On May 7, 2015 in Bishkek was conducted official opening of the Aarhus Centre which was noted by carrying out a one-day round table on discussion of the plan of the Aarhus Centre in the city of Bishkek for 2015, and also implementation of the Aarhus Convention in the region.

The Aarhus Centre in the city of Bishkek was created on the basis of the Memorandum of mutual understanding signed on December 23, 2014 between the State agency of environmental protection and forestry under the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic and the OSCE Center in Bishkek, according to the order of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic of December 17, 2014 No. 579-r, on December 23, 2014.

The Kyrgyz Republic joined the Aarhus Convention “About Access to Information, Participation of the Public in Decision-making Process and access to Justice on the questions Concerning Environment” in 2001 (The law KR from 12.01.2001. No. 5) and by that took obligations for providing the relevant national legislation and the procedures concerning access to information, participation of the public and access to justice on the questions concerning environment.
The purpose of creation of the Aarhus Centre – is improvement of execution of the principles and obligations proclaimed in the Convention.The center will create conditions of quick access to ecological information, will increase the potential of the state support in ensuring more active participation of the public in decision-making, and will help to create the atmosphere of trust at interaction between various parties.
Thus, all data and information represented by the Centre will have the official status that will allow improving not only reliability and quality of information, but also will allow using it at realization of the rights for access to justice.Also, the project of Strategy of Development of Activity of the Aarhus Centers developed for the purpose of support to the State agency of environmental protection and forestry in effective short-term and medium-term planning of realization of activities for promotion of the basic principles of the Aarhus Convention in the Kyrgyz Republic till 2018 is submitted for discussion.