Miliardi di risorse naturali nel Mar Caspio

Gianluigi Negroni

Welcome to the Caspian environment
http://www.caspianenvironment.org/newsite/index.htm

Il mar Caspio, che in realtà è classificato come lago, è la più grande massa d’acqua interna del globo ed è situato fra la parte meridionale dell’Europa dell’Est ed il continente asiatico.

È lungo approssimativamente 1.030 km ed ha una larghezza che varia da 435 a 196 km. Non ha connessioni con gli oceani e la sua superficie si trova a 26,5 m al di sotto del livello del mare.
Chiamato “Gilan” nelle antiche carte, attualmente il mar Caspio prende il nome da alcune popolazioni che vivono sulle sue coste. Si trova nella cosiddetta “Depressione Caspica” e un tempo, quando il bacino era allo stesso livello degli altri mari, faceva parte di una massa d’acqua molto più vasta, che si estendeva dal mar Nero sino al lago d’Aral.

Il mar Caspio ha una grande importanza per la sua particolare biodiversità derivata da numerose peculiari caratteristiche climatiche e ambientali, anche se forse la massima notorietà derivi dalla presenza di straordinarie risorse naturali, in particolare di idrocarburi. Le riserve petrolifere dell’intera regione caspica sono stimate in 18-35 miliardi di barili, e quindi forse superiori a quelle degli USA (22 miliardi) e a quelle del mare del Mare del Nord (17 miliardi).

L’Energy Information Administration  degli Stati Uniti stima di portata perfino maggiore le riserve di gas naturale.

Biodiversità

Il mar Caspio è rimasto isolato migliaia di anni fa dagli altri oceani e l’isolamento ha permesso lo sviluppo di numerosi animali rari, in particolare degli storioni. Le stesse specie di storioni che popolano il lago oggi esistevano 200 milioni di anni fa al tempo dei dinosauri, perciò possono essere considerate dei “fossili viventi”. In quell’epoca gli storioni abitavano molte zone marine, mentre più tardi, con i processi evolutivi, probabilmente per la competizione con altri pesci, gli storioni iniziarono ad estinguersi.

Il Progetto Caspeco

E’ finanziato principalmente dal GEF e dagli stati Caspici con un-altra serie di donors minori fra cui AGIP Kazakstan, Gianluigi Negroni e il responsabile degli ‘Spawning Grounds’ o Protezione delle aree di riproduzione dei pesci migratori in particolare quelli anadromi, che vivono in mare e si riproducono nei fiumi, come i salmoni caspici e gli storioni.

Infatti neggi ultimi 70 anni si sono persi l-80 e piu % delle aree di riproduzione Caspiche grazie alla costruzione di grandi dighe sui principali fiumi immissari del Caspio, in particolare Volga e Kura, mentre l-Ural e ancora libero da grandi dighe sulla sua asta principale.

Oltre all’impossibilita fisica a raggiungere le aree di riproduzione, le dighe non rilasciano sufficiente acqua durante i periodi produttivi e molte deposizioni di uova rimangono fuori dall’acqua per l’intermittenza giornaliera dei rilasci delle acque dalle dighe.

Inoltre la pesca illegale dei pesci migratori ed in particolare delle cinque specie di storioni che albergano nel Caspio hanno ridotto sull’orlo dell’estinzione queste antichissime specie. Solo una forte azione di sensibilizzazione delle popolazioni rivierasche con controlli molto seri potranno salvare gli ultimi storioni.

Gianluigi Negroni ricopre integralmente da due anni la funzione di coordinamento dei lavori di CASPECO nelle aree caspiche con la presenza fisica nelle aree di riproduzione e la partecipazione ai numerosi avvenimenti internazionali sponsorizzati da CASPECO.

Le notizie presentate sono state autorizzate dagli stati Caspici prima della pubblicazione.
Introduction in English
The Caspian Sea is the biggest enclosed body of water on Earth, having an even larger area than that of the American Great Lakes or that of Lake Victoria in East Africa. It is situated where the South-Eastern Europe meets the Asian continent, between latitudes 47.07’N and 36.33N and longitudes 45.43 E and 54.20E. It is approximately 1,030 km long and its width ranges from 435 km to a minimum of 196 km. It has no connection to the world’s oceans and its surface level at the moment is around –26.5 m below MSL. At this level, its total coastline is some 7,000 km in length and its surface area is 386,400 km2. The water volume of the lake is about 78,700 km3.
The water of the Caspian Sea is slightly saline; if we compare the Caspian water with oceanic water, it contains 3 times less salt.

So, why is the Caspian water saline? The Caspian Sea is a remnant of the ancient ocean, named Tethis, or more exactly of its Paratethis bay. About 50 – 60 million years ago the Tetis ocean connected the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. However, due to gradual shift of continental platforms it lost its connection with the Pacific ocean and later on with the Atlantic Ocean. As a result, the water body became isolated from the world ocean. Therefore, the salinity of the Caspian Sea can be attributed to its origin from an ancient ocean.
Why is the water of the Caspian Sea 3 times less salty than the waters of the world ocean? During hot and dry climatic periods the low precipitation quantity caused the Paratethis to dry up and divide into separate water bodies. It is due to these conditions of reduced water and isolation that the water in the Paratethis became slightly saline. During cool and wet climatic periods, great levels of precipitations caused the water bodies at the Paratethis to over flow and again connect the many water bodies, thus becoming less saline. The melting of ice fields was another cause for the reduction of salinity within the Paratethis waters as the ice diluted the salt contents.
The complex history of the Caspian Sea formation has lead to a variety of different habitats. Like Australia, the Caspian Sea became isolated thousands of years ago. This isolation led to the speciation of many rare animals in particular the sturgeon.

The sturgeon species existed 200 million years ago at the same time as dinosaurs and can therefore be called living fossils. At that time sturgeon inhabited many ancient seas. Later on in the process of evolution, possibly due to competition with bony fish species, the sturgeons started to become extinct but managed to survive in the Caspian Sea. This gigantic lake contains more than 90% of the world resources of sturgeon. Furthermore, the Caspian Sea is also home to many other rare species of crustaceans and mollusks.
Due to its unique and diverse habitats, the Caspian Sea has become home to many rare species of flora and fauna. In connection with an increase of the Caspian Sea level during the period of 1994 – 1996, habitats for rare species of aquatic vegetation have drastically decreased. This can be attributed to a general lack of seeding material in newly formed coastal lagoons and water bodies.

Many rare and endemic plant species of Russia are associated with the intra-zonal communities of the Volga delta and riparian forests of the Samur River delta as well as to the Sarykum barkhan which is a unique refuge for flora adapted to the loose sands of the ancient Central Asian Deserts. The principal limiting factors to successful establishment of plant species are hydrological imbalances within the surrounding deltas, water pollution, and various land reclamation activities. The water level change within the Caspian Sea is an indirect reason for which plants may not get established. This affects aquatic plants of the Volga delta, such as: Aldrovanda veiculosa and Nelumbo caspica. About 11 plant species are found in the Samur River delta, of which some form a unique liana forest that dates back to the Tertiary period.

The Caspian Environment Programme (CEP) performed a Caspian Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA). A TDA is a scientific and technical assessment of the water-related environmental issues and problems, their causes, and impacts, both environmental and economic, at national, regional and global levels, taking into account the social-economic, political and institutional systems within each riparian country.
The Caspian Sea major environmental issues include:

The Caspian Sea is rich in marine fish of commercial value. The Sea is world famous due to the presence of a unique specie of sturgeon which is of commercial value due to its black caviar and very tasty meat (link to Biodiversity, Commercially valuable species, Fish). At its peak, the Caspian supplied more than 80% of the world’s sturgeon stock. These fish species, which are living fossils, are now on the verge of extinction due to reduction of reproduction grounds, overfishing and water pollution by pesticides, heavy metals and oil products. In recent years, sturgeon landings have decreased dramatically: from 30,000 tons in 1985 to only 5,672 tons in 1995. A quota system, introduced together with a temporary ban on pelagic fishing, does not appear to have been effective in reviving the dwindling fish populations. The majority of sturgeon population is now supported artificially.

While fishing methods have clearly become more efficient and overfishing has occurred, one of the most severe threat to the sturgeon and other anadromous species is thought to arise from the construction of numerous dams on the Volga and Kura rivers. These dams bar fish from their primary spawning areas. Due to high levels of water pollution, sturgeons suffer from various diseases such as hepatoxical hypoxiya (muscle blistering). Poaching has dramatically increased during recent years and is thought to be among the main causes for the population decline of the sturgeon.
 1. Protection of Biodiversity
 2. Pollution Control
 3. Fisheries and Commercial Bioresources Management
 4. Effective Regional Assessment of Contaminant Levels 5. Water level Fluctuation

Countries Involved
Azerbaijan Republic: (more info)
Location: Southwestern Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan is bordering with Russia, Turkey, Iran, Armenia and Georgia
Area: total: 86,600 sq km
Caspian coastline: aprox. 800 km
Climate: dry, semiarid steppe
Population: 8,238,672 (July 2009 est.)
Languages: Azerbaijani 90.3%, Lezgi 2.2%, Russian 1.8%, Armenian 1.5%, other 3.3%, unspecified 1% (1999 census)
Capital: Baku
GDP: purchasing power parity - $73.65 billion (2008 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $9,000 (2008 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 21.6% (2008 est.)
Labor force: 5.782 million (2008 est.)
Unemployment rate: 0.8% official rate (2008 est.)
Exports: $38.28 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)
Imports: $7.496 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)
Currency: 1 manat = 100 gopiks
http://www.azstat.org https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/aj.html http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/regions2008/
 
 
Islamic Republic of Iran:
Location: Middle East, bordering the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf, and the Caspian Sea, between Iraq and Pakistan
Area: total: 1.648 million sq km
Area - comparative: slightly larger than Alaska
Caspian coastline: aprox. 1000 km
note: Iran also borders the Caspian Sea (740 km)
Climate: mostly arid or semiarid, subtropical along Caspian coast
Population: 66,429,284 (July 2009 est.)
Languages: Persian and Persian dialects 58%, Turkic and Turkic dialects 26%, Kurdish 9%, Luri 2%, Balochi 1%, Arabic 1%, Turkish 1%, other 2%
Capital: Tehran
GDP: purchasing power parity - $842 billion (2008 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $12,800 (2008 est.)
HDI value: 0.777 (2006)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 28% (2008 est.)
Labor force: 24.35 million (2008 est.)
Unemployment rate: 12.5% (2008 est.)
Exports: $106.4 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)
Imports: $67.79 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)
Currency: 10 Iranian rials (IR) = 1 toman;
http://www.president.ir/
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ir.html#Geo
http://www.gks.ru/
http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/regions2008/
 
Kazakhstan Republic:
Location: Central Asia, northwest of China
Area: total: 2,717,300 sq km
Caspian coastline: aprox. 2320 km
Climate: continental, cold winters and hot summers, arid and semiarid
Population: 15,399,437 (July 2009 est.)
Capital: Astana
Languages: Kazakh (Qazaq, state language) 64%, Russian (official, used in everyday business) 95% (2001 est)
GDP: purchasing power parity - $176.9 billion (2008 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $11,500 (2008 est.)
HDI value: 0.807 (2006)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 18.6% (2008 est.)
Labor force: 8.358 million (2008 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: industry 18.4%, agriculture 31.5%, services: 50% (2005 est.)
Unemployment rate: 6.9% (2003 est.)
Exports: $66.57 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)
Imports: $37.53 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)
Currency: 1 Kazakhstani tenge = 100 tiyn
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/kz.html#Econ
http://www.president.kz/
http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/regions2008/
 
Russian Federation:
Location: Northern Asia, bordering the Arctic Ocean, between Europe and the North Pacific Ocean
Area: total: 17,075,200 sq km
Caspian coastline: aprox. 1930 km
Climate: ranges from steppes in the south through humid continental in much of European Russia; subarctic in Siberia to tundra climate in the polar north; winters vary from cool along Black Sea coast to frigid in Siberia; summers vary from warm in the steppes to cool along Arctic coast
Population: 140,041,247 (July 2009 est.)
Languages: Russian, other
Capital: Moscow
GDP: purchasing power parity - $2.225 trillion (2008 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $15,800 (2008 est.)
HDI value: 0.806 (2006)
Inflation rate: 13.9% (2008 est.)
Labor force: 75.7 million (2008 est.)
Unemployment rate: 6.2% (2008 est.)
Currency: 1 rouble (R) = 100 kopeks https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rs.html#Geo
http://president.kremlin.ru/
http://www.gks.ru/
http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/regions2008/
 
Turkmenistan:
Location: Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Kazakhstan
Area: total: 491,2 sq km (2003)
Caspian coastline: aprox. 650km
Climate: Deeply continental, dry
Population: 4,884,887 (July 2009 est.)
Languages: Turkmen 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7%
Capital: Ashgabat
GDP: purchasing power parity - $29.65 billion (2008 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $6,100 (2008 est.)
HDI value: 0.728 (2006)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 18% (2008 est.)
Labor force: 2.089 million (2004 est.)
Unemployment rate: 60% (2004 est.) 
Exports: $9.887 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)
Imports: $5.291 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)
Currency: 1 Turkmen manat (TMM) = 100 tenesi
The sources:
1."Statistical Yearbook of Turkmenistan for 2000-2003" ( Publishing House "Turkmen millihasabat")
2." The Gold Epoch of Turkmenistan in figures and facts" under reduction of V.M. Khramov and J. Bairamov, Ashkhabad , 2002
3. The operative - analytical review of the basic social and economic indicators  of Turkmenistan for January - April, 2005 National institute of the state statistics and  information of Turkmenistan . https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/tx.html#People
http://www.grida.no/enrin/htmls/turkmen/soe2/index.htm
http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/regions2008/