The Executive Secretary of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species has recently sent a proposed revised Memorandum of Understanding and Action Plan on the Saiga Antelope to the responsible ministers of Kazakstan, the Russian Federation, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. He has requested that every effort be made to sign the MoU in Berlin, Germany, on 23 June 2004, the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the adoption of CMS.

In light of the fact that the population of the Saiga antelope has sunk from approximately 1 million individuals to 30,000 in 15 years urgent action is required. The signing and implementation of this MoU under CMS could trigger a turnaround. CITES and IUCN have indicated their support: The species features on the agenda of the 13th Meeting of the Conference of Parties to CITES and may be discussed at the Third IUCN World Conservation Congress (October and November 2004 respectively).