Azernews.Az

Akbar Novruz

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The Kazakh government has allocated significant funding to support the development of the country’s Caspian Sea Scientific Research Institute, Azernews reports via Kazakhstani media.

In line with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s instructions for a comprehensive study of Caspian Sea issues, 305 million tenge (approximately $564,000) has been allocated from government reserves to the institute. Prime Minister Oljas Bektenov officially signed the decision.

Established by order of President Tokayev, the Caspian Sea Scientific Research Institute is tasked with addressing ecological problems in the region. Its activities include assessing fish resources, developing methods and technologies for their protection, studying the causes of mass extinction of ichthyofauna and seals, and working to preserve their populations. The institute also specialises in researching hydrological processes, monitoring sea levels, analysing climate change impacts, and collecting and studying data on water quality, biodiversity, and other environmental parameters in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea and along its shores.

According to the government, the newly allocated funds will ensure “timely and efficient” scientific research across the institute’s laboratories in hydrobiology, hydrochemistry, hydrometeorology, and satellite monitoring, as well as address other key research priorities.

In July this year, during the First International Environmental Conference in Russia’s Altai Republic, Prime Minister Bektenov highlighted the issue of Caspian Sea shallowing as “one of the main regional challenges.”

The Caspian Sea, the world’s largest enclosed body of water, is a unique ecosystem and a major source of aquatic bioresources. It plays a vital role in the sustainable development of Kazakhstan’s western regions and the country as a whole. The Kazakh sector of the sea has a coastline of 2,320 kilometres — the longest among all Caspian littoral states.