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Water - a key security asset 4. Countering the environmental degradation of the Black Sea Contents   1. Water - a key security asset   2. Security through Science  3. Committee on the Challenges of Modern Society  4. Countering the environmental degradation of the Black Sea  5. Wetlands restoration in the Aral Sea  6. Artemia production in the salt water of the Aral Sea  7. Real-time monitoring of the Nistru and Prut rivers  8. Pilot studies on water management  9. The South Caucasus Cooperative River Monitoring Project Editorial Note   Important publisher and editorial information about this document Other Formats English PDF (~640Kb) Printable version with colour illustrations Order a hardcopy version using the online order form. The Black Sea is the main water system shared by six countries: Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. Its economic and ecological benefits are invaluable for the local population, providing them with income from the fishing industry, transport and tourism. At the same time it is one of the most polluted waters on earth, putting the health of the local population at risk and creating poor living conditions. The World Bank estimates that pollution of the Black Sea causes economic losses of approximately US$ 500 million per year. Several national and international organisations - including NATO - have supported scientific projects that tackle these issues from different angles and raise awareness among the populations and governments concerned. These collaborative efforts resulted in a Strategic Action Plan for the Rehabilitation and Protection of the Black Sea that was signed by the environment ministers of all six riparian countries in October 1996. One of the projects launched in coordination with the Action Plan was the NATO Black Sea Operational Database Management System that brought together more than 125 scientists from the Black Sea countries and the United States. NATO mainly purchased computers, software and sample collecting devices, and supported the various trips for data collection. The scientists used biological, chemical and physiological data collected over more than four decades (1954-2002), and created the largest ecosystem database ever produced for the entire Black Sea. Based on the database and on continuous real-time data coming from research vessels, buoys and satellite images that are fed into the system, the scientists created a model that could measure the consequences of industrial incidents, oil spills or ecological disasters, such as the sudden eclosion of plankton that could provoke a lack of oxygen and kill fish. The results of this project are the basis of a larger ongoing EU-funded project "Arena" that will help in rehabilitating the Black Sea.

© NATO - OTAN 2005 -	NATO Public Diplomacy Division 1110 Brussels, Belgium, web site: www.nato.int e-mail: natodoc@hq.nato. int