(Originally published on 10/21/2016)

October 13, Xinjiang – A memorandum of understanding (MOU) to promote the collaboration between China and Mongolia on biodiversity conservation was signed between Xinjiang Autonomous Region Liangheyuan Provincial Nature Reserve and the Mongolia Munkahairhan National Park on October 13^th, with the support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-Global Environment Facility (GEF) “Strengthening the Management Effectiveness of the Protected Area Landscape in Altai Mountains and Wetlands” project (hereby referred as UNDP-GEF Altai project).

Mountains and wetlands of Altai are internationally recognized for their extraordinary landscapes, traditional cultures and livelihoods, and unique biodiversity with many endangered wildlife such as snow leopard, ibex, red deer and beaver. Yet the large fences on the national boarder between China and Mongolia divide the animal’s natural habitat, which in turn negatively impacts on the biodiversity monitoring and the animal movement in this area. Therefore, a collaboration between the 2 nations’ protected areas is much needed to help protect biodiversity in the Altai Mountains

At the Sino-Mongolian Biodiversity Conservation Coordination Meeting held in October, the two parties signed an MOU which covers the scope of establishing an effective wildlife corridor, a beaver conservation action plan, a joint border species survey and continued biodiversity monitoring. In addition, both sides will strengthen cooperation and communication of protected area management work in close collaboration with the UNDP-GEF Altai project.

For the next step of the MOU, LkhagovadorJ, Deputy Director of Munkahairhan National Park in Mongolia said that they would like to further collaborate with Liangheyuan NNR on the knowledge and experience sharing of the species protection at the national border and share biodiversity conservation. Meanwhile, since Mongolia has rich experience in monitoring species like snow leopard, they hope this collaboration can facilitate the knowledge learning on this area from Mongolia. according to Xu Fujun, National Project Director of the UNDP-GEF Altai project.