Key sources of environmental information

The collected environmental data are stored by the organizations and agencies responsible for their collection. Many modern data are stored electronically, but a significant proportion of historical data is still on paper. Public access to a number of datasets remains challenging.

The State Committee for Ecology and Environmental Protection maintains a website with news, institutional information and a limited set of open data. A national state of the environment report is produced every 3–4 years (the latest one however in 2013) and is made available online in PDF files, but irregularly. An annual environmental bulletin is published too. Inventories of waste, emissions into the atmosphere and greenhouse gases exist in electronic form.

The Centre of Hydrometeorological Service (Uzhydromet) prepares daily, monthly, half-annual, annual monitoring-based overviews of air, water, soils pollution and radiation, as well as forecasts/warnings about weather and water resources. The digitization of climatic and other hydrometeorological data is in progress, as is the gradual introduction of automated observations. Uzhydromet regularly provides socially significant information in the mass media, and is coordinating climate change activities. In 2022, a new law on hydrometeorology was approved.

The State Committee for Statistics publishes statistical yearbooks with environmental indicators, which are available on request. A limited set of statistical data (air pollution, protected areas) are made available on the Committee’s website with links to open data of other ministries and agencies. A web portal with SDG indicators has recently been developed, where many SDG indicators, including on the environment, are available.

The open data portal (supported by the State Statistics Committee) on topics related to the environment provides information on permits for nature use, the use of natural resources, air pollution, etc. Through the public services portal, interested users can apply for some types of permits and participate in e-auctions.

The State Committee for Geology and Mineral Resources operates a groundwater database on the levels and quality of groundwater and publishes an annual Information bulletin, including information on trends in underground water reserves. Groundwater monitoring is lagging behind environmental impacts due to the growing number and operational depth of wells and the lack of reliable data. UNESCO supports cooperation between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan on the Pretashkent transboundary aquifer.

The Institutes of botany and zoology under the Academy of Sciences maintain data on flora and fauna, provide inputs for the Red List, which is now available online (redbook.uz), and keep records on protected areas together with other responsible agencies.

SIC ICWC has collected water and environmental information on the regional scale (the Aral Sea basin), some which are in public domain.

In addition to government agencies, public organizations are involved in the collection and dissemination of environmental information in Uzbekistan, for example, bird watching and protection groups and the ecological movement of Uzbekistan.

Environmental indicators

The State Committee for Statistics collects data from enterprises and other state agencies. Many of the environmental indicators are compatible with those in the UNECE and SDGs sets.

A comprehensive database prepared in 2010 included 100 environmental indicators (20 on atmospheric emissions, 25 on water resources, 14 on land resources, 9 on waste, 6 on biodiversity, 6 on climate change, 5 on public health, 4 on energy and 2 specifically related to the Aral Sea and other topics). There is no evidence that the database is still in use, however, while staff rotations and other changes disrupted its continuity.