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The meeting took place 11-12 March 2025 in Astana, Kazakhstan. The event brought together for the first time the National Focal Points of the three Parties to the Ustyurt Memorandum – Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan –, as well as national and international experts from scientific and non-governmental organizations.
The two-day event focused on the review process of the „Roadmap for action to the Memorandum of Cooperation for wildlife conservation of the Ustyurt Plateau (2025-2030)”. A draft of the roadmap has been in advance prepared by the Michael Succow Foundation in cooperation with the CMS (Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals) Secretariat. It includes 7 key areas of work, 12 objectives with clear indicators of achievement and timescales for implementation.
The key areas include the improvement of transboundary cooperation to create wildlife corridors in border fences and linear infrastructure, as well as the development of response mechanisms to mitigate the negative impact of renewable energy projects, oil and gas operations, and mining activities on biodiversity.
With the final adoption of the roadmap the meeting confirmed the readiness of the Parties for active cooperation in the field of Ustyurt biodiversity conservation and effective fulfillment of the set tasks.
The Succow Foundation has been active on the Ustyurt Plateau for many years, working on the conservation of transboundary herds of globally threatened ungulates – the Transcaspian Urial (Ovis vignei arkal), the Asiatic wild ass (Equus hemionus kulan) and the Goitered gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa). As part of the current project One Health for nature conservation in Central Asia, the Succow Foundation will directly implement a number of the roadmap activities.
The meeting was jointly organized by the MSF, the GIZ, the ACBK, and the CMS Secretariat in partnership with the Committee of Forestry and Wildlife of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan. It was funded in the frame of the GIZ regional project Ecologically Oriented Development in the Aral Sea region (EcoAral) and the GIZ regional program Integrative and Climate-sensitive Land Use in Central Asia (ILUCA).
