Moscow, 10 August 2012 - The threatened argali mountain sheep (Ovis ammon) would greatly benefit from improved transboundary conservation under the Convention of Migratory Species (CMS) – this is the conclusion of a study, which assesses the gaps and needs of argali conservation as well as the option for promoting such cooperation under CMS.

The argali was listed on CMS Appendix II at the 10th CMS Conference of the Parties (COP10) in November 2011 following a proposal submitted by Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. The proposal received great support and several other range states of the species such as Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan, also expressed their interest in developing transboundary conservation of argali under CMS on different occasions. At the same time, COP10 adopted Resolution 10.16, which lists a set of criteria that need to be taken into consideration when making any proposal for a new instrument under CMS, including the “substantiation of the case for a new instrument, based on an analysis of needs and gaps in current conservation provisions”.

With funding from German government through the Regional Program on Sustainable Use of Natural Resources in Central Asia of the German Society for International Cooperation – (GIZ) GmbH, the CMS Secretariat in cooperation with GIZ therefore commissioned this study to review existing initiatives and conservation activities for argali in Central Asia, assess current needs and gaps in conservation and management of the species, and in particular, to analyze the role CMS could play in this regard. The report elaborates ways to progress argali conservation and discusses the potential benefits and challenges of developing a new instrument for the conservation of argali and its habitat under the aegis of CMS.

[Full Report] [Executive Summary]