HISTORY - Environmental Issues in Post Soviet Caucasus

In a rush to modernize the Soviet State over several decades, excessive use of natural resources coupled with air and water pollution evolved as part of the process of Soviet State formation. Though some environmental laws and regulations were passed in the 1970s environmental concerns did not surface as major political issues until the mid-1980s when Mikhail Gorbachev took office in the USSR. Glasnost brought open discussions on environmental issues across the Soviet republics which boosted grass-root ecological movements. Demonstrations and campaigns by protestors of environmental problems achieved some success in bringing ecological problems into the spotlight of the grand politics of the Soviet regime. Protests against a dramatic reduction of the water levels in the Caspian, Azov and Aral Seas were carried out in the mid-1990s. Excessive use of the Aral Sea for irrigation of cotton and rice fields in 1987 resulted in a water level reduction to an extent that commercial fishing and shipping were stopped in the Aral Sea and the government declared it as a disaster area.

Another large scale ecological disaster in the Soviet region was the accident in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986, which had long-lasting devastating environmental and human consequences.

Pollution and deforestation have are not new phenomena in the Caucasus. However, economic collapse has further contributed to the environmental problems in the region. Air and water pollution have been particularly acute problems in the Kura/Mtkvari-Aras river basin, whereas air pollution has been enormous in Apsheron peninsula where Baku (the Capital city of Azerbaijan) is located along the Caspian Sea, as well as in Armenia where Medzamor Nuclear Plant was built.

Medzamor Nuclear Power Plant in Armenia

The Medzamor Nuclear Plant in Armenia was built in 1976-1979 and was operating as a Soviet Nuclear Power Plant close to the capital city of Armenia, Yerevan. Due to the earthquake in Armenia in 1988 the power plant was closed down temporarily (until 1994) as its safety was questioned. The nuclear power plant has been an important power resource of Armenia providing up to 50% of the energy. Therefore, regardless of EU pressure and discontent from Turkey due to the safety issues of the power plant, the Armenian government resisted fully closing down the plant until international pressure increased.

Environmental activists in Armenia persisted regarding the safety standards of the power plant which were not meeting international standards. Due to the pressure of EU and the United States in 2007, the Armenian Government agreed to close down the plant with the aim to design and build a new power plant in accordance with the current international standards utilizing modern technology. The new power plant's planned completion is in 2017.

Deforestation

The devastating war in Nagorno-Karabakh and the socio-economic hardships in the region have had negative impact on deforestation and soil erosion in the Caucasus.

Besides armed conflicts, deforestation was a result of illegal logging in the South Caucasus caused by the need for heating of households as well as by massive exportation of timber. Energy shortages and reduction in export and production across the South Caucasus republics led to massive logging among the population. Electricity blackouts and shortages of gas and oil supply in the early period of independence were also coupled up with the growing level of poverty. The most accessible and cheap source of heating was the forest and logging.

See: Protecting endangered forests in the Caucasus

Caspian Sea Pollution

Environmental problems related to the Caspian Sea started to surface in early 1980s when the water level of the sea increased so that parts of the agricultural lands were covered. The Caspian Sea harbored a ‘caviar mafia’ who fished and poached sturgeon to the extent that environmental problems arose as a result. The UN intervened in 2001 imposing restrictions on the sales of caviar (Cornell 2002:40).

Moreover, oil and gas extraction in the Caspian Sea created its share of ecological concerns which after the Mexican Gulf accident increased even further.

See: Caspian Sea oil boom raises pollution fears

Meanwhile, sea pollution problems have been reported by environmentalists claiming that hundreds of sea lions have been dying due to the environmental problems.

Kura/Mtkvari - Aras River Basin

The Mtkvari/Kura and Araxes rivers that flow into the Caspian Sea from Iran, Turkey, Armenia and Georgia also lead industrial and medical waste into the sea. The Mtkvari-Aras river basin has been greatly polluted due to massive industrialization in the Soviet times which concentrated urban areas along the basin.

The environmental issues in Kura/Mtkvari river basin have attracted the interests of the international community which initiated a Trans-Boundary river management program under the European Neighborhood Policy. This program runs in all three South Caucasus countries involving European experts and representatives of the officials of those republics. The outcome of the program is aimed at a better management of the water resources as well as harmonization of the legislation of those countries with European standards.

Recommended Literature:

Cornell Caspian Consulting (2002). “Environmental issues” in: The South Caucasus: A Regional Overview and Conflict Assessment, SIDA, Department for Central and Eastern Europe, pp. 39-41.

Khalilova (2001). “Caspian Sea oil boom raises pollution fears”. BBC News, 8 June 2010

The Regional Environmental Centre for Caucasus (2011). Europe’s Environment. Caucasus: An Assessment of Assessments.

Wiessenberger, Ulrich. (1991). “Environmental problems in the Soviet Union and the chances for international cooperation.” Economic Bulletin, Volume 28, Number 8, 8-17.