The project will mainly work towards increasing the capacity of Kyrgyz environmental authorities in order for them to be able to determine POP compounds (Persistent Organic Pollutants) from water, sediment, fish and benthos.
The work will focus on assessing the status of the Son-Kul Lake. In the valley surrounding the lake there was intensive farming until the 1970s. DDT was allegedly utilized for farming in the area in order to fight against pests. DDT is one of the persistent organic pollutants specified as very dangerous compounds in the Stockholm convention. It can be assumed that pesticides can still be found in lake sediments and living organisms. At present, the Kyrgyz environmental authorities’ capacity to analyze POPs residues is not sufficient. Due to climate change it is expected that the recreational use of the lake and tourism will grow further and therefore it is important to get information of possible pesticide residues in the lake and in living organisms in it.
In addition, the project will continue the ongoing development of digital environmental information system in Kyrgyzstan. The project will also take the first steps to take advantage of the principles and benefits of public monitoring Kyrgyzstan.
At the end of the project, environmental authorities in Kyrgyzstan should have the necessary amount of information of the environmental status of Lake Son-Kul, especially of the possible POP residues, in order to assess the impacts of planned measures (cleaning of old nets from the bottom of the lake). The project started in November 2016 and will continue until September 2018.