Dzhalilabad regions are referred to as the regions with low indices of birth rate.

The basic mortality rate of the population (per 1 thousand people of the population) for the period of 1991-1993 constituted: 1991 - 7.3 /1992 - 6.3 /1993 - 7.3 /1994 - 7.4.

Analysis of the causes of mortality shows that oncological diseases, diseases of circular, respiratory and gastrointestinal systems should be mentioned as the main causes.

68 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT ECOLOGY OF AZERBAIJAN Main Directions in Natural Resources Protection

The achievement of the main goal and cardinal solution of the problem of natural resource protection is possible through the systematic reduction of hazardous substance discharges down to full elimination. As the main step, the Azerbaijan Republic has started the development of the IP' National Environmental Action Plan in the field of environmental protection, which is aimed at the K specification of all the measures for the improvement of the environment. Taking into account the tendency for stabilization in the national economy, reorganization and growth of capacity of the existing facilities and the establishment of new industrial facilities is mat-- expected, which would result in the increase of the anthropogenic impact on the environment. In accordance with this the State Committee for the Environment has prepared and adopted the guidelines for the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process with assistance from UNDP. The implementation of the EIA process will allow to keep the concentration of industrial discharges at 0.8 - 1% of the maximum allowable concentration (MAC).

For the reduction of air discharge the reconstruction of the main productive capacities with the use of local type treatment facilities is planned to be carried out, which would enable us to decrease the discharge of some components. Also, the full transition of the industrial central heating and thermal power stations to natural gas, is planned. In order to reduce the motor transport discharge it is planned to increase the use of gas for transport, as well as' to use the catalytic converters to process gas, and transfer to non-utilized types of fuel.

Protection of water resources as a first step should envisage the reduction of water consumption in industry, agriculture and the municipal economy. With this purpose, the realization of the complex of measures including the progressive change of technologies for industrial and agricultural production; the development of the system of circular and repeated water consumption; drip irrigation; the reconstruction of irrigation systems; the creation of coastal water protecting zones and the development of forest melioration is planned. In order to improve the water quality, the reconstruction of existing and the construction of new biological treatment facilities and the provision of all the industrial enterprises and settlements of the Republic by local treatment facilities, are planned.

Prevention of erosion processes are associated with the realization of organizational-economic, agricultural and agro-forest-meliorative measures. The organizational-economic and agrotechnical measures are based on the proper location of crop rotation fields, selection of the dimensions of the field following the norms and methods of irrigation, as well as the strengthening of forest protection and implementation of full-scale forest-restorative activities. For the prevention of the chemical contamination of soils together with expansion in the areas of biological safety, it is necessary to envisage optimum ecologically safe norms for using chemicals and mineral fertilizers and to increase the use of organic fertilizers. Measures on the recultivation of disturbed lands, construction of modern waste processing facilities, preliminary separation of domestic waste, arrangement of specialized landfills for storage and disposal of industrial waste and expansion of efficient production methods are of a high priority.

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 69 The Gey-Gel State Reserve (Photo - State Committee tor the Environment)

The increasing invasion of the environment by men is accompanied by the inevitable and rapid expansion of anthropogenic landscapes. The existence of natural complexes in their initial form is endangered. The balance formed in nature is disturbed, the course and intensity of processes going on in natural complexes is changed, which finally leads to inevitable changes in nature. At present, there are hardly any natural complexes which have not been exposed to a certain extent to human interference. In connection with this, protected natural areas in particular are of great importance for the preservation of existing natural complexes and for the study of the course of natural processes. A network of specially protected natural areas has been established and functions in the Republic for this purpose, which is based on the specification of specially protected areas with different degrees of protection, this network consists of state reserves, state preserves and state hunting areas.

An accurate registration of species of flora and fauna and their quantity is of great importance for the preservation of biodiversity. Systematic work is being carried out in this field in Azerbaijan. The environment of the Republic is represented by 4300 species of flora, more than 600 species of vertebrates and more than 14000 insects, and has a considerable level of endemism. Of the total amount of flora and fauna species represented in the Republic, more than 37 species of flora and 180 species of fauna, including 14 species of mammals, 36 species of birds, 13 species of amphibians and reptiles, 5 species of fish and 40 species of insects are endangered.

Reserves are the strictest and, therefore most effective form for the preservation of model areas of nature, the protection of the genetic diversity of plants and animals.

70 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY Practical scientific activity in reserves allows the study and control of the processes in natural ecosystems, and contributes to an effective solution to the problem of environmental quality management. At present, major scientific research in the reserves of Azerbaijan is carried out in accordance with uniform methods and are integrated into the single theme "Chronicle of Nature", which envisages: daily, yearly, long—term, stationary, biogenetic research, including an inventory of qualitative and quantitative indices of natural complexes.

Scientific research and practical work carried out in reserves helps to preserve many valuable and rare species of animals and plants.

Thus, mainly due to the establishment of state reserves, Persian gazelle (Gazella sulgutturosa), leopard, moufflon, francolinus francolinus, tetraogallus, falcons, and among plants: yew-tree, box-tree, iron-tree, Lenkoran persimmon, and many other species have been preserved.

The first reserves in Azerbaijan - Gey-Gel, Zakatala and .Gizil-Agach were established in the 1920's. Later on, the Girkan and Turian-Chay reserves were organized. In the late 1950's, 7 reserves were established: Pirguli, Shirvan, Basut-Chay, Garayaz, Ag-Gel, Ismailli, Ilisuy, and Alti-Agach. Thus, the number of state reserves in the Republic constituted three in 1930, five in 1959, eight in 1971 and 14 in 1990.

Despite the uneven location of the reserves on the territory of the Republic, they cover all the main landscape areas and are of great importance in the protection of model natural complexes. The Republic's reserves protect not only landscapes, but also water areas. Special attention is being paid to the protection of the Kizil-Agach Bay in the Caspian Sea, steppe lakes (Ag-Gel and Shirvan), mountain lakes (Gey-Gel), water reservoirs (Girkan) and rivers.

The territory of each reserve is a representative part of a certain region. It constitutes a necessary element, a link in the solution of tasks on the development of the methodology of balanced ecological regulation of economic activity and environmental quality management.

Biosphere reserves do not exist in the Republic. However, realizing their significance for the preservation and study of the environment, the establishment of such reserves on the bases of the Gizil-Agach and Zakatala reserves is planned.

Biosphere reserves are of great importance as elements in the network of ecological monitoring. They help to identify how deep the changes in the properties of soils, vegetation, natural waters and fauna are, as a result of economical activity. Such changes may be both negative and positive. However, in any case the comparison with a natural model is necessary. This is the purpose of the reserves, the territories of which are excluded from the sphere of economic exploitaition with respect to the peculiarity or unique character of their nature.

The reserves also serve to preserve the gene pool - the most valuable, non—regenerative resources of the biosphere, the exhaustion of which makes it unstable.

A serious obstacle in the development of the theory and practice of reserves was the absence of adequate laws in this field. The law "On the Protection of Nature and Utilization of Natural Resources" was adopted in 1992, initiated by the State Committee for the Environment, where for the first time the status of specially protected natural territories, the rights of state reserves personnel, new procedures for the establishment of these territories and other measures were legally specified in legislation. In accordance with this law, the State Committee for the Environment later prepared and approved the "Provisions of the State Reserves of the Azerbaijan Republic".

After some interval, in order to clarify the number of rare and valuable species of fauna inhabiting the territory of the Republic, the State Committee carried out a new inventory in 1993-1994 with the involvement of leading scientists and specialists in this field. The results of the inventory were discussed and approved in 1994 at a meeting of the scientific council of the State Committee for the Environment.

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 71 NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY I

4.1 State Reserves

Definition: A reserve is a protected natural territory or water area on which the whole natural complex i.e. landscapes which are typical or rare for the given zone, rare and valuable species of animals and plants, etc. are preserved in natural conditions. The main task of a reserve is the preservation and restoration of model natural ecosystems as well as a gene pool of organisms typical for the given zone.

The territory of the reserve should be forever excluded from economic use and all types of economic activity should be prohibited in the reserve, including hunting, felling of trees, pasturization of cattle, trapping animals, hay making, plant gathering, etc..

At present, 14 state reserves with a total area of 191.2 thousand hectares or 2.2% of the total area of the Republic are functioning in Azerbaijan, which cover all the basic natural climatic landscapes and contribute to the preservation of the biodiversity of the Caucasus. It should be noted that the functioning of the reserves is made difficult by a number of problems, first of all those connected with the economic crisis in the Republic.

The most general and acute problems are:

• extremely insufficient financing of environmental protection measures (lack of means for undertaking the biological measures, maintenance of technical conditions of cordons, huntsmen's equipment and transport) • absence of protected areas in the majority of reserves, which considerably reduce the anthropogenic load • preservation of productive activity on part of the reserve territory (Shirvan - oil extraction, cattle pasturization; Ag-Gel, Gizil-Agach - fishery and others), which do not conform to the regulations of the reserve • insufficient size of some reserves for the preservation of biota (Pirkuli, Alti-Agach and others), which limits the successful execution of environmental protection tasks • increase in violations of the reserve regime by poaching, which is interrelated with acute social problems and the general economic situation in the Republic • destruction of the reserve regime as a result of the milirarry conflict and occupation of the reserve territories (Gara-Gel, Basut-Chay).

Below are brief characteristics of the reserves of the Azerbaijan Republic

The Ag-Gel State Reserve. (photo by Zaman Novruz'

11

1

72 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY

Natural Reserves of Azerbaijan

Pirguli Reserve

Gobustan Reserve

— Shirvan Reserve

Kizyil-Agach Reserve

Girkan Reserve

The Ag-Gel State Reserve was established in 1978 for the preservation of migrating routes, areas of wintering and nesting of waterfowl and wader birds, as well as for the breeding of commercial fish species. The area of 4400 hectares covers the water area of the Ag-Gel Lake. The Ag-Gel Lake (white lake) reserve is situated in the Mill steppe of the Kura—Araks Lowland, it may be called an "ornithological oasis": this is not only a reserve area but one of the most important places of wintering in the Republic.

The Ag-Gel Lake is below sea level. It belongs to the flow-channel type of lakes. The flow velocity in channels is 0.5-0.7 m/sec. Due to the abundance of coastal vegetation, the lake belongs to the eutrophic type of water bodies. The lake is not a uniform open water body. It consists of several relatively big (50 hectares and more) stretches connected by channels, which go through reed timbering. There are many islands with an area of 2 to 10 hectares on the stretches, which are densely covered with reeds, salines, cereals and motley grass. As a whole this system extends from 0.04 to 5 km.

The Mill Steppe surrounding the lake is a slightly hilly accumulative plain, where mostly semi- desert and desert vegetation is developed. The climate is of a warm semi-desert and arid steppe type: summer is warm and dry, winter is cool.

The water-swamp vegetation is developed in the Ag-Gel Lake, with a dominance of southern reed, which forms dense, and in some places hardly passable brushwood. Bushes of cattail are

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 73 m NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY developed here. Such water plants as: Myriophyllum spicatum and verticcilatum, Potamogeton crispus and Potamogeton lucens, Ceratophyllum demersum, Utricularia vulgaris, Najadaceae and others are typical.

The following areas and plant groups are distinguished in the reserve: deep water stretches, shallow stretches, reed bushes, islands, salines.

Twenty fish species inhabit the reserve: pike, Erythroculter mongolicus, carp and others. Earlier, when the lake was connected with the Kura River, the Ichthiofauna was richer. Among amphibians, green toad, Hylidae, lake trod and others inhabit the reserve. Among reptiles - the Caspian and swamp turtles, common and water grass-snake occur. There are 134 bird species in the omitofauna of the reserve, including 89 nesting birds. There are more than 30 specimen of Charadriiformes and 24 specimen of Anseriformes. Among the birds occurring here there are species included in the "Red Book" - Francolinus francolinus, white-tailed eagle (Haliaectus albicilla), Phoenicopteri, Branta ruficollis, Platalea leucordia, white pelicans (Pelicanus onocrotalus), Dalmatin pelicans (Pelicanus crispus) and others.

Among mammals, represented by 22 species, wild boar, coypu and jungle cat (Felis chaus) are common. Unique colonial nesting places of Ciconiiformes and totimplate birds (Pelecaniformes) are preserved here, which are of great scientific and practical interest.

The main protected objects are the water-swamp ecosystems of the Ag-Gel Lake, places of mass nesting, places of rest during migration and wintering for waterfowl and coastal birds.

The Alti-Agach State Reserve was established in 1990 on an area of 4.4 thousand hectares for the protection and restoration of the natural complexes of the south-eastern slopes of the Greater Caucasus, the prevention of erosion processes, as well as provision for the reproduction of rare and valuable animal and plant species populations of the Alti—Agach - Khizi tract. 1 90.5% of the territory of the reserve is covered with broad-leaved forests, where oak, beech and hornbeam dominate, which constitute 99% of the forests.

The protected area is inhabited by roe, bear, wild boar, lynx, racoon, hare, fox, marten, wolf and others. It should be noted that the vegetation and fauna of the reserve are studied insufficiently.

The Basutchay State Reserve was established in 1974 on an area of 117 hectares for the protection of a unique platan grove. In October 1980, the area of the reserve was reduced by 10 hectares. It is The Gey-Gel Lake on situated in the Zangelan region in the valley of the Basutchay River in the the Lesser Caucasus. J- (photo - State Committee eastern part of the Lesser Caucasus. for the Environment) At present the area of the reserve is 107 hectares. Its territory mainly covers the river-bed areas of the Basutchay River and stretches for 15 km with a width of 150-200 m.

The valley of the Basutchay River has a slightly asymmetrical structure: the right side is steeper, more moun- tainous, and the left side is a hilly plateau with an absolute height of 700-1,000 m. The terraces of the valley are covered with alluvial drifts and the slopes are divided by tributaries of the river.

The territory of the reserve lies on the border of moderate and arid forests. On the slopes of the right bank of the Basutchay River there are forests

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 74 & f I NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY consisting of Quercus iberica and Cauca- sian hornbeam, while on the hilly plateau of the left bank, forests of Celtic caucasica and Indian Juniper (Juniperus poly- carpos), Pistacia and others are developed. Platan trees have an average age of 170 years, however, there are some real giant trees, which are up to 1,200-1,500 years old. The height of these trees is 50 m with a stem diameter of up to 4 m.

The small area and width of the reserve, the density of population and the develop- ment of neighbouring areas does not practically allow big animals to live within the reserve area.

The main protected object is the unique platan grove, which is the biggest in the world.

Five settlements were located around the reserve, inhabitants of which traditionally considered this platan grove as their private plots. Considerable damage to the platan grove has been caused by cattle pasturization. The Maral-Gel Lake, the Gey-Gel State The Gey-Gel State Reserve was the first Reserve. reserve in Azerbaijan. It was established in (photo - State committee 1925. The fate of this state reserve can for the Environment) serve as an illustrative example of the wrong approach to the organization and functioning of state reserves, their dependence on immediate and determined resolutions. This reserve was liquidated in 1950, and restored again in 1958. Having existed for three years, it was liquidated once again in 1961. On July 14, 1965 the Gay-Gel State Reserve was restored for the third time. However, while restoring the state reserve, the factors contradicting the status of the reserve were not liquidated. Sanitary-recreation estab- lishments, a number of public catering facilities, car parks, etc. were allowed to function on the reserve territory. The reserve area was used as a resting place and recreation area for people. In addition, grass haymaking was carried out on the territory of the reserve. All these factors had a negative impact on the environment of the reserve.

The reserve consists of two territories - main (The Gey-Gel reserve itself) and subsidiary, which is called "The Eldar Pine" Grove. The distance between them is 80-85 km. The subsidiary part of the reserve is protected by the arid forest landscapes on the right bank of the Gabirli River (lory) near the border with the Georgian Republic, where on the slopes of the "Eldar Oyugu" Ridge a unique natural grove of Eldar pine has been preserved. The Eldar pine grove has been protected since the end of the 19th century and this area can be referred to as the oldest specially protected area on the territory of Trans-Caucasia.

The area of the Gey-Gel Sate reserve is 7,131 hectares, of them 3,806 hectares are forest tracts. It is situated in the north-eastern part of the Lesser Caucasus Range at a height of 1,100-3,060 m above sea level. The reserve was established to protect and study the typical landscapes of moun- tain forests and subalpine area of the Lesser Caucasus, provision of the purity of water in the Gey- Gel Lake as a source of drinking water, as well as a unique grove of naturally growing Eldar pine.

On the main territory of the reserve, the relief is mountainous and erosive. The north-eastern slopes of the Mrovdag Ridge are a sequence of longitudinal secondary ridges and deep river valleys. The highest peak is the Kapaz Mountain (3,065 m). In 1139, a strong earthquake destroyed a consi- derable part of this peak. Great boulders fell down and blocked river hollows, including the Agsu

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 75 NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY River. As a result, many lakes appeared, among which was the Gey-Gel Lake. The earthquake completely destroyed Ganja city as well. Not only the lakes remind us of this terrible event, but rocks are spread along the slopes of the Kapaz Mountain creating a spectacular view.

Gey-Gel is the biggest and most beautiful lake in Azerbaijan. It is situated at a height of 1556 m. Its maximum length is 2450 m, width - 525 m, depth - 93 m, length of the coastline - 6,460 m. The area of the lake is 79 hectares, volume of water - 30 million m3, its water is fresh, transparent and seems to be blue, due to which it is called Gey-Gel ("blue lake" in Azeri). As a whole, there are 8 big lakes on the territory of the reserve, the biggest among them are: Maral-Gel (Deer Lake), Zali-Gel (Leech Lake), Gara-Gel (Black Lake). Like Gey-Gel, all of them are surrounded by mountains and each has a different view.

The fauna of the reserve is represented by many species of animals and birds, among which there are: Caucasian red deer, roe (Capreolus capreolus), badger (Meles meles), West-Caucasian auroch, Caucasian goat, brown bear, pine marten (Martes martes) and stone marten (Martes foina), Griffon-vulture, partridge (Alectoris kakelik), Tetraogallus and others. Two species of trout: lake and river trout, are observed in the waters of the reserve. A population of the lake trout (Gey-Gel) was formed in the Gey-Gel Lake and other lakes of this region after their formation in the 12th century. More than 50 species of birds are nesting in the reserve including 35 species in the forest area. The partridge (Alectoris kakelik) and Tetraogallus caspica (included in the Red Book) and others are nesting in the Subalpine and Alpine zones.

The flora of the reserve consists of 420 species of plants including 76 species of wood and bush types. About 20 species of flora are endemic to the Caucasian region. They are:Quercus iberica, Troutfetter's maple, Nizami's dog-rose, Aconitum, Alchemilla, Astragalus, pinks, Ruprech's geranium, and others. The main protected objects are natural complexes of the middle mountain, forest, partially subalpine areas in the region of the northern slopes of the Lesser Caucasus, as well as the ecosystems of the Gey-Gel, Maral-Gel, Zali-Gel and other mountain lakes.

The Girkan State Reserve is in the Lenkoran natural region and protects the landscapes of humid subtropics. It was established in December 1936. Later on its status, total area and name were changed repeatedly and only in June of 1969 was the reserve given independent status and its present name. The total area of the reserve is 2,976 hectares and consists of two parts; its main task is to protect the endemic and rare vegetation of the Girkan type. The main, mountainous part of the reserve occupies an area of 2,815 hectares including the slopes of the Ulas Ridge with a height of up to 980 m above sea level, which is the transversal spur of the Peshtasar Ridge of the Talysh Mountains. The plain part of the reserve (so called "Moscow forest") is situated on the Lenkoran Lowland, at a height of 15-20 m. It protects the only preserved plot of rare lower forest of the Girkan type, which not long ago covered almost the whole Lenkoran Lowland.

The Lenkoran natural region has rich fauna and flora including many rare and endemic species.

Flora of the reserve consists of 1,900 species including 162 endemic, 95 rare and 38 endangered species. There are iron tree, three-thorned acacia (Gleditschia triacanthos), Zelkova, Quercus , jfj* castaneifolia, Ficus hyrcanys, etc..

There are many endemic and rare animals, particularly, among the representatives of ground |p|r mollusks and non-flying insects. The birds endemism is well represented, up to subspecies level, while the species level has a relatively poor representation. The main protected objects are the natural complexes of lowland and low mountainous forest areas of the Lenkoran natural region, including the unique well preserved plot of lower forest, the ecosystem of rare forests of the Girkan type.

The Zakatala State Reserve was established in 1929 on an area of 25218 hectares, including 48 hectares of water reservoirs. During the period of its existence, the reserve has belonged to different organizations and its area and borders have been repeatedly changed. The reserve is situated on the territory of Zakatala and Belocan regions, precisely in the middle part of the southern slope of the Major Caucasian Range, at a height of 650-3,646 m above sea-level. The reserve territory has a complicated relief due to spurs of the major ridge extending to the south and south-east: Agkemal, Katslar, Rochigel, Pichgel, Khalagel, Ruchug, Mrovdag and others, which are separated from each

76 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY other by deep river valleys (canyons). Slopes with a steepness of 40-80ui and more occupy an area of more than 450 hectares; slopes with a steepness of 25- 40m prevail. The relief reflects the activity of glaciers and other forms of erosion. The asymmetry of the river basin is typical: the mountain slopes, deep canyons and valleys are sharply shaped.

The Zakatala reserve was organized with the purpose of protecting and studying the fauna and flora of the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus. The Girkan reserve, The reserve territory is referred to by Khan-Bulag Lake. botanists as the Iberian area of the (photo - State Committee Caucasus flora province. At the end of for the Environment) the Tertiary period, the forests of this area had a different composition, with a considerable touch of elements of the Girkan forests, and were much richer than the present ones. Contemporary flora of the reserve has more than a thousand species. Such representatives of ancient plants as rhododendron yellow, Laurocerasus officinalis, Caucasian billberry-bush, Taxus baccata, maple, Polypodiophyta and others are preserved on this territory. The main forest-forming species of the reserve - Fagus orientalis, as well as Quercus iberica and Corylus colurna are also referred to as ancient plants. The representatives of rare plants: Taxus baccata, apple-tree, ash-tree, birch-tree, alder-tree, cherry- tree, pear-tree and others are observed as well.

The fauna of the reserve is rich in species composition. They are: Dagestan aurochs, chamois, red deer, roe, brown bear, fox, badger, Mustela nivalis, pine marten and stone marten, lynx, squirrel and others. There are 104 species of birds, including some birds of prey: long-eared owl, golden eagle (Aquilla chrysaetos), Cerchneis tinnunculus, Neophron percnopterus, griffon (Gyps fulvus), bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus), black vulture and others. There are some rare, specially protected species of birds: bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus), golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetus), peregrin (Falco peregrinus), Tetraogallus, Accipiter badius, which are registered in the Red Book.

There are 8 species of Amphibians: Triturus cristatus, Pelodytes caucasicus, green and common toads, frogs Caucasian and of Asia Minor and Hylidae. Representatives of reptiles are: grass- snakes, water snakes, Aesculapian snake, blind snake, wood snake (Coluber), five different speciaes of lizards, Coronella austriaca, etc. Pelodytes caucasicus and Coluber are included in the Red Book.

The main protected objects are the preserved natural complexes of the middle and, partially, lower mountainous forests of subalpine, alpine and neval belts of the southern macroslopes of the Greater Caucasus, as well as diverse fauna and flora including a range of species and subspecies documented in the Red Book.

The Ilisu State Reserve was established in 1987 on an area of 9.2 thousand hectares for the protection and restoration of the natural complex of the central part of the southern macroslopes of the Greater Caucasus; the preservation of rare and endangered species of flora and fauna, and the localization of centers of erosion to lessen the threat of mud flows.

The relief is formed by a combination of mountain ridges and deep river valleys. The climate is conditioned by the geographical location of the territory, which is protected from the north by the Major Caucasus Ridge, the area's height amplitude and the highly indented relief. The favorable climatic conditions (soft winter, mild summer, warm spring and autumn, plenty of precipitation during the vegetation period, absence of prolonged droughts and strong frosts) contribute to the forming of luxiurant vegetation, particularly, forest vegetation.

STATE OFTHE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 77 NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY

The Zakalala reserve, the Katekh River. (photo - State Committee for the Environment)

The main protected objects are the natural complexes of the middle mountainous area of the macroslopes of the Greater Caucasus.

On the territory of the reserve there are about 300 vascular plants with more than 90 species of the arboreal-shrub type. The flora of the reserve includes medicinal (about 50 species), endemic, rare and endangered species. The yew-tree (Taxus baccata) and Radde birch are included in the Red Book. 93% of the state reserve is under broad-leaved forests. Dominating are oak, beech and hornbeam. Also, there are lime, nut, chestnut, ash, maple, etc.. More than 150 species of verte- brates inhabit the territory of the reserve and its fauna is the same as that of the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Range. On the territory of the reserve there are aurochs, deer, chamois, roe, bear, wild bear, marten and others. Its rivers are inhabited by Forella, Barbus, etc.. Amphibians are represented by tree-frog, green and common toad, frogs of Asia Minor and the Caucasus. Reptiles are represented by 12 species. The territory of the reserve is inhabited by more than 90 species of birds belonging to 11 orders: black hawk, goshawk (Accipiter gentilis), kite, golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetus), Gypaetus peregrinus, bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus), black vulture (Aegypius monachus), peregrin (Falco peregrinus), eagle owl (Bubo bubo), long-eared owl (Asio otus), scops owl (Otus scops), Picnae, etc.. There are more than 60 species of passeriformes. Six species of vertebrates are included in the Red Book: wood snake (Coluber), golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetus), bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus), duck hawk (Falco peregrinus), etc..

The Ismailli State Reserve was established in 1981 on an area of 5778 hectares for the protection of the natural complexes of the central part of the southern slopes of the Major Caucasus Range. It consists of two parts; the distance between them is about one kilometer. The Topchi area is situated at a height of 800-2250 m above sea-level. Its length is 18 km, its width is 6 km and area is 5589 hectares. The Galigchi area is situated in the eastern part of the Alazan—Agrichai valley, at a height of 600-650 m and mis part protects mainly the natural forests of Quercus castaneifolia. The organization of this reserve was conditioned by the necessity to protect, restore, study and reproduce the rare and endangered species of this region's fauna and flora.

The Topchi area has a mountainous relief; and the ridges and valleys of meridian direction alternate with plateaus. With the increase in the absolute height of the area, sediments of quaternary, tertiary, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods alternate with each other. In the Galinchi area quarternary sediments with tertiary terrigenic and carbonate strata prevail.

78 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY The vegetation of this region was formed during the quaternary period but the local flora has preserved some tertiary species, for example, Taxus baccata and Quercus castaneifolia are included in the Red Book.

If In the Gallinchi area, forests of oak-trees and hornbeam-trees are developed. The typical species of Girkan flora - Quercus castaneifolia, which grows here, is of particular interest. 112 hectares of the territory are forests consisting of this tree.

The forest species are mainly represented by beech, hornbeam and oak; also there are forests of maple and ash. The rare forests of the tertiary period, which consist of Taxus baccata and Quercus castaneifolia are of particular value. During the last century forests of this area were intensively felled. This resulted in the replacement of beech-oak forests by hornbeam and oak-hornbeam forests with underbrush of shrubbery and bushes of hawthorn, cornel, dog-rose, meddler, cherry- plum and others.

There are approximately 170 species of vertebrates in the reserve. In its rivers there are Forelle, barbus and others. Amphibians are represented by six (6) species. Triturus cristatus, which are rare in Azerbaijan, inhabit the forest zone. There are 17 species of reptiles in the reserve: swamp turtles, Caspian and Mediterranian turtles, Coluber jugularis, Coluber najadum, banded chicken snake •;|| (Elaphe quadrivittatus), Telescopus or Tarbophis caucasicus, Vipera lebetina and Coronella austriaca.

According to preliminary data there are 104 species of birds belonging to 13 orders. Such rare birds as Aquila chrysaetus, Gypaetus barbatus, etc. are nesting here.

The mammal fauna has been studied insufficiently. Little data exists on cheiroptera, insectivorous rodents. There are brown bear, wolf, jackal, marten, badger, red deer, roe, wild boar, chamois, Dagestan aurochs and others.

The reserve territory cannot be considered as a model of forest landscapes on the southern slopes of the Major Caucasian Ridge. Long-lasting human interference with the natural environment has had an impact on both the lowland and highland parts of the reserve. In many areas virgin forests were replaced by secondary forests, where mainly hornbeam trees grow. The upper border of the forest was lowered; the structure of vegetation in the subalpine areas has been subject to consi- derable changes. The small area of the reserve does not allow any hope for natural development in the population of large animals. But the establishment of the reserve made it possible to reduce the anthropogenic load and stop the further degradation of the ecosystem.

The Gara-Gel State Reserve was established in 1987 on an area of 0.3 thousand hectares for the protection of the unique ecosystem of the rare mountain Gara-Gel Lake, which is of glacier origin, and to guarantee the safety of the surrounding natural complex. The main protected objects are the ecosystems of the mountain Gara-Gel Lake.

The Ishigli-Gara-Gel Lake is situated at a height of 2,658 m above sea-level in the southern part of the Karabakh volcanic plateau near the foothills of several mountains with a height of 3,200- 3,500 m. The lake is a relict water reservoir, which was formed in the crater of an extinct volcano. The length of the lake is 1,950 m, its maximum width is 1,250 m, the length of its coastline is 5,500 m, maximum depth - 7.8 m, volume of water - 10 million m3, area of the lake 13 km2. Water flow is mainly due to melted snow and rain water, partially spring water.

In terms of botany and geography the Karabakh Plateau is situated between the Caucasian and Armenian-Iran provinces, which determine the specifics of the local flora.

The flora of the reserve includes 102 species and subspecies of vascular plants from 68 genera and 27 families. Such poorness of flora is explained by the fact that the reserve covers only the lake, and many rare and endemic species grow beyond the reserve area, but close to its borders. The vegetation of the coastal area of the lake is represented mainly by meadow communities with the dominance of Trifolium and Tragacantha and Astragalus. The water-swamp flora and vegetation are poorly expressed because of the absolute height of the area. There are only two species of plants in the lake: Polygonum amphibium and Ranunculus.

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 79 NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY In 1967, a type of Sevan trout, included in the Red Book, was introduced into the lake. The reserve is an inter-republic reserve. The reserve is under occupation.

It should be noted that adjacent to the the borders of the reserve there are areas with rare and endangered species of plants such as Euphrasia, Potentilla and others.

The Gara-Yaz State Reserve was established in 1978, on an area of 4.9 thousand hectares for the protection and restoration of the Kura tugay forests.

The Gara-Yaz reserve is in the western part of Azerbaijan. Its territory covers the flood lands of the Kura River and the Gara-Yaz Lowland on the left bank of the Kura River. In the region where the reserve is situated, the tugay forest and steppe lowland landscapes are typical. In the past, a continuous line of tugay forests extended along the middle and lower reaches of the Kura River, which was surrounded by forests to an extent of 600 km.

The territory of the reserve is part of the quaternary accumulative lowland, sloping slightly to the Kura River. Here the climate is that of moderate warm semi-desert and arid steppe, for which a warm and dry summer and moderate winter are typical.

The main protected objects are the biggest tract of tugay forests of the middle reaches of the Kura River and the rare and endangered ecosystems of tugay. Along the river, shrubbery of willow, hawthorn, barberry, Elaeagnus and others grow.

Multi-layer tugays, where the main wood species - Populus alba, oak, alder, bastard acacia (Robinia psuedoacacia) grow, are widely spread. II "S8. Several zones can be distinguished in the complex of tugay vegetation of the reserve: oak-trees (850 hectares), poplar (560 hectares), acacia - consisting of bastard acacia (Robinia pseudoacacia) (390 hectares), elm-tree (167 hectares), asp-trees (13 hectares) and willow (5 hectares). The process of the regeneration of tugay forests is slow, with 7-8 thousand trees per one hectare in the oak forests and even less in the poplar forests.

The average age of trees in the oak forests is 90 years, the poplar trees — 60 years. There are humid poplar forests with lianas (Clematis vitalba, Smilax excelsa, forest grape), elm-poplar forests with shrub underbrush and others. The liana-poplar forests are distinguished by their high productivity; there are giant-trees with a height of 35-40 m and diameter up to 2.5 m.

The fauna of the reserve is specified. Among the fish in the Kura River there are: carp, sazan, pike- perch, sheat-fish, pike, trout, Hypophthalmictys molitrix and others. The amphibians are rep- resented by six species, reptiles by 10 species, birds by more than 70 species, including about 50 species of Passeriformes. Among hoofed animals mere are wild boar and red deer. Not long ago deer were widely spread in the forestry regions of the Republic. At present in the western part of life the Republic deer are found only in the Gara-Yaz forests. Among predators there are wolves, jackals, foxes, weasels, stone marten, jungle cat (Felis chaus), European wild cat and badger. There are also hedge-hog, European hare and coypu. Among birds there are white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), imperial eagle (Aquila heliaca), black stork (Ciconia nigra), pheasant (Phasianus) and partridge (Alectoris kakelik). Coluber caucasicus, bustard (Otides) and Caucasian subspecies of otter (Lutranae) which are included in the Red Book.

The Gara-Yaz reserve is the only reserve of tugay forests in the Republic, the state of which is of great importance. Due to the reserve regime, their condition is gradually improving. However, the reserves have much less influence on the population of big mammals and birds, because the area of the reserve is too small, and the reserve regime is often violated.

The Kizil-Agach State Reserve is situated on the south-western coast of the Caspian on an area of 88.4 thousand hectares including 62 hectares of water area. It was established in 1929 for the protection and reproduction of wintering and migratory waterfowl, wader and steppe birds. In 1975, the reserve was classified as being of international significance, mainly as a habitat for water- fowl and coastal birds. The territory of the reserve is an important place for the rest and wintering of migratory birds in the Caspian region, where many bird species from northern Europe stay.

80 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY A typical feature of the Kizil-Agach reserve is the extreme dynamic connected between the variation in the level of the Caspian Sea, the wandering of the Kura and Araks River beds, and anthropogenic activity. At present the territory of the reserve is rather plain coastal lowland, which is below the level of the world ocean with a different set of natural and artificial water reservoirs. The maximum height is in the Kulagin area in the center of the reserve - 24.5 m below sea-level; the minimum height varies depending on the level of the Caspian and during the period of the reserve's existence has ranged from 26 to 29 m; in 1995 it was 26.4 m. At present the relief of the reserve is characterized by the alternation of low (up to 1 m) ridges and open hollows and old silty river beds. In some places there are separated former river-beds - akhmazes; for the northern part shores - plain lowerings with salines are typical.

There are 248 species of birds in the reserve, including Francolinus francolinus, grey goose (Anser anser), white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons), Little bustard (Otis tetrax), Plegadis falcinellus, Platalea leucorodia, Nycticorax nycticorax, Phoenicopteri, Branta ruficallis, peregrin falcon (Falco peregrinus), Pelecanidae, buff-backed herons (Cochlearis cochlearis), pond herons (Ardeola ralloides), swans and others.

The rise in the level of the Caspian has resulted in the formation of vast shallow gulfs with rich feeding grounds, due to which the number of wintering waterfowl has increased. The great concentration of ducks and coots on the open areas of the gulfs, pink flocks of feeding flamingos (Phoenicopteri), white clouds of swans, white herons standing alone in the water, Rallidoe and numerous other Limicolae are typical features of a winter view of the Kizil-Agach reserve. On the migration route along the western coast of the Caspian great flocks of migratory birds feed and rest. Ducks and swans are attracted by the shallow waters rich in subwater vegetation and mollusks. jri Flocks of geese and little bustard (Otis tetrax) feed in the semi-deserts. The mild climate creates favorable conditions for the wintering of hundreds of bird species. In some years 5-7 million birds I 1 have wintered here. There are also wild boar, wolf, jackal, jungle cat, badger, otter, fox and other mammals. r "*1 •I There are 54 species of fish in the water bodies of the reserve: sazan, pike perch, Rutilus frisii kutum, Mugilidae, Salmonidae and others.

The Pirguli State Reserve was organized in 1968 for the protection of the typical natural complexes 1 t and landscapes of the Shamakha Plateau, which is one of the most beautiful regions of the south- ^ ~ eastern part of the Major Caucasian Ridge. The area of the reserve is 1,521 hectares, 1,362 hectares of which are forest tracts, where 45 rare and endemic species occur. The reserve consists of 3 parts: Arakhchi - situated on the slopes of the Gait and Girkh-bulag mountains in the upper area of the forest tract (1,600-2,000 m above the sea- level); Pirguli - which covers the forest part of the Pirguli mountain (1,500 m) and is represented by a landscape of middle area forest tract, and Djangi which is a low mountainous plot covering the whole northern slope of the Djangi mountain (800-1100 m).

The Greater Caucasus Ridge, Ismailli Reserve. (photo - State Committee for the Environment)

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 81 1 NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY The relief of the reserve area is mountainous, strongly indented; watershed ridges alternate with canyons of a depth of 600 m. There are several rock denudations, landslides and small ravines of mud flow origin.

The main protected objects are: forest ecosystems preserved near the eastern border of the modern forest area on the southern (south-eastern) macroslopes of the Greater Caucasus; also some species of flora and fauna, such as Taxus baccata which are included in the Red Book. The dendraflora of the reserve accounts for 60 species, of which Caucasian hornbeam, oriental beech (Fagus orientalis), Quercus iberica are the main forest forming types of trees.

The animal world of the reserve is practically unstudied, there is only some information about the fauna of the mammals. Among insectivorous species there are Crocidura, common hedge-hog and mole. There are seven species of rodents. Among predatory mammals there are brown bear, wolf, jackal, fox, lynx, badger, pine and stone marten and weasel. The hyena, which is a rare species for the whole Caucasus fauna has been observed here. Wild boar and roe, also chamois and red deer live in the reserve permanently.

The natural environment, where the Pirguli reserve is currently situated, has been exposed to evident anthropogenic changes during the last centuries. Vast territories of forests have been felled, in some places they were replaced by secondary, mainly hornbeam forests. In many places there are meadows located after forests. Erosion processes have increased and became more widespread. Also the water reserves in springs and rivers have decreased. Elimination of forest felling and a certain regulation of cattle pasturization stopped the process of natural degradation, and with the establishment of the reserve the natural landscape has started to be restored.

The Pirguli reserve cannot be considered as an environmental model in the southern slopes of the Major Caucasian Ridge near its eastern boundaries. The reserve territory is too small and does not cover the whole complex of local landscapes. Besides, the reserve is very poorly planned (there are three isolated areas).

The Turian-Chay State Reserve was established in 1958 on an area of 12630 hectares, for the ip•a f£.\:'3i' protection and restoration of arid-arch light forests and other natural resources; and for the localization of centers of erosion at the foothills. The reserve is situated on the spurs of the Buz- Dag Ridge, in the southern foothills of the Greater Caucasus, on the right bank of the Turian-Chay River in the Agdash area of the Republic. Its territory lies at a height of 400-650 m above sea- level and extends for 35 km from east to west and for 5 km from north to south.

The reserve is situated in an area of semi-desert and arid light forests, which mainly consist of pis- tachio, juniper, oak, having an important soil protecting, water protecting and climatic significance.

In the relief of the reserve low lowland mountains dominate with the peaks: Pirsei-Dag (609 m), -S3 Nulbon-Dug (437 m), Archan-Dag (476 m), Olmes-Dag (544 m) and others. As a rule they have m steep, in some places denudated eroded slopes, and are separated by deep narrow valleys. The northern slopes are more gentle and covered with forests; the southern slopes are steep and strongly eroded. In general the process of wind erosion has developed on the territory of the reserve.

On the territory of the reserve 60 species of trees and bushes grow. The main types of sparsely growing trees are: Pistacia, Indian juniper (Juniperus polucarpus), prickly juniper (Juniperus oxicedrus), Quercus iberica, ash-tree, Celtis caucasicus and pomegranate. Moreover, Quercus iberica, Populus, willow, alder, Elaeagnus and other trees also grow in this area. Two dendraflora species of the reserve - Juniperus and pomegranate are included in the Red Book.

There are 24 species of mammals and 112 species of birds, 20 species of reptiles and 3 species of amphibians in the reserve. Among the birds there are partridge (Alectoris kakelik), Columbi- formes, Cercheneis tinnunculus, griffon (Gyps fulvus), black vulture (Aegypius monachus) and others. Among mammals there are wild boar, brown bear, badger, stone marten, lynx, jackal, European wild cat, hare and others. Among reptiles there are: Coluber jugularis and Vipera lebetina. Along the former river-beds and channels the Caspian turtle can be found, and on the slopes of the mountain the Mediterranean turtle can be observed, which, as well as the Coluber caucasicus, is included in the Red Book.

82 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY I

The Gara-Yaz state reserve. iphoto • State Committee for !he Environment)

The main protected objects are the model natural complexes of the Boz-Dag Ridge with the developed pistachio-arch light forests, areas of semi-desert, arid steppe and tugay vegetation.

The state of arid light forests on the Boz-Dag are of great concern primarily because in spite of the productivity of the majority of tree species, including juniper, the regeneration of these forests in general is very slow. The establishment of the Turian-Chay reserve brought about an improvement in the situation with the regeneration of these forests. During the 40 years of the reserve's existence the pistachio-juniper light forest has extended its area and the general quality of trees has increased. The replacement of juniper by pistachio has almost stopped. Shrubbery and herbage have also developed well, considerably reducing the process of soil erosion.

The Shirvan State Reserve was established in 1969 for the protection and reproduction of the Persian gazelle (Gazella sulgutturosa), waterfowl birds and typical plant biotypes of the Shirvan Lowland. The area is 25800 hectares, of which 3500 hectares are water reservoirs. The territory of the reserve used to be at the bottom of the Caspian and at present it is an accumulative plain, which is 20-25 m below sea-level with a slight increase in the relief westwards. In terms of climate the reserve lies in an area of moderate warm semi—desert and arid steppe, Summer is hot and dry, winter is moderate and dry.

In the reserve there are several types of vegetation. The desert type is represented by Halocnemum, Halostachys and Salicornia formations developed on solonchaks. Halocnemum vegetation occupies about 40% of the territory of the reserve. The main species is the Halocnemum strobilaceum. The Halostachys phytocenosis has a more complicated structure and a richer species composition than halocnemum. At the tops of the hills the halostachys grows, and the slopes are covered by cereals and motley grass from the ephemeral group.

Salicornia vegetation has developed in a small area of the central part of the reserve as a result of m wet salines and the high level of ground waters. As well as Salicornia europaea, there is also frankeniya and tonkokhvostnik.

The semi—desert type of vegetation is represented by formations of sveda and ephemeral wormwood. The latter formation, which occupies 40% of the reserve area has the richest species composition. Wormwood dominates, and among ephemera 20-25 species are met, including mant cereals: Poa bulbosa, Bromus, wall barley (Hordeum leporinum), etc..

Meadow-type vegetation is developed in the reserve on chals (humid lowerings of the relief). The herbage is two-layered and is formed of Alhagi (first layer) and Aeluropus repens (second layer). In some places Artemisia and wall barley (Hordeum leporinum) are found.

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 33 NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY The fauna is poorly studied. Among amphibians there are green toad, Hylidae and lake frog. Among reptiles there are swamp, Caspian and Mediterranean turtles, lizard, water snake (Natrix natrix) and water snake, Vipera lebetina and others. The ornitofauna is poorly studied, but according to existing data there are bustard (Otides), Francolinus francolinus, little bustard (Otis tetrax), white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), steppe eagle (Aquila nipalensis), peregrin (Falco peregrinus), saker falcon (Falco cherrug) and Pterocletes orientalis. In winter, there are many migratory birds on the water bodies: gray goose (Anser anser), mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchus), pintail (Anas acuta) and others.

Among rare mammal species there are Persian gazelle (Gazella sulgutturosa), wild boar, wolf, jackal, jungle cat (Felis chaus), fox, badger, European hare and others. Persian gazelle (Gazella sulgutturosa), Francolinus francolinus, bustard (Otidis), little bustard (Otis tetrax), white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), steppe eagle (Aquila nipalensis), peregrin (Falco peregrinus), saker falcon (Falco cherrug) and Mediterranean turtle are listed in the Red Book.

The main protected objects are the natural semi— desert complexes of the south-eastern Shirvan, with the world's biggest population of Persian gazelle (Gazella sulgutturosa) and the water- wading ecosystem, which is a place of nesting, a migration route and wintering area for many valuable bird species (western part of the Shor-Gel Lake).

4.2 State Protected Areas

Definition: A State Protected Area is a temporarily protected natural territory or water area, on which certain species of animals and plants, geological objects, elements of landscape, etc. are preserved.

The organization of protected areas in Azerbaijan can be dated back to the mid-twentieth century, when the Shah established special lands for the protection of the animal population. The first protected area on the territory of the Caucasus was organized in 1910, when the Countess P. S. Uvaroae suggested declaring the territory of Eldar pine grove on the slopes of the Ellar-Ogli Ridge (the terrotiry where the reserve is currently functioning) a protected area. The first reserve was established with the purpose of protecting the relict Eldar pine grove. Unlike reserves, protected areas are established on lands where forestry, agriculture and other practices are allowed, usually for a certain period of time, which is specified while establishing the area. Economical activity in protected areas is allowed only to an The Turian-Chay extent which does not damage the protec- state reserve. ted objects. At present there are 20 (photo - State Committee protected areas in Azerbaijan with a total for the Environment) area of more than 260,000 hectares, the first of which was established in 1923 (the Kara-Yaz-Akstafa), the last in 1993 (Gabala). Protected areas considerably supplement the reserve system providing the preservation of flora and fauna resources of the country and the biodiver- sity of natural communities.

The Gara-Yaz-Akstafa area was estab- lished in 1923 on an area of 17.9 hectares for the preservation and restoration of the Caucasian red deer, Phasianus, Fran- colinus francolinus and others.

The area is situated in a zone of tugay forests in the middle reaches of the Kura River on the border with Georgia, and with respect to its flora and fauna composition it is similar to the Kara-Yaz state reserve adjacent to it.

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY The Barda protected area was established in 1966 on an area of 7.6 hectares in the Barda and Agdash regions of the Republic at the base of the Ayridjan protected area, which had existed since 1930 on forestry lands. The main purpose of the area is the preservation and restoration of the number of Phasianus, Francolinus francolinus and hare. This protected area is referred to as a fauna type area.

The Sheki protected area was established in 1954 on an area of 9.1 thousand hectares on the lands of the Sheki district of the Republic. It is refered to as a fauna type of protected area, and serves to protect and restore the number of Pheasants (Phasianus) and other valuable birds.

The Glinani island protected area was established in 1961 on an area of 2,000 hectares on an island in the Caspian Sea near the Apsheron Peninsula. It is referred to as a fauna type of protected area and serves to protect migratory and wintering waterfowl birds, sea-gull colonies and Caspian seal rookeries.

The Byandovan protected area was established in 1961 on an area of 30,000 hectares in the boundary zone of the Salyan and Garadag districts of the Republic. It is referred to as of the fauna type and has been established for the protection and restoration of the number of Persian gazelle (Gazella sulgutturosa), waterfowl birds and Little bustard (Otis tetrax). It borders the Shirvan state reserve. In its fauna and flora it is similar to the Shirvan reserve.

The Gerchay protected area was established in 1961 on an area of 15,000 hectares on the lands of the Khanlar and Kasum-Ismailli regions of the Republic for the protection of the population of Persian gazelle (Gazella sulgutturosa).

The Lachin protected area was established in 1961 on an area of 20,000 hectares in the Lachin district of Azerbaijan which borders with Armenia. The main purpose is the preservation and restoration of the number of bezoar goat (Capra aegagrus), Caucasian brown bear, wild boar and hare. At present the territory of the protected area is under occupation.

The Gusar protected area was established in 1964 on an area of 15,000 hectares for the preservation and restoration of the number of grey partridge (Perdix perdix), pheasants (Phasianus), roe, wild boar, and hare on the lands of the Gusar district of the Azerbaijan Republic.

The Shamkhor protected area was established in 1964 on an area of 10,000 hectares for the preservation and restoration of the number of pheasants (Phasianus), Francolinus francolinus, partridge (Alectoris kakelik), waterfowl birds on the lands of the Shamkhor district of Azerbaijan, which is situated in the zone of the Lesser Caucasus Range.

The Ag-Gel protected area was established in 1964 on an area of 7.5 thousand hectares for the preservation and restoration of the number of nesting, migratory and wintering birds, waterfowl- wader birds, little bustard (Otis tetrax), wild boar and others in the coastal areas of the Ag-Gel Lake, which is situated in the Agjabedi and Beylogan districts of Azerbaijan. It is a fauna protected area, the flora and fauna of which are similar to the Ag-Gel reserve.

The Apsheron protected area was established in 1969 on an area of 0.8 thousand hectares for the protection and restoration of the number of migratory and wintering waterfowl-wader birds, as well as to protect Caspian seal rookeries in the Azizbekov district of Baku.

The Zuvand protected area was established in 1969 on an area of 15 thousand hectares for the protection and restoration of the number of pheasant (Phasianus), partridge (Alectoris kakelik), roe, wild boar, Transcaucasian brown bear, leopard and rare reptile species on the lands of the Leric and Yardimli districts of Azerbaijan.

The Ismailli protected area was established in 1969 on an area of 40 thousand hectares for the protection and restoration of the number of Caucasian red deer, chamois, goat, roe, wild boar, Transcaucasian brown bear, marten, Caucasian black cock, Tetraogallus and others in the Ismailli and Gabala districts of Azerbajan on the southern slopes of the Major Caucasian Ridge. The flora and fauna are similar to those of the Ismailli reserve.

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 85 w:

NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY The Gubadli protected area was established in 1969 for the preservation and restoration of vi the number of Caucasian brown bear, bezoar m: goat (Capra aegagrus), wild boar, roe and others on the lands of the Gubadli and Lachin regions of Azerbaijan. At present the territory of the protected area is under occupation.

The Ordubad protected area was established in 1969 (Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic) on an area of 40,000 hectares for the preservation and restoration of the number of Transcaucasian moufflon, bezoar goat (Capra aegagrus), Leopard, brown bear, Transcau— casian heath cock, hyena and Tetraogallus. All these species are listed in the Red Book of the Republic.

The small Kizil-Agach protected area was established in 1978 on a territory of 10.7 thousand hectares in the Kizil-Agach bay in the Lenkoran-Astara zone of Azerbaijan for the protection and restoration of the number of wintering, migrating, and wintering waterfowl-wader and coastal birds, including The Kizil-Agach reserve, rare and endangered species. It borders the plegadis falcinellus. Kizil-Agach reserve and has similar flora (photo byZaman Novruz) and fauna.

The Kiziljan protected area was established in 1984 in the Gedabek district of Azerbaijan on an area of 5.1 thousand hectares for the protection and restoration of natural complexes on the eastern slopes of the Lesser Caucasian Range, also for the restoration of the number of rare and endemic •species of plants and animals.

The Dashalti protected area was established in 1988 on an area of 0.45 thousand hectares in the Shusha and Askeran districts of Azerbaijan for the preservation of the unique natural complex and landscapes of the Lesser Caucasus. At present it has been severely damaged due to the military conflict. It was occupied in 1992.

The Arazboyu protected area was established in 1993 on an area of 2.2 thousand hectares for the protection and restoration of the unique natural complex of the Araks tugay forests. At present it is under ocupation and is on the verge of complete degradation.

The Gabala protected area was established in 1993 in the Gabala district of the Republic on an area of 39.7 thousand hectares for the preservation of forest landscapes on the southern slopes of the Major Caucasus Ridge and the restoration of the number of rare and endangered species of flora and fauna.

4.3 Natural Monuments

Definition: Natural monuments are the most characteristic and best preserved small areas of typical landscapes; natural places distinguished by particular beauty which are of particular aesthetic value; mPmi certain areas of endemic, relict and endangered species of flora; century-old trees; examples of landscape architecture; water falls; caves; lakes which are unique in genesis and morphology; original geological exposition of mountainous rocks; places of paleonthological remains and other objects and complexes of great historical, practical scientific or cultural-educational value; individual areas of natural forests with particularly valuable tree and bush species; individual areas of artificial plantations having environmental, scientific or aesthetic value; some springs of under- ground waters; and other remarkable sights of nature, situated on the territory of the Azerbaijan Republic.

86 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY In the Azerbaijan Republic certain natural complexes and sights are protected by the state in accordance with the adopted list of "natural monuments". On this list are 2,083 trees of more than 100 years of age; 37 geological and paleontological objects and more than 15 thousand hectares of model indigenous types, endemic, relict species and valuable areas of forests. All these objects are being protected and the State Committee for the Environment has registered and issued a passport for each "natural monument", and the local organs of executive power ensure their protection.

Centuries-old trees officially registered as "natural monuments" are mainly represented by 150- 800 year old Platanus orientals. The majority of such trees are 200-500 years old. At the same time this document includes many relict and endemic species such as: Zelkova - 250-400 years; Celtis- 300-600 years; box-tree - 200-300 years; black walnut (Juglans nigra) - 200-300 years. In this list there are many species which are widespread not only in the Caucasus: oak, ash, lime, maple, nut and others, which have an age of more than 150 years.

In the Republic, special attention is paid to those areas of forest and natural communities, which are specified in the "Natural Monuments" list as being of particular value. There are 30 such items in the document. Among them are:

• Pistacia grove in the Barda region - the unique botanical object belonging to mezofil forest formations, the age of the trees is 370-450 years • The box-tree grove in the Astara region - the representative of the ancient Hyrcan flora, relict grove of the tertiary period. Communities with evergreen species of the Buxus hyrcana, Taxus baccata, Ruscus and Ilex. The average age of the box-tree (Buxus) is 200-300 years • The platan forest in the Belocan region - is a relict forest of the tertiary period, it has an extreme value for studying the history of the flora in a natural platan forest, the age of the trees is 50 to 250 years

The gall oak (Quercus araxina) in the Zangelan region is an endangered species and is observed only in the tugay forests on the bank of the Araks River.

Oak, pine and beech areas of the forest are also included in the "Natural Monuments" list as are areas of natural forests, where the age of trees is more than 200 years.

Among 37 geological (paleontological) "Natural Monuments" under state protection are:

• Nine (9) caves, including the "Azikh" cave, where the Neolithic site of primitive man and stone- carved drawings were discovered

• Unique geological formations, such as the "Mountain of Baku layer" - with a classic section of lower anthropogenic deposits and of a thickness of 70 m, which is referred to in geological lite- rature as a strata—typical; "Visuvian hill". Here well formed crystals of rare minerals - vesuvian, tourmaline and others were found. Also, the "Tengin canyon", with a depth of 406 m, consisting of marble, the origin of which is associated with limestone; four (4) mud volcanoes "Lokbatan", a mud volcano with a small number of eruptions (20) situated at a height of 130 m above the sea- level, and which, unlike other mud volcanoes, does not have a griffon stage; "Irantekan", one of the most interesting volcanoes of Gobustan, is situated on the boundary of the Kura Lowland on the south-western hill of the Alat Ridge and is like a bastion; and specific mud volcanoes of Gobustan - "Kanizadak", "Dashkil", and "Afurja waterfall", which is the most beautiful natural phenomenon on the Valvali-Chay River, where water falls from a height of 60 m

• paleonthological objects such as "Binagadi Asphalt Lake" — the habitat of quaternary flora and fauna. According to the number of species and due to good conditions it is referred to as the richest deposit in the world. In this area 263 species of fossil flora and fauna were revealed; "Perikushkul deposits of fossil fauna" — a unique accumulation of the remains of marine animals, turtles, cetacean fish, insects and plants, which are associated with the Micope deposits represented by clays and argillaceous slates and others

In 1994-1995 the State Committee for the Environment carried out an inventory of "Natural Monuments", which has revealed a rapid reduction in the number of century-old trees and a degradation of valuable forest areas. From the previous 2,083 trees, at present there remain 1,810;

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 87 NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY from 37 geological-paleontological objects there remain 35, and instead of 15,097 hectares of valuable forest area only 6,944 hectares remain. The main reason for the fast reduction of protected objects is the military conflict, as a result of which 20% of the territory of the Republic is under occupation. On the occupied territories there are more than 150 century-old trees, 13197.5 hectares of valuable forest areas and six (6) geological objects. It is obvious that without protection and special measures, all these "Natural Monuments" will remain in a critical state or will be destroyed.

It is also necessary to state that changes in the climate, the rise in the level of ground waters, as well as the strengthening of the anthropogenic load have resulted in the death of almost a hundred century-old trees.

...

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STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT The outburst of social activity at the beginning of 1990, the establishment of numerous national democratic organizations and movements conditioned by the political crisis in the Former Soviet Union (FSU) were focused on solving the problem of the sovereignty of the former Soviet Republics. Democratization and Glasnost, as well as a progressive openness in society became the main factors of national renewal. Under their influence in the Republic, fundamentally new social and political conditions have been formed and all social processes have intensified.

The escalation of the conflict over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh has resulted in an acceleration of inflation, an aggravation of the economic crisis, as well as the appearance of insoluble social problems (presence of more than one million IDP's). The growth in social discontent and the necessity to find a way out of the social-political crisis, which brought the Republic to the verge of civil war, ended in recognition by the whole nation of Heydar Aliyev as a national political leader, who has great practical experience and high political prestige in the world. The election of Heydar Aliyev as the President of the Azerbaijan Republic and the formation through democratic elections in 1995 of a new Parliament - Milli Mejlis, marked the end of the first stage of the restoration of Azerbaijan's independence and statehood.

Among the most remarkable and important phenomena observed recently in the public conscience, is the increase in interest in environmental issues, and the expansion of the social basis of advocates for the ecologically sound development of the country. The policy of glasnost and openness pursued by the State Committee for the Environment, has contributed to the increase in the public's environmental knowledge and an understanding of the acuteness and seriousness of the Republic's ecological problems. Under the conditions of democratic society, old forms of social organizations, such as the Environmental Protection Society, which was established in the 1960's and has been actively functioning since then, and which was adequate for the Communist Regime of that time, has turned out to be out-dated and incapable of rapid restructuring, and it has therefore lost its leading position.

Concern over serious ecological problems and clear discontent expressed by the general public over the insufficiency of measures taken for the normalization of the ecological situation in the Republic, as well as a demand for more intensive actions, were an impetus for the activation of existing public organizations and structures for the protection of the environment and the establishment of new ones.

In the process of building an ecological mentality in the society during this period, an important role has been played by public ecological movements in the Republic such as the Republican Society for the Protection of Nature and The Society of Hunters and Fishermen.

For the last few years, an informal ecological organization, the "Green Movement in Azerbaijan" has been in existence. A group of its active members came up with the initiative to form a Green Party of Azerbaijan in order to lobby for Parliamentary action and legislative initiatives. The Green Party was organized in 1993 and during the period since then, it has become the mass ecological organization of the Republic, which plays an active role in the socio-political life of the Republic. It should be noted that the Green Party is focused on organizational inner-Party problems and rendering assistance to the solution of the paramount environmental problems in the Republic.

In the activity of the Green Party of Azerbaijan, there is a clear tendency of transition from local objectives and directions to those of a more complex and multinational character. The goals and

STATE OFTHE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 89 CREATING A NEW ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS IN AZERBAIJAN tasks of the Party are becoming more consistent with international ecological tendencies. The Party's activities have various directions. The most typical aspects of its activity are:

• collection and distribution of reliable information on the environment, and the ecological education of the population

• organization of independent ecological expertise for projects and decisions, drawing up alternative plans and projects, ecologization of the decisions through participation in the decision making process

• public control over the state of the environment, quality of food products, observance of legislation on environmental protection and management decisions

• formation and expression of public opinion on ecological problems

• carrying on and supporting practical measures and actions aimed at environmental protection, their financing, organizational and informational provision

• supporting and carrying out research work on different environmental problems

• integration and coordination of public efforts, development and promotion of contacts in this field, international cooperation and collaboration, study and promotion of the experience of ecological movements, and many other activities

Despite the difficulties facing a public movement aimed at protecting the environment, there is a steady increase in understanding of the significance of environmental problems and the support of public initiatives in the environmental field. More and more people are becoming aware of the fact that general success in the field of environmental protection will depend both on actual contributions from every member of society and on joint actions in this field. Certain elements of society in the Republic are trying to be more active in discussions of ecological problems and in the implementation of measures for their solution. The intensive ecologization of public cons- ciousness during such a short period of time is directly associated with the fact that the society's social, economic, political and other problems have became concentrated on this sphere. Besides, these problems are of great concern for people of different nationality, social status, age and occupation. As a result of people's progressive awareness of the state of the environment, as well as the effects of anthropogenic activity, there is a notable growth in the understanding of the significance of human values, and, first of all, the value of life. The idea of human life and health being directly associated with a healthy environment which is a necessary prerequisite for the stable development of society, finds more ground in the public mentality. A healthy, non-polluted environment is considered as an integral component of the quality of life. The changes going on in our society and influencing all the forms of public consciousness have created a base for "ecologism" in society, which is not only a practical initiative but also an integral part of the new ideological system.

It should be noted that the present burden of economic and socio-economic difficulties makes the solution of ecological problems more difficult. Undoubtedly, when the country is facing many challenges due to the existence of a humanitarian crisis caused by the large number of IDP's and refugees, the Government gives priority to establishing political stability as well as developing the economic potential of the country. Due to the state budget deficit, full-scale investment in measures for the protection of the environment becomes impossible and limits the possibilities of the Government to introduce a modem ecological policy. In such a situation, public ecological organizations are focused mainly on finding non-Governmental means to resolve the ecological problems of high priority and the realization of educational programs. In the light of this, the comprehensive and notable activity of the UN mission in Azerbaijan, particularly, of the United Nations Development Programmes, is of invaluable importance.

90 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT CREATING A NEW ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS IN AZERBAIJAN 5.1 The financial cost of environmental degradation to the national economy

According to the data presented by the Center of Aerospace Monitoring and the State Committee for the Environment, in 1995, despite the reduction in industrial activity, the economic damage due to the contamination of the air basin by hazardous effluents constituted more than 480 million Roubles, equivalent to 320 Million U.S. Dollars. In 1990 this value equalled 305 million Roubles, of which 170 million Roubles of damage was caused by industrial discharges. During 1990-1995 the amount of economic damage caused by water contamination constituted respectively 250 and 302 million US$. The damage caused to the environment by Sumgait industrial enterprises alone constituted about 150 thousand US$. At present, in the zone of irrigated lands of the Azerbaijan Republic, 500 thousand hectares of land are salinated. 40 thousand hectares of Apsheron territory are contaminated by oil. According to preliminary estimations, annual losses caused by the proces- ses of salination, contamination, compression and degradation of soils constitute more than 450 million US$. Damage caused by degradation of lands constitutes approximately 2.6 billion US$, including more than one (1) million US$ for the occupied territories. To restore the ecological balance, prevent the process of soil erosion, recultivate the lands, liquidate dumps on agricultural lands, requires hundreds of millions of U.S. Dollars, which is well above 355 thousand US$, the annual amount of capital investment allocated for the protection and utilization of natural resources.

Forest fires cause considerable damage to the national economy. Also, damage to forests is caused by air and water contamination from hazardous discharges. For the last five years this estimated damage equals 15—20 million US $. The total damage caused to the economy by hazardous discharges into the water reservoirs of the Republic constitutes 95-104 million US$. The annual damage from industrial discharges as well as the "functioning" of all types of dumps are estimated to be 49-50 million US $.

Investments in Environmental Protection mln. manats Real prices of 1991

16

14

12

10

1981- 1986- 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1985 1990

Land resources Atmosphere Water Resources Total

The financial means required for the protection of settlements, highways, agricultural lands, and different constructions from mud flows also present direct economical damage. Expenditures for mud preventative measures constitute about 300 million US $ per year.

The estimated total damage caused by the contamination of the environment and other ecological problems approximately equals 3.1 billion US $. The annual damage to the health of the population is estimated to be 25-35 million US $.

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 91 i

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92 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT Structure of the National Economy of the Azerbaijan Republic Political Map of Azerbaijan Discharge of Used Water in Baku Water Consumption of Baku Concentration of Atmosphere Contamination in Baku Distribution of Radioactive Contamination of the Apsheron Peninsula Concentration of Atmosphere Contamination in Sumgait Average Copper Concentration in the Kura River and its Tributaries Average Oil Products Concentration in the Kura River and its Tributaries Average Phenol Concentration in the Kura River and its Tributaries Distribution of Contamination in the Caspian Concentration of Oil Products in the Caspian Water Use in the Azerbaijan Republic Total Amount of Sewage in Azerbaijan Available Water Resources of the Caucasus Region Total Air Pollution from Stationary Sources Total Air Pollution from Motor Transport tt Land Resources of the Azerbaijan Republic Land Erosion in the Regions of Azerbaijan Formation and Use of Toxic Waste The Constituents of Solid Domestic Waste in Azerbaijan The Cost of Damage to the Azerbaijan Republic Caused by the Caspian Sea-level Rise Morbidity Rate from Infectious Diseases Natural Dynamics of the Population of the Republic Children's Mortality Rate According to Economic-Geographical Zones of the Republic Natural Dynamics of the Population in the Guba-Khachmas Zone Children's Mortality (under 1 year) in the Guba—Khachmaz Zone Causes of Infant Mortality Main Causes of Mortality (Diseases) National Reserves of Azerbaijan Investments in Environmental Protection

STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT 93 Baku at Night (photo by F.Mamedov) Dump for Domestic and Industrial Waste in the Sumgait Industrial Zone (photo - State Committee for the Environment) Modern Drilling Rigs in the Caspian Sea (photo - State Committee for the Environment) The Greater Caucasus Ridge (photo - State Committee for the Environment) Tugai forests in the Kura zone (photo - State Committee for the Environment) Tugai forests in the Kura zone; lower reaches of the Kura river (photo - State Committee for the Environment) Lower reaches of the Kura river, (photo by F.Mamedov) Takyr in the Southern part of the Kura-Araks Lowland (photo by F.Mamedov) The Apsheron Recreation Area (photo - State Committee for the Environment) Sumgait Industrial Zone (photo - State Committee for the Environment) View of the coastal area of Baku (photo by F.Mamedov) The Greater Caucasus Ridge, Ismailli Region (photo - State Committee for the Environment) Forests of the middle zone of the Greater Caucasus (photo - State Committee for the Environment) The Upper Boundary of Trees in the Greater Caucasus forests (photo - State Committee for the Environment) Forests of the Lesser Caucasus (photo - State Committee for the Environment) The Aksu River in the Lesser Caucasus (photo - State Committee for the Environment) View of the Nakhchivan plain and Ilandag Mountain (photo by F.Mamedov) The "Vaykhir" Mineral Spring in Nakhchivan (photo by F.Mamedov) Flooding of the Sumgait Coastal Area (photo - State Committee for the Environment) A Herd of red deer in the forests of the Greater Caucasus (photo - State Committee for the Environment) Griffon-Vulture, The Zakatala State Reserve (photo - State Committee for the Environment) The "Zagulba" Sanatorium (photo - State Committee for the Environment) The Gey-Gel State Reserve (photo - State Committee for the Environment) The Ag—Gel State Reserve (photo by Zaman Novruz) The Gey—Gel Lake on the Lesser Caucasus (photo — State Committee for the Environment) The Maral-Gel Lake, the Gey-Gel State Reserve (photo - State Committee for the Environment) The Girkan Reserve, Khan-Bulag Lake (photo - State Committee for the Environment) The Zakatala Reserve, the Katekh River (photo - State. Committee for the Environment) The Greater Caucasus Ridge, Ismailli Reserve (photo - State Committee for the Environment) The Gara-Yaz State Reserve (photo - State Committee for the Environment) The Turian-Chay State Reserve (photo - State Committee for the Environment) The Kizil—Agach Reserve, Plegadis falcinellus (photo by Zaman Novruz)

94 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT REPORT Azerbaijan. Economical Analysis of the Country. From crisis towards stable development. Report No 11792 Az., 1993 World Bank Azerbaijan Human Development Report 1995, UNDP Azerbaijan Human Development Report 1996, UNDP Azerbaijan in Figures. Statistical Reference Book of the State Committee on Ecology, 1992, Baku Azerbaijan in Figures. Statistical Reference Book of the State Committee on Ecology, 1993, Baku Azerbaijan in Figures. Statistical Reference Book of the State Committee on Ecology, 1994, Baku Natural Monuments of Azerbaijan (in Azeri). (B.A. Budagov) 1990, "Elm" Baku State Report on the Environmental Situation and Nature-Protecting Activity in the Azerbaijan Republic, 1993 Baku Forests of the Caucasus (I.Y. Safarov, V.A. Olisayev), 1991, "Ir" Vladikavkaz Forest is wealth (in Azeri) (G.A. Aliyev, N.G. Akhundov), 1982 "Elm" Baku Soils of the Greater Caucasus (G.A. Aliyev), 1994 "Elm" Baku Recreation Resources of the Caspian Sea, 1989 (under edition of V.I. Korzun), "Elm" Moscow Relief of Azerbaijan, (collection under the edition of G.A. Aliyev), 1993 "Elm" Baku Modern Natural Landscapes of the Azerbaijan SSR, (B.A. Budagov) 1988, "Elm" Baku Physical Geography of the Azerbaijan SSR (M.A. Kashkay, G.A. Aliyev), 1945, "AzFAN" Baku Economical Situation of Azerbaijan, Analytical Report, 1996, Baku Ecology of the Caspian, (A.G. Gasimov), 1994, Baku Support Programme for the Industrial Regeneration of the Sumgait Region of Azerbaijan. Volume I-II, UNDP

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