Bonn, 24 February 2012 - The First Meeting of the Signatories to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the Conservation and Restoration of the Bukhara Deer (Cervus elaphus bactrianus) took place on 20 November 2011. The meeting brought together representatives from Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, as well as international experts.

The Signatories reviewed the conservation status of the Bukhara Deer, which had previously disappeared from the riparian forests along the rivers of Amu Darya and Syr Darya due to uncontrolled hunting, logging and unsustainable agricultural practices. The endangered species has since been reintroduced as a result of conservation measures under the CMS agreement.

“Just now Kazakhstan is actively establishing new protected areas for the Bukhara Deer, taking measures to reintroduce Bukhara Deer in its historical areas and looking for additional sites where protected areas can be established,” explained Khairbek Mussabayev, Deputy Chairman of the Forestry and Hunting Committee at the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

In fact, the Bukhara Deer population has quadrupled since the establishment of the MOU in 2002. But despite many improvements, habitat loss and degradation continue to pose a threat to Central Asian mammals such as Wild camels, Asiatic wild asses, Saiga antelopes, Wild gazelles, sheep, and yaks as well as snow leopards. An Action Plan for Eurasian Aridland Mammals aims at tackling this challenge and outlines a number of measures, such as protecting lowland riparian forests along the river basins and capacity building for wildlife authorities, park rangers and local communities. The CMS Action Plan will be further developed together with Central Asian countries and other stakeholders to provide a comprehensive strategy for improved transboundary collaboration among Governments, nature conservation agencies, NGOs and local communities to enhance coordinated research and conservation action, wildlife law enforcement and information exchange.

At the meeting, the Signatories inter alia amended the MOU to recognize Afghanistan as a Range State of the Bukhara deer, adopted a new national reporting format and agreed to develop a new Medium-Term International Work Programme to outline conservation priorities for the next five years. Overall, Signatories reiterated their commitment to enhance the conservation of Bukhara Deer across its range and agreed on a number of national and transboundary priority actions.

For more information about the Bukhara Deer meeting, click here.

For the video interview with Khairbek Mussabayev, Deputy Chairman of the Forestry and Hunting Committee at the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan, click here.

To read more about the COP, read the special edition of the CMS Bulletin.