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Representatives from a number of Central Asian countries have endorsed a six-year work programme that identifies priority transboundary conservation regions important for conserving seventeen iconic mammal species of the region. The work programme has been endorsed for the Central Asian Mammals Initiative (CAMI). It was launched in 2014 at the 11th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP11) to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).
CAMI presents a common framework to address major threats to the region’s migratory species. It currently covers 17 species including the argali sheep, Asiatic cheetah, Asiatic wild ass, Bukhara deer, Eurasian lynx, gobi bear, goitered gazelle, kiang, Mongolian gazelle, Pallas’s cat, Persian leopard, Przewalski’s horse, saiga antelope, snow leopard, urial, wild camel, and wild yak.
The representatives were hosted by the Government of Uzbekistan in the frame of its presidency of the 14th Conference of the Parties to CMS.
During the three-day meeting, CAMI Range States reaffirmed their commitment to conservation, showcasing successes with the saiga antelope, Bukhara deer, and Persian leopard.
“They also discussed challenges such as habitat fragmentation, climate change, migration barriers, poaching, and limited cross-border coordination. Delegates from Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan participated; the Islamic Republic of Iran and Russian Federation were consulted online and endorsed the Work Programme with respect to the regions under their jurisdictions. Fifteen conservation organizations, including NGOs, government institutes, and IUCN, presented plans to support the Work Programme’s implementation in the coming years,” a statement by CAMI noted.
“The conservation of Central Asia’s iconic mammals, like the Snow Leopard, Bukhara Deer, Jeyran and Saiga cannot be achieved in isolation. These species know no borders and neither should our efforts. At the Third CAMI Range States Meeting in Tashkent, we reaffirmed our commitment to strengthening transboundary cooperation and building a unified regional approach to enhance conservation efforts,” Uzbekistan’s Minister of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change, Aziz Abdukhakimov, was quoted by the statement.
The 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS COP15), to be held in Brazil from March 23-29, 2026, will be a key event for the CAMI region, where the CAMI resolution will be updated.