Environmental performance reviews united nations

3.3 
Information management and reporting
 
Information systems and pollution reporting
The SSIAC operates a database covering data from its
pollution monitoring. The database is well structured
and  may  provide  data  by  polluting  parameters  and
by  individual  enterprises.  Once  every  two  years,  the 
SSIAC  publishes  the  Information  Bulletin  on  the 
State  of  Pollution  Sources  and  their  Environmental 
Impact in the Republic of Uzbekistan. The innovative
feature of the Bulletin is that it publishes exceedances 
in  pollution  levels  by  individual  enterprises  and 
compares  them  to  the  established  limit  values  (for
air  pollution)  and  relevant  MACs  (for  water  and
soil  quality). This  system  of  “naming  and  blaming”
is rather unique among the countries that the United
Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
has  reviewed  over  its  second  cycle  of  reviews.  The 
last Bulletin was published in 2007 with a circulation 
of 400 copies. However, the Bulletin and the pollution 
monitoring data are not uploaded on the Internet.
Uzhydromet has been operating it electronic database
on  the  quality  of  air,  surface  water  and  soil  since 
1996. It publishes the following:
Daily environmental bulletins;
•
Monthly information notes on air pollution in the 
•
cities of Almalyk, Angren, Bekabad, Chirchik and
Tashkent, and on high and extremely high levels
of environmental pollution in the country;
Monthly  bulletins  on  water  quality  in  main 
•
watercourses by hydrochemical indicators;
Nine bulletins a year on the ecological conditions
•
of the main watercourses of the Tashkent region
and  the  water  quality  of  these  watercourses  by 
hydrobiological indicators;
The  yearbooks  of  surface  water  quality  and  of 
•
soil pollution;
The  annual  review  of  air  quality  and  polluting
•
emissions in cities and towns.
These  publications  are  circulated  among  some  50
public institutions in the country. They are not easily 
accessible by the public. The monitoring information
that  Uzhydromet  uploads  on  its  website  (www.
meteo.uz) is limited to the daily status and short-term
forecasts of air pollution in Tashkent. 
The  State  Committee  on  Geology  and  Mineral
Resources  operates  a  groundwater  database  on
the  levels  and  quality  of  groundwater.  It  publishes
an  annual  information  bulletin  on  the  state  of 
groundwater  and  its  use.  The  Ministry  of  Health
publishes a monthly information bulletin on hygiene,
ecology  and  human  health.  These  bulletins  are
circulated  among  the  public  authorities  in  a  limited
number of copies. They are not easily available to the 
public; neither are they available online.
Uzbekistan  does  not  have  an  integrated  or
interconnected environmental electronic database.
 
Environmental statistics
The  State  Committee  on  Statistics  continues 
to  collect  environment-related  statistical  data 
following  the  statistical  forms  that  were  introduced
20  to  30  years  ago,  practically  without  having
made  any  changes.  These  cover  the  following:
air  emissions  and  their  treatment;  forest  areas,
reforestation,  and  the  harvesting  of  non-wood
products;  fish  hauls  and  reproduction  at  fish  farms;
land  reclamation;  protected  natural  areas;  current
costs of environmental protection; and payments for
environmental  pollution.  Important  environmental 
issues,  such  as  transport  emissions,  greenhouse
gas  emissions,  the  consumption  of  ozone-depleting
substances,  wastewater  discharges  and  generation,
and the treatment and final disposal of industrial non-
hazardous  waste,  are  not  covered  by  statistical  data
collection. The only development since the first EPR
took  place  was  the  2006  streamlining  of  statistical
reporting by small enterprises (up to 100 employees)
on  their  air  emissions,  wastewater  discharges  and
waste generation.
Unlike  Kazakhstan,  Kyrgyzstan  and  Tajikistan,
Uzbekistan  does  not  publish  a  regular  statistics
compendium  on  the  environment. A  limited  number 
of  environment-related  data  are  published  in  the 
national  Statistical  Yearbook,  which  is  distributed 

46 
Part I: Policymaking, planning and implementation 
 
 
as  a  sales  publication  only.  The  State  Committee 
on  Statistics  produces  an  annual  bulletin  on  the 
main  indicators  of  environmental  protection  and  the 
rational  use  of  natural  resources  for  restricted  use 
by  selected  public  authorities  only.  Thanks  to  the 
financial support of the United Nations Development
Programme  (UNDP),  in  2006  the  State  Committee
on  Statistics  published  an  ad  hoc  statistical  bulletin, 
Environmental  Situation  and  Utilization  of  Natural
Resources  in  Uzbekistan:  Facts  and  Figures  2000–
2004.  Many  environmental  data  collected  by  the 
State Committee on Statistics are not available to the 
Uzbek  public.  Data  are  provided  upon  request  and
in  return  for  payment  only. The  State  Committee  on 
Statistics  does  not  upload  environmental  statistical 
data onto its website.
 
State-of-the-environment reporting
The SCNP publishes 1,000 copies of a national report 
on the state of the environment and the use of natural 
resources  in  Uzbek,  Russian  and  English.  The  last
such  report  was  published  in  2005  and  covered  the 
period 2002–2004. Parts of the report are available on 
the  SCNP  website.  The  report  is  largely  descriptive
and  does  not  follow  the  UNECE  Guidelines  for 
the  Preparation  of  Indicator-based  Environment 
Assessment  Reports  in  Eastern  Europe,  Caucasus 
and  Central Asia  endorsed  at  the  sixth  Environment 
for Europe Ministerial Conference (Belgrade, 2007).
It  remains  a  compilation  of  information  submitted 
by various ministries and agencies. The use of report
findings for environmental policymaking is limited.
In  2008,  the  SCNP  published  the  National  Report 
on  the  State  of  the  Environment  and  Rational  Use 
of  Natural  Resources  (1988–2007).  It  includes
environmental data for 2007 and is very informative;
nonetheless,  it  is  not  an  indicator-based  or  easy-to-
read  report.  One  thousand  copies  of  the  report  were 
circulated throughout the country. In 2008, the SCNP
published  the  Environmental  Profile  of  Uzbekistan
for 2008 Based on Indicators and the Environmental 
Atlas of Uzbekistan. Both publications resulted from
the UNDP project and promoted the application of the 
environmental indicators developed by the UNECE in 
cooperation with the European Environment Agency.
The sustainability of the application of internationally 
agreed  environmental  indicators  in  Uzbekistan  is
questionable  as  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  SCNP 
has  taken  any  action  to  ensure  the  replication  of 
indicator-based assessments in the future.
Once  every  two  years,  the  SSIAC  publishes  the 
report,  Environmental  Monitoring:  Report  on
the  State  of  the  Environment  and  Use  of  Natural 
Resources.  It  presents  the  results  of  air,  water  and 
soil  monitoring  in  the  country  as  obtained  by  six
governmental  institutions  responsible  for  specific
monitoring  networks.  It  identifies  pollution  trends
and  the  main  threats.  The  most  recent  report  was 
published in 2007 and 1,000 copies were circulated.
Consultation with NGOs during the EPR mission, Tashkent, 2009

 
Chapter 3: Monitoring, information, public participation and education 
47 
 
3.4 
Public participation
 
Non-governmental organizations
Uzbek  legislation  requires  that  non-governmental
organizations  (NGOs)  register  with  the  Ministry
of  Justice  or  its  territorial  bodies.  While  the 
registration  procedure  is  relatively  simple,  the
operational  regulations  are  rather  complicated.  For
instance,  NGOs  are  obliged  to  report  regularly  on
their  activities  to  the  State  Committee  on  Statistics 
and  the  Taxation  Agency.  When  an  NGO  plans  to
organize a meeting, it has to inform the Ministry of
Justice on the meeting type and sources of financing.
The  Ministry  has  to  approve  the  expenditure  of  the 
funds; the approval procedure may take from one to
six months. If an NGO does not have a cash flow on
account  for  six  months,  the  Ministry  of  Justice  may 
liquidate it.
According to the Ministry of Justice database, there
were 7,162 NGOs in Uzbekistan in 2009. Some 200
of  these  NGOs  declared  environmental  protection  to 
be  their  main  area  of  activity.  In  reality,  only  some 
45 environmental NGOs are considered to be active. 
There  are  only  three  active  environmental  NGOs 
in  Tashkent  City  and  the  Tashkent  region,  possibly
because of strict state regulation.
In  2004,  the  Government  approved  the  Resolution 
on Streamlining the Use of Grants, which channelled
the use of grants through two national banks only. A
commission was established to oversee and authorise 
the  use  of  grants.  In  the  same  year,  Uzbekistan
toughened the Criminal Code and the Administrative
Responsibility  Code  to  make  the  use  of  grants
difficult.  Whatever  motivated  these  measures,  they
rather  complicated  NGO  operations.  To  remedy 
the  situation,  Uzbekistan  adopted  the  2007  Law  on
Guarantees  for  Non-governmental  Organization
Activities. The Law envisages providing NGOs with
state  grants  and  subsidies  under  certain  conditions.
There  is  no  evidence  that  the  Law  has  become 
operational.
NGOs  such  as  Education  for  Life,  For  the 
Environmentally  Clean  Fergana,  Ecomaktab  and
Logos  play  a  significant  role  in  extra-curricular
environmental  education.  In  2004,  some  40 
environmental  NGOs  established  the  European  Eco 
Forum, a coalition of NGOs.
The SCNP financially supports environmental NGOs
using  its  National  Fund  for  Nature  Protection.  The
grants are provided through a tender procedure. From
2004 to 2009, the annual number of grants provided
to  NGOs  increased  by  more  than  300  times  from 
250,000  to  77,000,000  sum.  It  appears,  however, 
that grants are provided to a small number of country
NGOs,  namely  the  International  Fund  for  Ecology
and  Health  (Ecosan),  Logos,  Living  Nature  and
Ekomaktab.  So  far,  such  grants  have  been  provided
for  environmental  education  purposes.  In  2009,  for 
instance,  the  SCNP  provided  a  grant  to  Ecomaktab
to  develop  a  concept  to  promote  education  for 
sustainable development in Uzbekistan and to prepare
a state-of-the-art review on the subject.
To  promote  cooperation  with  NGOs,  the  SCNP 
plans  to  sign  a  memorandum  of  understanding
with  the  European  Eco  Forum.  It  has  prepared 
recommendations for its territorial departments on the 
procedures and areas of cooperation with NGOs. The 
SCNP is considering establishing in the near future a
(consultative) public council, which would be chaired
by  the  Head  of  the  SCNP  and  consist  of  SCNP 
senior officials, academics and NGO representatives.
With  such  a  prospective  composition,  the  potential 
effectiveness  of  the  council  as  a  mechanism  of 
cooperation with civil society is doubtful.
 
Access to information
The  SCNP  has  been  actively  disseminating
environmental  information  to  raise  public  awareness 
in Uzbekistan. In 2002, it created its website, which
was converted into a web portal the following year.
The  SCNP  established  the  Chinar  publishing  house
that  publishes  the  monthly  Environmental  Herald 
in  Uzbek  and  Russian  with  a  total  circulation  of
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
Internet users 
0.60
1.09
1.92
2.55
3.31
4.08
Personal computers
..
..
1.59
2.18
2.82
3.08
Telephone lines
6.66
6.65
6.70
6.61
6.74
..
Table 3.3: Telecommunications development per 100 inhabitants, 2001–2006
Source: United Nations Statistics Division, 2009.

48 
Part I: Policymaking, planning and implementation 
 
 
4,000,  with  supplements  for  children.  Chinar  also 
publishes  many  ad  hoc  environmental  publications 
such  as  Protected  Nature  Areas  of  Uzbekistan,
Nature  Reserves  and  National  Parks,  the  three-
volume  Popular  Environmental  Encyclopedia  and 
various brochures, booklets and posters. Financing is
provided from both the state budget and the National
Fund for Nature Protection. The SCNP Scientific and
Technical  Board  approves  the  publication  plan.  The 
SCNP  finances  monthly  environmental  programmes
on national television and radio stations and organizes
training, contests and press conferences.
Pursuant to the 2006 Cabinet of Ministers Resolution 
on  Measures  to  Develop  the  Interaction  of  State  and 
Economic  Management  Bodies  with  the  General
Public, the SCNP established an information service, 
which  manages,  among  other  things,  the  SCNP
web  portal  (www.uznature.uz)  and  coordinated  the
development  of  the  websites  of  SCNP  territorial 
bodies.  The  web  portal  is  updated  weekly  and  had 
some 1,200 visits a month in spring 2009.
In this respect, it should be noted that the possibilities 
for  the  general  public  to  access  environmental
information  through  communication  means  are  very
limited in Uzbekistan, especially in rural areas (table
3.3).
NGOs  claim  that  the  mass  media  avoid  discussing
acute  environmental  problems  in  Uzbekistan  and
point out that barriers to public access to information 
include: (a) the poor dissemination of environmental
information  by  Uzhydromet,  the  State  Committee
on  Statistics,  the  Ministry  of  Health,  the  Ministry  of 
Agriculture  and  Water  Management,  and  the  State
Committee on Geology and Mineral Resources; and
(b)  the  lack  of  periodic  environmental  publications
aimed  at  the  general  public,  rather  than  at  technical
experts  and  academics.  As  a  result,  according  to
NGOs,  the  public  in  Uzbekistan  is  not  sufficiently
informed  about  environmental  issues  of  concern 
such  as  the  pollution  of  urban  air,  drinking  water,
groundwater,  soil  and  foodstuff,  especially  by
pesticides.
 
Environmental decision-making
Legislation does not provide for public participation
in developing legal acts, regulations or programmes.
Since  2006,  draft  laws  are  not  published  in  the 
National Newsletter. Nonetheless, the SCNP involves 
members  of  the  public  in  the  discussion  of  such 
documents by inviting representatives of specialized
NGOs to the meetings of its Collegium (management
board).  Although  the  SCNP  had  invited  NGOs  to
comment  on  the  draft  law  on  waste  management,
it  provided  no  subsequent  feedback  on  whether  or 
not  the  comments  had  been  taken  into  account.  The 
Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  Water  Management
organized  public  hearings  for  a  draft  concept  on
forestry protection in Uzbekistan for 2008–2009.
According  to  the  2000  Law  on  State  Ecological
Expertise  (SEE)  and  the  2001  Cabinet  of  Ministers
Resolution  on  the  Regulations  on  State  Ecological
Expertise,  the  public  may  access  documentation  on 
the  environmental  impact  assessment  of  a  proposed 
activity, plan or programme only if it undertakes the
so-called  public  ecological  expertise  (PEE).  PEE
results  are  of  recommendatory  status  for  the  SEE, 
which  authorizes  a  project,  plan  or  programme  that
may  have  an  adverse  environmental  impact.  Few 
PPEs  have  actually  been  undertaken  in  Uzbekistan.
The SEE frequently seeks the opinion of citizens who
live  close  to  the  proposed  economic  activity  when 
the  activity  may  lead  to  the  demolition  of  houses, 
the  siting  of  catering  enterprises  or  the  withdrawal
of  agricultural  plots.  The  SEE  forces  the  developer
to  organize  public  hearings  for  this  purpose  and
to  submit  the  outcome  with  citizen  signatures  to
the  SEE.  Citizens  have  the  right  to  appeal  against
Table 3.4: Training environmental specialists at universities; number of graduates 
by selected curricula, 2001–2008
Source: The State Committee for Statistics, 2009.
Note: *Estimated.
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008*
Chemistry and ecology
..
39
..
..
280
270
317
365
Environment protection 
(engineering)
91
86
1
..
..
141
141
..
Environment protection 
(in industry)
..
..
..
..
134
..
141
141
Ecology and natural resources
management
..
33
187
247
267
246
10
239

 
Chapter 3: Monitoring, information, public participation and education 
49 
 
authorizations given by the SEE. There are no known
cases of such appeals being made in practice.
Legislation does not provide for public participation
in the issuing of environmental permits in Uzbekistan.
The SCNP and its regional bodies, upon request, grant
access to information on the results of environmental 
inspections  to  members  of  the  public.  The  SCNP 
regional  administrations  involve  representatives  of
the  public  as  voluntary  inspectors  in  their  inspection 
work and provide for their training.
3.5 
Environmental  education  and  education 
for sustainable development
 
Preschool and school education
Many preschool educational institutions in Uzbekistan
organize  learning  activities  to  familiarize  children
with  nature  and  environment.  Some  40  percent  of 
all  preschool  institutions  have  specific  premises  for
environment education and 16 percent of institutions 
laid out “Environmental Trails” where children learn
to care about nature.
All  primary    schools  in  Uzbekistan  cover
environmental  issues  in  the  subject  “Surrounding
World” at levels 1 and 2, and in the subject “Man and
Nature” at levels 3 and 4. There are no environment
courses  as  such  in  the  secondary  and  high  schools.
Some  environmental  subjects  are  integrated  in
courses  on  natural  sciences  and  on  health  and 
healthy  lifestyle.  Manuals  were  developed  on 
Biodiversity,  Man  and  Earth,  Man  and  Air,  and  on 
Water  as  Source  of  Life  for  use  by  pupils  of  levels 
5 to 9 as supplementary learning materials. In 2005,
a  methodological  guidance  on  Environmental
Education  in  Primary  School  was  developed.  In 
2009, a manual on Man and Nature was published for 
teachers of levels 5 to 9. The SCNP published several 
manuals  on  environmental  topics  for  preschool 
educational institutions and schools.
The  National  Education  Centre  at  the  Ministry 
of  Public  Education  conducts  teacher  training  on
education for sustainable development (ESD). Some
teaching  manuals  on  ESD  were  published  with  the
support of the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and  Cultural  Organization  (UNESCO)  and  the
Central  Asian  Regional  Environmental  Centre.  The
Ulugbek  National  University  in  Tashkent  published
a  methodological  and  training  guidance  on  ESD  for
schoolchildren and teachers.
 
Professional and higher education
In  all  vocational  training  schools  (‘professional
colleges)  in  Uzbekistan  provide  binding  courses  on
Ecology  or  on  Environment  Protection.  There  are
curricula  on  Ecology  and  Environment  Protection,
and on Monitoring of natural Disasters. 80 percent of
graduates get jobs.
Uzbekistan  adopted  State  standards  for  several
environmental  curricula.  An  Ecology  course  is  a
mandatory one for all institutions of higher education
of  the  country.  Practically  all  technical  universities 
train  environmental  engineers.  The  Ulugbek
National University as well as the Andijan, Bukhara, 
Karakalpakstan, Samarkand and Termez Universities
train  bachelors  on  Ecology  and  Nature  Use
curriculum. The Tashkent Economic University trains 
bachelors  on  Environmental  Economist  curriculum.  
There appear to be no curricula on important subjects 
such  as  environmental  management,  environmental
law  and  environmental  monitoring.  Table  3.4
presents the number of students who graduated with
specialization in specific environment-related subjects
from universities in Uzbekistan from 2001 to 2008.
At Urgench University, there is a chair on sustainable
development  and  environmental  education.  The 
Biological Department of the National University of
Uzbekistan  (NUU)  teaches  a  course  on  sustainable
development.
 
Retraining
In  2006,  the  SCNP  and  the  NUU  established  a  joint 
centre  to  train  environmental  experts  and  develop 
environment  training  programmes  and  manuals.  In
2008,  the  Moscow  State Academy  of  Fine  Chemical 
Technology (named after M.V. Lomonosov) became
a  co-founder  of  the  centre.  The  NUU  members 
and  SCNP  senior  staff  conduct  training  courses
for  SCNP  personnel  and  environmental  experts  of 
industrial  enterprises.  In  2008,  the  centre  trained 
96  experts  in  the  country.  The  SCNP  organizes  ad
hoc  environmental  training  sessions  for  enterprises.
Overall,  the  environmental  training  of  civil  servants
in Uzbekistan is not consistent or systematic.
 
Informal education
Informal  education  among  the  country  population
is  carried  out  by  the  SCNP,  the  administrations  of 
protected  natural  areas,  specialized  environmental

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Part I: Policymaking, planning and implementation 
 
 
institutions,  the  “Bioecosan”  National  Training  and
Methodological  Centre  and  NGOs.  For  instance,
the  Bukhara  Specialized  Jayran  Gazelle  Nursery
organizes  educational  events  for  schoolchildren,
students  and  local  communities.  The  Zarafshan 
Reserve,  the  Tashkent  Botanical  Garden  and  the 
Ugam-Chatkal  National  Park  are  among  other
institutions that are active in informal environmental 
education  in  the  country.  Education  for  Life  is  an 
NGO that runs an environmental education centre for 
schoolchildren.