Situation in the Kyrgyz Republic related to access of the public to

environmental information in area of natural resources management and

territory planning

Pecheniuk OlegKyrgyz Republic

NGO "Independent ecological expertise"www.eco-expertise.org

Public Participation

In the republic, quite sufficient experience of the public participation in initiation, designing, discussing and expertise of strategic initiatives is accumulated:•National strategies, policies, programmes;•Sector-based strategies

Problems in area of collection and dissemination of environmental information

•In spite of existing legislation, collection and dissemination of information on natural resources has fragmentary, non-systematic nature. •It happens due to some reasons:•There is no monitoring system and, as a result, lack of information as such;•It allows the holders of informational resources to use available information for commercial purposes;•To use corruption mechanisms in issuance of permits, concurrences, renting of land resources, etc.•To use the public property illegally and for own profit.

• It is necessary to point out that conflicts often occur because of land resources. It happens when the local self-governance bodies, pasture committees and local communities attempt to act as the landowners forgetting that land was given them in operational management or use by the state.

ConflictsShortage of transparency in use of land resources leads to social-economic conflicts. Outflow of investment is observed because of permanent destabilization.

Conflicts Lack of communication is one of crucial reasons for

conflicts and tensions related to the mining enterprises. Such conclusion was made by the specialists of “Eurasia Foundation in Central Asia” after survey on mining sector impact conducted in eight districts of the republic. 2863 local citizens took part in the survey. It was found out that main reason of protests of the local communities against the mining companies was associated with their concern about environment and not claims against the mining enterprises. 60% of respondents expressed their concern regarding environment. People are waiting for solution of problems from the local authorities (over 50%) and the government (about 20%).

• “Independent Environmental Expertise” submitted a draft of the regulatory-legal act “Procedures of SEA in the Kyrgyz Republic” to the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic.Then, this draft was re-submitted to the State Agency of Environmental Protection and Forestry for implementation of the state environmental expertise and consultations with the governmental institutions.

• The State Agency of Environmental Protection and Forestry thanks for support and informs that the Procedures will be taken into account when the ADB Project “Capacity Building on SEA in the Kyrgyz Republic” will be launched.

Thank you for attention!www.eco-expertise.org