Central Asia harbours the largest intact grasslands worldwide. Large mammals such Saiga antelopes, Mongolian gazelles, wild camels and many other migratory animals are still able to roam freely for thousands of kilometres on their annual journeys. Several of these aridland species are already included in the Appendices of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS). Central Asia’s steppes and deserts are one of the world’s last remaining hotspots of large ungulate migrations, which are both a wonderful spectacle and a key structuring force for the ecosystems. However, those aridlands are among the most underrepresented eco-region in the global protected area network and urgent action is needed to safeguard these landscapes while they are still intact.

There are huge investment opportunities in conservation and sustainable management of the region’s unique wildlife and its habitat. Central Asia is not only rich in biodiversity, but also in oil and gas, metals and coal. With high demand for energy and raw materials in China and other countries, these resources are being exploited at an unprecedented pace and scale. Numerous long-distance and fenced railways and road networks are being built to provide the infrastructure for the large-scale extraction of natural resources, stretching all the way from Siberia to the Caspian Sea and bisecting the habitat of migrating ungulates. Excessive poaching, unsustainable management of resources, overgrazing, degradation of habitat and poverty put further pressure on migrating and nomadic mammals as well as on water and pasture quality that support local livelihoods.

CMS is already working together with many Central Asian countries and organizations to halt this trend, inter alia through the Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) for the Conservation of the Saiga Antelope, Bukhara Deer and Siberian Crane. In addition, Recommendation 9.1 on Eurasian Aridland Mammals recognizes that the populations of many Eurasian migratory mammals are in a profoundly unsatisfactory state of conservation and that these ecosystems and their unique migration phenomena are a crucial area of action for CMS.

The Central Asian Initiative: a framework for coherent action

Based on this mandate, CMS has strengthened its engagement in Central Asia to conserve migratory mammals, their habitats and the vital role they play for intact ecosystem services. The initiative aims to provide a common framework to coordinate conservation activities in the region and coherently address major threats. It is based on 1) activities focused on single species (including existing MOUs/Action Plans and those in development); and 2) activities to address urgent and major threats faced by all or most of the species.

CMS provides the ideal international policy frameworks to facilitate close collaboration amongst stakeholders. CMS policies target both the removal of barriers to migration, the building of transboundary ecological networks (e.g. Resolution 10.3) and specifically the maintenance of animal migration in Central Asia as one of the last global “migration hotspots”. Through the CMS Central Asian Initiative, the treaty is acting as a catalyst to foster collaboration between all stakeholders, with particular attention to conservation beyond borders. The development and effective implementation of the initiative requires a cross-sector and multi-stakeholder partnership and dialogue involving all interest groups and countries in order to build a consensus and coherent strategy with concrete actions that are jointly implemented and monitored.

The following activities have already been initiated:

Draft Action Plan for Central Eurasian Aridland Mammals

The Secretariat has developed a draft Action Plan, which outlines key problems and priority activities to conserve migratory mammals and their habitat in Central Asia. The document was discussed at the 17th meeting of the Scientific Council and will be further developed and finalized with all range states and stakeholders.

Download the draft Action Plan here.

Transboundary Conservation of Argali

Following the proposal of Tajikistan and Kazakhstan, and the support expressed by Kyrgyzstan, the Argali mountain sheep (Ovis ammon) was listed on CMS Appendix II at COP10 (20-25 November 2011). The Argali is a threatened migratory mountain ungulate inhabiting mountains, steppe valleys and rocky outcrops in Central Asia. Especially the transboundary populations in the mountainous frontier regions between Afghanistan, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan suffer from grazing pressure, habitat loss and excessive poaching that have caused dramatic declines in many local populations. Coordinated conservation action among range states to fill knowledge gaps and sustainably manage those populations is urgently needed.

The listing proposal for argali is available here:

With the Appendix II listing of the species, range states are encouraged to address threats to argali coherently, as well as to develop and implement effective measures to conserve and sustainably manage the species. Already in March 2012, representatives of governmental agencies, hunting companies, scientific institutions, NGOs from the range states and international organizations met at a workshop of the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) on the Island of Vilm to share their experiences on sustainable management approaches and to discuss ways to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of Argali through transboundary cooperation. As a first joint action, the Argali network was created as an informal platform for knowledge exchange.

See the article in CMS Bulletin 7/8 2012.

See the website of the Argali Network.

At COP10 Resolution 10.16 was adopted, which "instructs the Secretariat to develop for consideration and adoption at COP11 a policy approach to the development, resourcing and servicing of agreements." Furthermore, the Resolution lists a set of criteria that need to be taken into consideration, when making any new proposals in the meantime, such as the “substantiation of the case for a new instrument, based on an analysis of needs and gaps in current conservation provisions”.

Taking these considerations into account, the CMS Secretariat in close collaboration, and with funding from the German Government through the GIZ Regional Programme on Sustainable Use of Natural Resources in Central Asia, commissioned a study to review existing initiatives and conservation activities for argali in Central Asia in order to assess the current needs and gaps in conservation and management of the species; as well as to analyses and specify the role CMS can play in this regard. The report analyzes ways to progress Argali conservation and discusses the potential benefits and challenges of developing a new instrument for the conservation of argali under the aegis of CMS.

The full report is available here

The Executive Summary is available here

and in Russian here.

Addressing urgent threats: Mining and barriers to migration

Large infrastructure projects such as roads, railways, mining sites, pipelines and fences can have detrimental effects on migratory gazelles, Wild Asses and Saiga Antelopes, causing not only habitat fragmentation but also direct mortality. This is the result of a recent study from WWF Mongolia, which analyses the barrier effect of infrastructure development in Mongolia on migratory ungulates. The study was commissioned by the UNEP/CMS Secretariat with funding from the Principality of Monaco, and was discussed at the 17th meeting of the Scientific Council in Bergen (17/18 November 2011).

CMS has identified barriers to migration as a key priority for the conservation of migratory species. In Central Asia and Mongolia in particular, the number of planned and constructed large infrastructure projects increased rapidly over the last years, causing serious threats to major migratory ungulates such as Goitered and Mongolian Gazelles, Asiatic Wild Asses, wild camels and Saiga Antelopes. Negative effects include habitat fragmentation and barriers to migration routes, genetic isolation and splitting of population as well as direct mortality when animals run into trucks or die hanging in wired fences.

The Mongolian case study serves as the starting point to initiate further concise action to address the issue of barriers to the migration of terrestrial mammals. Dependent on the availability of funding, this will include stakeholder workshops and dialogues as well as the development of guidelines to reduce the negative effects of similar types of infrastructure projects in Mongolia and Central Asia, but also worldwide.

For further information see the research report: Barriers to Migration – Analyzing the Effects of Infrastructure on Migratory Terrestrial Mammals in Mongolia, available on the CMS website.

CMS Side Event highlights steppes and deserts of Eurasia as a refuge for migratory species

In order to raise the profile of Eurasian aridlands and to highlight their importance for migratory species, CMS hosted a side event at the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) on 27 October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan. Under the title "Steppes and Deserts of Eurasia: A Refuge for Migratory Species", CMS representatives and a panel of experts highlighted the threats faced by migratory species in Eurasia, such as the Saiga antelopes and other mammals, but also the Siberian cranes, waterbirds and raptors. The experts outlined current activities and avenues for future conservation.

For an overview of the discussions at the side event please see: http://www.iisd.ca/biodiv/cop10/enbots/27octe.html

The presentations held at the side event are available for download:  

Melanie Virtue (CMS Secretariat):
Steppes and Deserts of Eurasia: A Refuge for Migratory Species

Crawford Prentice (International Crane Foundation)
Conservation of Flyway Wetlands for Biodiversity in Eurasian Steppes and Deserts

Simba Chan (BirdLife International):
Eurasian Steppe and Desert

Marceil Yeater (CITES):
Steppes and deserts of Eurasia: Antelopes, birds and CITES