Conservation Efforts: Asian Program
Central Asia's Newly Independent States and Mongolia are struggling to become new republics and are dealing with international regulations such as the US ESA and CITES.
Under Soviet rule, wildlife and protected-area management were funded and functional. However, government funding decreased significantly after the break-up of the Soviet Union. Wildlife management expertise still exists, but the systems need to be rebuilt. The primary species of SCI Foundation's Central Asian program are several mountain sheep subspecies including Marco Polo, Karaganda Argali, and Mongolian Argali. These are umbrella species for the mountain shrub step ecosystems that goats and sheep depend on primarily in Mongolia, Russian Altai, Kyrgyzstan Republic and Tajikistan Pamir.
Argali and Marco Polo are listed as endangered on the US ESA and threatened in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. US hunters are allowed to import trophies from these three countries. This program is focused on building model conservation hunting programs for these sheep while rebuilding wildlife management infrastructure within the range states and developing local conservation incentives. These programs also attempt to maintain the permitting process with the US ESA and providing information and defense against the current Argali Lawsuit to stop hunting trophy importation.
Since 2000, SCI Foundation also has conducted scientific surveys in Mongolia, the Tajik Pamirs, Kyrgyzstan and Karaganda region in Kazakhstan. Partnering with the Brown Monson Foundation and CIC, SCI Foundation also conducted a spring 2002 workshop on CITES, US ESA and EU regulations in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Representatives from six of the Central Asian States were in attendance. SCI Foundation is developing partnerships with other conservation organizations such as WWF, scientific institutions such as the Russian Academy of Sciences, private sector hunting companies and range state governments. Activities in 2003 include in-country workshops for Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia to develop management and business plans.
Currently, SCIF is the only international NGO participating in the newly formed Consultative Hunting Consul for the Minister of Agriculture. There will be meetings between the Russian Department of Hunting Authorities and the USFWS, along with SCIF, on the current status of hunting. There is hope that an understanding will be reached when the administrative restructuring is completed. SCI will continue to work diligently on the hunting issues in Russia and will keep our members informed as the process develops.