On September 17, a regional workshop under the Environment and Security Programme (ENVSEC) was opened in the Turkmen capital. The leading specialists of the of the governmental nature-management and environmental organisations, the heads of the partner organisations and project coordinators from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Italy, Iran and Afghanistan, the leading environmental scientists, the expert cartographers, the representatives of the local authorities are invited to participate in the environmental forum organised by the Ministry of Nature Protection of Turkmenistan. The representatives of the diplomatic missions accredited to Turkmenistan and authoritative international organisations - OSCE, NATO, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) take part in the meeting.

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) put forward the Environment and Security Programme (ENVSEC) joint initiative in 2002. The ENVSEC first workshop for the Central Asian region was held in Ashgabat in 2003. The prioritized directions of the programme implementation and the four priority regions: the Ferghana Valley, the Eastern Caspian coast, the Semipalatinsk nuclear polygon, the Aral Sea basin and confluents were identified on a basis on the initial assessment of environment in Central Asia.

The key issues put on the agenda of the first day included further implementing the ENVSEC programme in the Eastern Caspian region, fostering environmental activities in the region and elaborating the short-term programme of co-operation in that field. The participants focused on the issues of sustainable development of the coastal areas, pollution reduction and prevention, preservation of biological diversity, restoration of marine biological resources and enhancement of economic capacities of the Central Asian states.

A broad range of issues related to implementation of the joint projects and co-operation programmes on environment and ecological security in the region were discussed at the workshop. Those reporting provided the detailed information on the start of the work programme in the Eastern Caspian region covering the Atyrau and Manghistau oblasts of Kazakhstan and Balkan Velayat of Turkmenistan. According to Turkmen and foreign experts, the priority problems had been identified and the work programmes were designed. Those reporting informed that the ecological projects aimed at using efficiently the natural resources of the Caspian coast, creating the new sources of living support in the coastal areas, raising the ecological awareness of broad layers of the population were implemented in the region.

The participants noted that Turkmenistan stood steadfast to ecologically safe and sustainable development based on an integrated approach to economic and social challenges combined with thorough environmental activities. The foreign experts emphasized that the adherence of the Turkmen side to active international co-operation vividly evidenced that Turkmenistan really contributed to environment improvement for the benefit of the peoples worldwide.