Introduction

INTRODUCTION

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Protection of the Republic of Belarus, the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, and the Ministry of Environment Protection of Ukraine have developed and shall approve the Rules and Procedure of the Interstate Dnipro Basin Environmental Data Base (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Rules and Procedure’).

The Rules and Procedure constitute an integral part (an Annex) of the Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Management and Protection of the Dnipro River Basin (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Agreement’).

The main objective of the Rules and Procedure is to define the content and composition of information to be stored in the Interstate Environmental Data Base, the data maintenance and reporting formats, and the frequency of updating the data stored in this Data Base, with an ultimate objective of ensuring the sustainable monitoring and control of implementation of the Strategic Action Programme (SAP) (see Annex 1 to the Agreement) and National Action Plans (NAP) at the interstate level.

These Rules and Procedure take account of the international commitments of the riparian countries of the Dnipro Basin, which are parties to the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes, as well as the commitments arising from the bilateral agreements signed by the riparian countries of the Basin with regard to the management and protection of transboundary water bodies.

Technical tools designed to facilitate the interstate exchange of environmental information comprise the National Environmental Data Bases (NEDB) , set up within the framework of the UNDP-GEF Dnipro Basin Environment Programme and accessible on-line (see Table below):

The Interstate Electronic Data Base (IEDB) for the Dnipro Basin also represents the on-line resource for exchange of environmental information.

IEDB address in the Internet: www.dnipro-ecobase.org.ua.

The IEDB stores comprehensive information on the ecological state of the Dnipro Basin and applicable environmental legislation/regulations. It employs powerful tools for the storage, updating, processing and reporting of this information in the formats designed to meet the requirements of key information users. Its ultimate objective is to provide the information support for the SAP/NAP implementation.

The IEDB and NEDB’s provide a basis for the interstate information exchange regime, designed to serve a number of purposes (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Outline of the Organisational Framework for Collection, Updating and Use of Environmental Information in the Dnipro Basin

These purposes include the provision of information support for:

- Interstate management bodies, both existing and contingent on the signing of the Agreement, responsible for the implementation of the SAP/NAP’s;

- Central and local executive authorities within the riparian countries of the Dnipro Basin;

- Other governmental agencies, public and private organisations (including small and medium businesses), institutions and industries, committed to the environmental rehabilitation of the Dnipro Basin;

- Governmental agencies and non-governmental organisations of the Black Sea Basin countries;

- International organisations, involved in the development of global and regional environmental programmes.

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