| August 19th, 2025 | News

This summer, UNEP and local partners (Tajikistan Nature Foundation, CAMP Tabiat, and ACBK) hosted National Consultation Meetings – half-day workshops where project activities and plans are reviewed and discussed with external stakeholders, outside experts, and government ministries. Policy briefs for each country, a culmination of expert and partner input, were distributed in 3 languages, and CAMCA received valuable feedback on how to take project results into the final year of implementation.

In Tajikistan, highlights included:

1. Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) measures selected through dialogue with communities, including building watch towers and ranger check stations;
2. Ongoing wildlife monitoring efforts, including camera trap surveys at high elevations, ungulate surveys via direct observation routes, and Bukhara deer monitoring via thermal cameras on drones;
3. Interviews with community members about human-wildlife conflicts;
4. A new zoning map for Yaghnob National Park;
5. Environmental education initiatives in 8 different villages, including training to help diversify incomes; and
6. Improving pasture management plans.

CMS identified potential entry points via national biodiversity strategies and action plans (NBSAP), including 7 priority areas and 8 national targets, especially those that call for sectoral action and mainstreaming biodiversity into development, and via national adaptation plans (NAPs), nationally determined contributions (NDCs), and land degradation neutrality (LDN) targets. CMS also debuted the Atlas of Central Asian Mammals Migration and Linear Infrastructure, in support of the CAMI initiative.

Representatives from Yaghnob Park Management emphasized that the number of livestock in Yaghnob is large (45,000 or more sheep), so increasing enforcement might lead to displacement of these herds to areas immediately adjacent to or not far from the park boundaries and cited lack of staff and difficulty of terrain as barriers to lack of enforcement. The importance of establishing national monitoring plans for projects to contribute to, in collaboration with entities like the National Academy of Sciences, was highlighted as a critical step for achieving more durable results and increasing coordination between similar projects, especially for wildlife monitoring efforts.

The Anahita Organization, created to help provide better educational opportunities for and support the culture of the Yaghnobi People, emphasized that basic information is lacking in the local language, and that the potato harvest (an important economic lifeline for people residing in the Park), often interrupts regular patrols and enforcement.

Our visit to Tajikistan was capped by a field trip to the stunning Yaghnob Valley, one of Tajikistan’s newest National Parks and a pilot site for CAMCA. Experts were on hand to explain the valley’s long history, incredible environment, and unique challenges. Thanks to Tajikistan Nature Foundation and CAMP Tabiat for hosting us and planning the excellent trip!

In Kazakhstan, highlights from the meeting included:

1. Utilizing PAVA & IBEX to assess the vulnerability of protected areas
2. Planning for implementation of project interventions, including Tugai reforestation, installing wildlife watering points, supporting alternative livelihoods (small scale orchards), and finding energy efficient alternatives to avoid firewood

The Forestry Committee completes aerial surveys for Argali in certain areas, and they highlighted the importance of avoiding duplication of efforts and data management for any wildlife monitoring. Pasture users and hunting communities were highlighted as two of the project’s target audiences, as both want increased economic gains that could potentially pose a high risk for ecosystem degradation. ACBK stressed that generating interest and raising awareness in these communities should be done without creating fear, as only 1 in 10 communities fully understand the implications of climate change for the wildlife and natural areas they depend on.

Local experts and NGOs would also like to see efforts directed at transient tourists and land/livestock owners, who are not necessarily present or involved in the day-to-day operations like pasture users, but dictate practices. External stakeholders expressed high interest in tools like IBEX and PAVA to help PA managers understand climate vulnerability and would appreciate further guidance on how to address this more directly in official management plans.

At both meetings, CMS and UNEP emphasized the importance of integrating wildlife and climate change into landscape planning (“mainstreaming biodiversity”). Including ministry representatives from Agriculture, Infrastructure, and Energy is more important than ever to reach biodiversity conservation targets by 2030.

We are looking forward to a number of events as the project reaches its conclusion! Our final partners meeting will be held 8-11 September in Dushanbe, and a Project Conference with representatives from all three countries will be held in October to celebrate International Snow Leopard Day (October 23) in Bishkek. A meeting on the Regional Strategy for Drought Management and Mitigation in Central Asia will be convened soon under the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and the 16^th Conference of the Parties for CMS will be held March 2026 in Brazil. Hopefully CAMCA will see you there!