Kick-off for new IKI project “One Health in Nature Conservation in Central Asia”

The overall project objective is the prevention of zoonoses through the expansion and improvement of protected areas and Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) in Central Asia. 

At various workshops, the project partners planned and coordinated their upcoming activities in the six work packages and elaborated a timetable for achieving the first milestones. 

The Succow Foundation will primarily implement measures to develop a well-connected regional system of protected areas and OECMs that safeguards biodiversity, acts as a natural barrier against zoonotic outbreaks and contributes to climate protection. 

In addition, the Succow Foundation's measures are intended to improve the monitoring of wildlife species in Central Asia and thus the position for assessing potential outbreaks and transmission risks of zoonotic diseases. 

Main target countries of the MSF are Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. 

The kick-off was attended by representatives of the international implementing partners – in addition to the MSF, the Secretariat of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC) and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) – as well as of the national partners in the target countries – CAMP Alatoo in Kyrgyzstan, the Zoological Institute of Kazakhstan, the Institute of Zoology of the Uzbek Academy of Sciences and the Tajik Nature Foundation. 

The project is funded by the German Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety, and Consumer Protection (BMUV) through the International Climate Initiative (IKI).