ALMATY, KAZAKHSTAN – Today a meeting of members of the Ramsar Regional Initiative of Central Asia (RRI-CA) took place in Almaty to summarize the results of 2022.
In August 2022 the project "Innovative approach for sustainable and wise use of Ramsar /potentially Ramsar sites in Central Asia through partnership and collaboration" was launched to support the development of the existing platform of the Ramsar Regional Initiative Network in Central Asia for promoting sustainable local partnerships for the conservation of Ramsar Sites/Potentially Ramsar Sites through partnership and cooperation. The project is funded by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), “Green Central Asia: Transboundary dialogue on climate, environment, and security in Central Asia”(www.greencentralasia.org).
During the meeting, expert reviews of the problems of Ramsar/potentially Ramsar lands in Central Asia were heard and general problems for the development of partnership were selected. In addition, comments and suggestions were received from RRI-CA members on the concept of holding a competition to collect innovative ideas for promoting smart resource management and sustainable conservation of pilot Ramsar lands through local partnerships.
“Since 2005, the Republic of Kazakhstan has joined the Ramsar Convention. There were 19 wetlands in the application, and 10 of them were included in the international list. As of today, the work to include the remaining wetlands in the Ramsar list is continuing, which will make it possible to strengthen the already existing protection in the territories in the future. Considering the essential ecological functions of the wetlands as regulators of the water regime and as habitats that ensure the existence of characteristic flora and fauna, especially waterfowl, today's meeting provided an opportunity to strengthen ties in the Ramsar network. There was a proposal from colleagues for cross-border cooperation. In this regard, work with local communities will be strengthened, thanks to the meeting for developing opportunities to build local partnerships,” comment from Daniyar Turgambayev, Deputy Chairman of the Forestry and Wildlife Committee of the Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
"Such meetings at the regional level provide an opportunity to develop cooperation with local communities, environmental activists, public and state organizations for the careful and rational use of Ramsar lands in the Kyrgyz Republic," said Bakytbek Choroev, Director of the "Karatal-Zhapyryk" State Nature Reserve.
At the end of the meeting, the participants determined a preliminary work plan for 2023 within the framework of the project. The work plan was revealed in accordance with the Resolution adopted at the “Conference of the Contracting Parties” held in November of this year.
Sustainability and wise use of wetland resources is the main priority for this and subsequent projects related to wetland conservation, which is what this project team will work on.
More about the project: www.greencentralasia.org
