On the occasion of World Wildlife Day, March 3, 2021, an annual ceremony was held in Bishkek to award rangers and eco-warriors who distinguished themselves in the fight against poaching.

The event was attended by Dinara Kutmanova, Director of the State Agency for Environmental Protection and Forestry (SAEPF), Ekmat Baybakpaev, Deputy of the Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic, Charles Edmund Garrett, British Ambassador to Kyrgyz Republic, Alok Amitabh Dimri, Ambassador of India, Tomica Paovic, Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP in the Kyrgyz Republic, representatives from SAEPF and environmental organizations.

The head of the SAEPF, Dinara Kutmanova, noted the unique biodiversity of Kyrgyzstan, its rich flora, fauna and forest resources, and stressed that “our task is to preserve this unique nature and pass it on to future generations. This year has a special theme. This is forest conservation. Forests are of great importance  for us. About 2 million of the population live near forests, and the forests are primary sources of livelihood. In this regard, close attention is required to the development of the forestry in the country”.

World Wildlife Day is now one of the most important global events devoted to wildlife. This year, the Day is being celebrated under the theme "Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet" to highlight the importance of forests, forest species and ecosystems services in sustaining the livelihoods of people, especially living in local communities. The theme aligns with the UN Sustainable Development Goals 1, 12, 13 and 15, related to commitments such as ending poverty, ensuring sustainable consumption, combatting climate change, and halting biodiversity loss.

Tomica Paovic, Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP in the Kyrgyz Republic, said: “Involving local people in joint forest management, restoring degraded forests and expanding forest areas play a key role in safeguarding our country’s unique biodiversity. As a result of recent reforestation measures, over 200 thousand seedlings of walnut, pistachio, larch, pine, and the Tian Shan spruce replenished the forest fund of the Western Tian-Shan area in the Jalal-Abad Province thereby improving forest-based livelihoods”.

Under the partnership with the State Agency for Environmental Protection and Forestry and assistance from local partners, UNDP is planning to undertake silvicultural reforestation work in the area of 500 hectares that will enable to regenerate approximately 5 thousand hectares of degraded forests in the Western Tian Shan as corridors for the wildlife, including the snow leopard and its prey base.

The forests of the Western Tian Shan have juniper, spruce, walnut and tugai forest communities, but the region’s forest is under a big pressure. These forests suffer from weak forest management and enforcement, and are degraded by intensive land use, such as overgrazing of forest pastures. The rate of natural regeneration and reforestation is unable to keep pace with the rate of forest degradation which is threatening the snow leopard, by affecting its food base of wild hoofed and small mammals.

Forest restoration has many advantages for safeguarding the biodiversity. First of all, it is important for fauna, including the snow leopard and the animals representing its prey base. Forest plantations take on a pivotal role in establishing buffer zones and corridors for the wildlife migration, thereby connecting protected areas.

On 20 December 2013, at its 68th session, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 3 March as UN World Wildlife Day to celebrate and raise awareness of the world’s wild animals and plants. On that day, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was signed in 1973.

UNDP is currently implementing the project "Conservation of globally important biodiversity and associated land and forest resources of Western Tian Shan mountain ecosystems to support sustainable livelihoods" to preserve unique natural complexes and biodiversity, to promote the protection of rare and endangered species of fauna and flora. The project is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and is being implemented in partnership with the State Agency for Environmental Protection and Forestry under the Kyrgyz Republic Government. More about the project here.

About the Western Tian Shan

Western Tian Shan is a mountain system characterized by a high level of endemism and rich flora and fauna. The region is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. It is one of the 34 Global Biodiversity Hotspots and is included in the World Ecoregion Rating of Global 200, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The territory of the Western Tian Shan is inhabited by 27 species of animals, which are on the verge of extinction, and 54 Red Book species of plants grow here.