pollution, and climate change. The Concept of Ecological Security states that among natural factors that affect biodiversity in Kyrgyzstan are desertification and climate change. Kyrgyzstan acknowledged the problem of biodiversity and in 1996 acceded to Convention on Biological Diversity. Regional environmental issues in Kyrgyzstan Wastes of the mining industry. Waste of the mining industry poses a direct threat to the environment of both Kyrgyzstan and neighboring countries. Located at high elevations in a fragile mountain environment the mining industry has generated hundreds of millions of tons of waste rock and tailing in dumps and tailing ponds which serve as a source of permanent pollution of the environment by heavy metals, radioactive materials and cyanide. The bulk of the mining waste is located in river basins and since Kyrgyzstan belongs to those areas subjected to a great extent to natural disasters such as earthquakes and landslides, presents high risk of trans-boundary pollution. The potentially affected population in Kyrgyzstan, and near border areas of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan is estimated as of 5 million. Water pressures. Sharing of natural resources is a significant issue among the countries of Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have significant water resources originating from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, which in the Soviet Era was shared with Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan in return for gas, oil, and electricity. However, modern damming projects, such as the Kambarata-1 Dam on the Naryn river and Toktogul Dam on the Syr Darya (both examples of Kyrgyz dams affecting regional water pressures), have caused Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to lose their surplus of electricity and thus their ability to barter for water with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. By the late 1990s the Soviet resource-sharing system had completely broken down, and a new system has yet to be put in place due to lack of political will and distrust between the Central Asian republics. National environmental issues Air pollution. The air pollution has increased as a serious problem in urban centers during the last years. The major sources of air pollution are energy and construction materials sectors, mining and processing industries, households using coal, and transport. Air quality deterioration is related to more extensive use of coal in combined heat power plants instead of natural gas, using low-grade fuels in households, and growing vehicle fleet that involves many old, poorly maintained vehicles. Water pollution. The major sources of water pollution are industrial wastewater,