PRESENTED BY Dr. G. BEGNI , MEDIAS-France, France. H. MAKHMARA , MEDIAS-France, France.

1. THE MEDIAS DISTRIBUTED DATABASES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION. PLANNED APPLICATIONS TO CENTRAL ASIAENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES PRESENTED BY Dr. G. BEGNI, MEDIAS-France, France. H. MAKHMARA, MEDIAS-France, France. Dr. S. NIKULINA, UNDP, Uzbekistan. Pr. E. ZAKARIN, Space Research Institute, Kazakhstan. Pr. E. GORDOV,SCERT/IOM, Russia. at the CITES International Conference, September 2003, organised by SCERT, INM, IOM, Tomsk State University with the support of the EC INCO programme & under the auspices of the national IGBP Committee.

2. THE MEDIAS DISTRIBUTED DATABASES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION. PLANNED APPLICATIONS TO CENTRAL ASIAENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES "Think globally, act locally” • Global change issues are a major scientific and socio-economic concern for the whole mankind. • Nevertheless, its origins and impacts are of specific concern at the regional, national and local scales, which bring the actual attention of citizens and policy makers. • Addressing these issues need a multidisciplinary and a multi-scale approach, integrating complex scientific research,and major socio-economic challenges, implementing heterogeneous information sets.

3. THE MEDIAS DISTRIBUTED DATABASES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION. PLANNED APPLICATIONS TO CENTRAL ASIAENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES • Communication between scientists and decision/policy-makers is most often a hard work at all levels and scales! • Having federative structures bringing together scientific (at large) and managerialapproaches appear as a relevant solution to help filling these gaps. • Havingdedicated regional interdisciplinary scientific networks, closely linked to major international programs dealing with global change issues, are a part of the answer. International programmes evolve in that way. • Accepting to share access to information is mandatory.

4. THE MEDIAS DISTRIBUTED DATABASES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION. PLANNED APPLICATIONS TO CENTRAL ASIAENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES • Such an idea led to develop the MEDIAS network and its federative structure, MEDIAS-France. • From its very beginning (1994), this initiative has been pushed forward by ENRICH and START: • The leading objective of ENRICH is to pursue a major coherent European contribution to international actions in global change research, • START(IGBP/IHDP/WCRP) focuses on training and capacity building to strengthen the participation of developing countries in global change research. Regional research networks are established and developed. • Other structures encouraged regional initiatives - see further.

5. THE MEDIAS DISTRIBUTED DATABASES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION. PLANNED APPLICATIONS TO CENTRAL ASIAENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES The main goals of the MEDIAS network are: • to foster appropriate interdisciplinary studies that address global environmental issues from a regional perspective, • to develop data archiving and management of long term observing systems, analysis and synthesis of results, • to organise training and capacity building activities, as well as outreach actions towards decision makers, • to promote dialogue with the socio-economic world, mainly at regional scale.

6. THE MEDIAS DISTRIBUTED DATABASES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION. PLANNED APPLICATIONS TO CENTRAL ASIAENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES • MEDIAS-France is the co-ordination unit of the MEDIAS network (about 2300 members). • At the beginning, it was mainly focussed on the Mediterranean and Africa. Now, it is encouraged to spread over other key regions and to address innovative issues. • Namely, its acts as the secretariat of the START Mediterranean Committee (MEDCOM).

7. THE MEDIAS DISTRIBUTED DATABASES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION. PLANNED APPLICATIONS TO CENTRAL ASIAENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES • MEDIAS-France is neither a research centre nor a operational information archival and processing unit. • Its objective is to act as a service structure to the benefit of the scientific world. • Its role is to encourage scientists and researchers to have a better dialogue and proper synergies, to help them to have a friendly access to better information tools and training opportunities, and to have their voice better heard by their own colleagues, international donors and decision makers.

8. THE MEDIAS DISTRIBUTED DATABASES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION. PLANNED APPLICATIONS TO CENTRAL ASIAENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES • MEDIAS-France acts in close connection with several scientific organisations, among which START and LUCC. • LUCC is a joint IGBP/IHDP interdisciplinary programme aimed at improving the understanding of the land use and land cover change dynamics and their relationships with the global environmental change. LUCC engagesactively both the physical and social science communities. It encourages and endorses the development of relevant projects and regional networks.

9. THE MEDIAS DISTRIBUTED DATABASES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION. PLANNED APPLICATIONS TO CENTRAL ASIAENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES • The Aral sea basin is one of the major hotspots region in the world where economic development led to a very severe environmental situation. • The question of a sustainable development taking into account all the components of the system has to be addressed in a comprehensive scientific way. • Some international structures as INTAS, START, APN, are paying a specific attention to these issues.

10. THE MEDIAS DISTRIBUTED DATABASES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION. PLANNED APPLICATIONS TO CENTRAL ASIAENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES • The economic development of the Aral Sea basin was based upon cotton monoculture. • It implied an important water consumption and evaporation, which could no longer compensate the Aral sea natural evaporation • In addition, fertilisers and pesticides led to an heavy water and soil salinisation by water and wind transportation.

11. THE MEDIAS DISTRIBUTED DATABASES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION. PLANNED APPLICATIONS TO CENTRAL ASIAENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES • The negative impacts of that situation make it not sustainable on the long run. • These negative impacts should in particular be evaluated in terms of resource availability and adequate consumption, irreversible environmental degradation, economical loss for several sectors, human health. • These issues should be addressed in line with the WSSD implementation plan.

12. THE MEDIAS DISTRIBUTED DATABASES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION. PLANNED APPLICATIONS TO CENTRAL ASIAENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES • Such studies imply an integrative approach, bringing together Land Use and Land Cover issues, resources availability and consumption, and socio-economic considerations and criteria at several temporal and spatial scales. • Nevertheless, an emphasis should be made on long term and regional scale aspects. • Water resources issues at large should be acknowledged as a federative theme.

13. THE MEDIAS DISTRIBUTED DATABASES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION. PLANNED APPLICATIONS TO CENTRAL ASIAENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES • This implies by definition a LUCC oriented approach(plus some WCRP aspects). • Appropriate skills exist in the region. Nevertheless, no endorsed LUCC network or LUCC project exist in the region so far. • It was decided to face that paradox and set up such a network and the related activity. First steps and promising iterations were already made.

14. THE MEDIAS DISTRIBUTED DATABASES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION. PLANNED APPLICATIONS TO CENTRAL ASIAENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES • MEDIAS-France launched the idea of the network in close consultation with SRI, Kazakhstan (E. Zakarin), then with LUCC IPO, START and APN. Links were set up with LUTEA. Several other organisations in Europe and Central Asia joined the nascent network. • MEDIAS-FRANCE may host the network management (including the metadatabases and multiproxy databases) as a regional sub-network of the world-wide MEDIAS network. The scientific co-ordination should be in the Aral Sea region.

15. THE MEDIAS DISTRIBUTED DATABASES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION. PLANNED APPLICATIONS TO CENTRAL ASIAENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES Indeed, the core network was set up by: • Kazakhstan: SRI, Environment Institute • Uzbekistan: SANIGMI, UNDP • Russia: SRI, IOM (SCERT) • France:MEDIAS-France, Université de Reims • Germany: DLR/DFD, IFU • Now, formally involving other partners to set up a comprehensive multidisciplinary network is mandatory.

16. THE MEDIAS DISTRIBUTED DATABASES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION. PLANNED APPLICATIONS TO CENTRAL ASIAENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES Several actions were led to start the initiative: • A project was set up and submitted to INTAS funding, unfortunately without success, • “Side meetings” were held during the LUTEA Conference in Ulan-Bataar, June-July 2001, and the ENVIROMIS-2002 Conference in Tomsk, July 2002, leading to the following key decisions.

17. THE MEDIAS DISTRIBUTED DATABASES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION. PLANNED APPLICATIONS TO CENTRAL ASIAENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES Key decisions: • Send a proposal to LUCC for regional network endorsement. Encouraging iterations are on the way. • Prepare a kick-off workshop. That workshop will take place in Tashkent, January 2004, under the aegis of START, APN, MEDIAS-France, UNDP and the Uzbekistan University. • In parallel, fruitful contacts were taken with INTAS.A key person of the network was invited to the mid-term symposium of the ARAL Sea INTAS projects.

18. THE MEDIAS DISTRIBUTED DATABASES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION. PLANNED APPLICATIONS TO CENTRAL ASIAENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES • Technically, the water resources issues at large in connection with land use and land cover are considered as the key issue to build upon. • Regional and global factors have an impact on resources, • Political decisions have a key impact on regional issues, • Water consumption in connection with land use and land cover have key impacts on regional water balance and socio-economic aspects, with strong feed-backs. • These aspects in turn have an impact on policy making. • The simplified overall diagram can be shown as follows:

19. Water Resources Availability Other Factors(Natural) Global Factors Climate Change Regional Water Balance(Natural) Regional Factors(Man & Use) Water Consumption & Use Political decisions Land Use & Land Cover Change Various Socio-Economic Impacts(Poverty, Health care) Central Asia Network: thematic and problematic THE MEDIAS DISTRIBUTED DATABASES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION. PLANNED APPLICATIONS TO CENTRAL ASIAENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

20. THE MEDIAS DISTRIBUTED DATABASES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION. PLANNED APPLICATIONS TO CENTRAL ASIAENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES • The work should be led through electronic communication (fora), dedicated workshops and lead to syntheses in line with LUCC objectives. • Key inputs are results of research programs and updated key information, in particular relevant indicators. • This should lead to identify consolidated scientificresults and research gaps to be filled. • Network endorsed reports could then be issued and transmitted to START, LUCC, the scientific community and the relevant policy makers. • Capacity building has to be taken in due consideration.

21. Research Programsand Initiatives Organisation of: • Electronic forum • Synthesis • Dedicated Workshops Capacity Building Identification of: Drafting of: • Validated results • Research gaps Network Endorsed Reports Updated Information and Indicators • Physical (Land Use and land Cover Change) • Socio-economic THE MEDIAS DISTRIBUTED DATABASES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION. PLANNED APPLICATIONS TO CENTRAL ASIAENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES Central Asia Network Organisation Scheme

22. THE MEDIAS DISTRIBUTED DATABASES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION. PLANNED APPLICATIONS TO CENTRAL ASIAENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES • The issue of multidisciplinary information databases should not be neglected! • Relevant information should be located, formatted, put into proper databases and referenced through metadatabases. • Databases are kept under control, while an access through a metadata base should be made available through acknowledged standards and efficient friendly interfaces. • A Meta Catalog portal should allow first to retrieve metadata, then to choose and retrieve datasets. • Sophisticated techniques developed by MEDIAS-France proved efficient to build up such a information systems.

23. ARALSEA-MDB INFORMATION SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE 4.Choose datasets 1.Search by criteria (User friendly interface) Meta Catalog (Portal to the ARALSEA I.S) 6. Retrieve datasets 4.Query data 2.Query metadata 3.Retrieve metadata Meta database (ISO 19115 AND/OR FGDC) 5. Locate and query datasets from relevant data sources Exchange protocol Exchange protocol Exchange protocol Data source 1 Data source 2 Data source n

24. THE MEDIAS DISTRIBUTED DATABASES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION. PLANNED APPLICATIONS TO CENTRAL ASIAENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES CONCLUSIONS-LOOKING FORWARD • Environment, socio-economic future and sustainable development raise major concerns in Central Asia. • The MEDIAS network can be regionally developed in synergy with START,LUCC & other actors to encourage regional research, promote international dialogue and channel new scientific developments. • It also fosters the dialogue between scientists and decision/policy makers at all levels to "Think globally, act locally”