Surroundings in Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan has no single public service for the complete living environment. Responsibilities are distributed between the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the State Committee for Water Resources, the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry, the Ministry of Construction and Architecture, the Institute of Seismology and Atmosphere Physics, local hyakimliks, municipal providers and the Aarhus Centre. The Ministry of Environmental Protection was created in 2023 after the former Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection was divided. Administration generally runs from the national level through velayats and etraps to cities and hyakimliks, so practical conditions and responsible offices depend on the location. Electricity access was reported at 100% in 2023, but water and sanitation conditions vary strongly. The 2022 housing census recorded 613,087 households with water supplied inside the dwelling through a central system and 408,708 with an individual system. Other households relied on a water pipe outside the dwelling, wells or boreholes, surface water, delivered water or bottled water. Rural households depended much more on individual systems, wells and delivered water than urban households. The census recorded 436,281 households with central sewage and 622,155 with individual sewage; rural households were recorded with individual systems rather than central sewage. These categories do not by themselves prove safely managed sanitation. National water indicators also require careful interpretation. A 2024 UN model estimated safely managed drinking water coverage at 94.9%, while UNICEF reported basic drinking-water access at 100% in 2022. Ambient water quality in 2023 was reported at 75.1% for all assessed water bodies, 80% for rivers and 66% for open water. An arid climate, irrigation dependence, salinity, declining water availability and pressure on the Amu Darya, the Karakum Canal and the Aral basin shape local conditions. Dashoguz and Lebap are particularly exposed to saline soils, dust and salt storms and water insecurity. The State Committee for Water Resources, local water authorities and hyakimliks handle water matters, while environmental concerns also involve the Ministry of Environmental Protection. Ashgabat has the Bagtyýarlyk drinking-water treatment plant, opened in 2024 with a reported capacity of 150,000 cubic metres per day, as well as drainage, wastewater and groundwater projects. Aşgabatagyzsuw is a local water organisation. Avaza has a desalination plant, sewage treatment, water-supply networks, parks and tourism infrastructure, although local access and tariff information could not be verified. Electricity, water and waste tariffs and connection charges are not reliably documented in the available official material and can depend on the region and property. Air pollution is a material concern. The WHO 2022 scorecard gave Turkmenistan an annual mean PM2.5 value of 33 micrograms per cubic metre based on 2016 data, about seven times the WHO guideline of 5 micrograms. The figure is old and does not provide a current neighbourhood assessment. Urban growth, industry and energy facilities, dry soil, dust and salt storms and possible waste burning are relevant risk sources, but no reliable current national source breakdown was available. The Ministry of Environmental Protection and other authorities monitor atmospheric air, while the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry addresses health-related standards. Current public city-level measurements and nationwide warning or complaint channels are limited. Environmental noise and vibration are regulated through the Law on Nature Protection, which sets permissible levels for noise, vibration, magnetic fields, infrared radiation and other physical effects. Businesses and individuals in residential, public and outdoor spaces have related duties, and planning, construction and operation should account for the limits. Environmental, health, local construction and administrative bodies may be involved in a particular case, but no current nationwide noise time series or uniform public measurement procedure was verified. Green areas include urban parks, green belts, forest zones, planted areas and botanical facilities. Planting campaigns support shade, cooling, dust reduction, recreation and protection from urban heat, but trees depend on irrigation and maintenance in the arid climate. About 1.5 million seedlings were reported for Ashgabat and Arkadag in 2024, and a nationwide planting campaign took place on 22 March 2025. Examples include intensive planned greening and drip irrigation in Ashgabat, the Botendag buffer forest area near Dashoguz and parks in Avaza. The National Forestry Programme covered 2021 to 2025. The official fire regime for forest plantations, protected and natural areas, foothill and steppe vegetation and garden plantings ran from 1 May to 30 October in 2025. Opening hours, fees and accessibility standards for public green spaces are not available nationwide. Safety concerns combine natural and industrial hazards. Earthquakes, drought, floods and flash floods, dust, sand and salt storms, extreme heat and wildfires can affect different regions. The Kopetdag and Ashgabat area has high seismic exposure; the 1948 earthquake had a reported magnitude of 7.3, and the Institute of Seismology reports up to 6,000 seismic events per year. A national seismic-risk project for July 2018 to July 2026 includes Ashgabat as a pilot area. Oil, gas, chemical and other industrial facilities create additional risks. The Ministry of Defence Civil Defence and Rescue Operations Directorate, the Institute of Seismology, local authorities and fire and environmental agencies share related responsibilities. Facilities classified as hazardous production sites have rules on registration, accident-localisation plans and consequence management. Environmental information and participation have a formal legal basis. Turkmenistan joined the Aarhus Convention on 30 October 2001. The Law on Environmental Information from 2020, the Law on Nature Protection from 2014, the Law on Urban Planning Activities from 2015 and the Law on Environmental Expertise from 2014, including later amendments, provide relevant procedures. Citizens, foreign persons and legal entities and stateless persons are formally entitled to request environmental information. Access is stated to be free and can include searching, inspecting documents, obtaining copies and receiving an official response. Requests can be directed to the Ministry of Environmental Protection or another authority holding the information. The Aarhus Centre in Ashgabat and information centres in the velayats also support access. Refusal, inaccurate information or non-provision can be challenged before a higher body or a court, although current response deadlines and case outcomes were not verified. Urban-planning information can concern development, land use and improvement. Comments and proposals may be submitted before planning documents are approved. State environmental expertise is required before activities covered by the relevant rules are implemented, and an environmental impact assessment may be required for activities with potential environmental effects. Public environmental expertise can be conducted by public associations, while local executive and self-government bodies facilitate public hearings. The applicant pays the state-expertise fee; no universal current processing time or fee schedule was verified. Urban growth is concentrated in Ashgabat, Arkadag and the Avaza and Turkmenbashi area. New housing, utilities, water treatment, parks and roads can improve access while increasing water demand, waste, energy use, heat-island effects and local air or water pollution. Climate and land pressures include rising heat, salinity, drought, water scarcity and land degradation. A UN Turkmenistan baseline from 2019 reported 17.72% of total land as degraded, 15.24% affected by drought, more than 1.7 million hectares of agricultural land affected by salt-dust storms and more than 39% of irrigated land moderately or strongly saline. These figures are baseline-dependent and do not represent current annual monitoring. Household and municipal waste is a direct urban-environment pressure. A 2021 UNDP and Ministry project drafted a National Waste Management Strategy, a waste classifier, hazardous-waste criteria and air and water monitoring programmes, initially focusing on Ashgabat and Avaza with intended replication. Formal alternatives include municipal collection and disposal, source reduction, recycling pilots, behaviour campaigns and public clean-up or afforestation activities. Nationwide collection coverage, landfill standards, recycling rates, tariffs and a single public complaint channel have not been verified, so conditions in Ashgabat and Avaza should not be treated as national coverage. National climate, forestry, Aral-basin and environmental programmes provide policy pathways, but the successor to the National Aral Sea Programme for 2021 to 2025 and its progress could not be confirmed.