On 9-11 April 2008 an inception workshop of the preparatory stage (PPG) of the UNDP/GEF project “Joint Actions to Reduce PTS and Nutrients Pollution in Lake Baikal through integrated basin management” will be held in Ulan-Ude, Russia.

The workshop is organized by UNDP Russia in close cooperation with the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, Center for International Projects (Moscow, Russia), People’s Khural of the Republic of Buryatia (Committee for economic policy, natural resources use and environmental protection), Baikal Ministry of Natural Resources of the Republic of Buryatia, Institute of Nature Management of the Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences. Among the participants of the workshop are: representatives of Russian Ministry of Natural Resources, Mongolian Ministry of Nature and Environment, the scientific community of Russia and Mongolia, UNESCO, UNDP Bratislava Regional Centre, UNDP Russia and UNDP Mongolia.

Lake Baikal, situated in eastern Siberia on the Russian border with Mongolia, is the world’s oldest (>25 million years old) and deepest lake (1,637 m). It contains 20 percent of the Earth’s fresh surface water and supports a diverse and highly endemic flora and fauna. Although the lake is in Russia, the catchment around this vast freshwater reservoir (Baikal Lake Basin, BLB) is a transboundary resource extending over a 500,000 km2 area shared between Russia and Mongolia, with over 300 rivers and streams. Ongoing pressure to expand the economy in both countries is driving the largely uncontrolled expansion of industrial, agricultural and urban developments within the watershed on both sides of the lake.

The PPG will finance the development of the preliminary Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA) that will identify major root causes and hot spots in the watershed through collection and analysis of baseline data on ecological and socio-economic context in the BLB. Implementation of the PPG will be shared between the Russian Federation and Mongolia. UNDP Russia will lead the project development process.

The purpose of the PPG Inception workshop will be to introduce all partners, to plan for the project preparation activities, to review the TORs for key experts/consultants and analyze information gaps, to agree on the project coordination mechanisms (national and regional Steering Committees.