Ulaanbaatar/Bonn/Geneva,
13 September 2010 - Under the leadership
of the Convention on Migratory Species (UNEP/CMS),
a broad alliance of government representatives
from Kazakhstan,
Mongolia, the Russian Federation, Turkmenistan
and Uzbekistan, UN bodies, inter-governmental
organizations, non-governmental organizations
and local communities have come together
to discuss and agree on a new conservation
strategy for the Saiga antelope.
During an international
conference held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia,
the Central Asian States and the Russian
Federation agreed this week to include the
Mongolian Saiga antelope in an international
Saiga agreement concluded under the auspices
of CMS. With Mongolia signing the agreement,
all Saiga antelopes will benefit from this
international cooperation.
Saiga antelopes roam
the vast planes of Central Asia and the
Russian Federation. They can undertake migratory
journeys between summer and winter ranges
of over 1,000 kilometers. Although described
as the ugly duckling of the world's antelopes,
the Saiga is a vital part of the natural
and cultural heritage of the plains of Eurasia.
Saiga antelopes still
numbered around one million in the early
11000s, but declined to around 60-70,000
in 2006. Since then, and in response to
conservation efforts, their populations
have stabilised at this low level. Today,
the majority of populations are starting
to increase, but one transboundary population
continues to decline. Current populations
are reported to number about 85,000 animals
in Kazakhstan (almost 12,000 died in the
disease outbreak in May 2010), 8,000 in
Mongolia, at least 10,000 animals in the
Russian Federation and several thousand
in Uzbekistan in winter. No Saiga mass migration
has been observed in Turkmenistan in the
last 10 years, where the species used to
migrate to in harsh winters.
Despite legal protection,
the Saiga are hunted for their meat and
horns, which are used in oriental traditional
medicine. Other threats include disease,
pasture degradation through overgrazing
by livestock and other disturbances from
oil and gas extraction work and possibly
climate change.
New measures being introduced
are expected to harmonize monitoring and
surveys to regularly track all populations.
Aerial and ground surveys will determine
changes in the winter and summer territories
of the Saiga, with emphasis on calving,
rutting and migration areas. Due to their
long migration between winter and summer
pastures, it can make it extremely difficult
to find them.
The experts at the meeting
carried with them figures released in a
report commissioned by the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species
of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and compiled
by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring
network, which raised the alarm over the
levels of illicit trade in Saiga horns even
before this year's mass die-offs. The report,
entitled "Saiga Antelope Trade: Global
trade with a focus on Southeast Asia",
brings together information on the Saiga
horn trade gleaned from interviews with
Saiga experts and government officials,
together with market surveys in Malaysia
and Singapore where Saiga horns are readily
available.
"The key to success
for the conservation of these unique looking
antelopes of the Eurasian steppes has been
the engagement of local people," said
CMS Executive Secretary Elizabeth Maruma
Mrema. "This week's meeting paves the
way for implementing the international action
plan for the conservation of this remarkable
animal across its entire range."
Governments are seeking
to address the fundamental motivation for
poaching Saiga, namely poverty and unemployment.
Involving local communities is therefore
critical to the conservation measures implemented
under the CMS Saiga agreement. Incentives
to combat poaching are being developed through
alternative livelihoods in deprived steppe
communities. Many grassroot initiatives
have sprung up, such as in Uzbekistan, where
local women make handicrafts, the proceeds
from the sale of which are directly fed
into Saiga conservation projects. In Russia
local people participate in Saiga monitoring
while going about their daily livestock
herding.
In Kazakhstan individual
Saiga have been equipped with radio and
satellite collars allowing rangers to obtain
their position in real time and protect
them better from poaching. These tracking
devices also allow researchers to understand
the migratory routes of the species as well
as the driving forces for its movements.
This in turn can help determine which areas
should be protected.
Spurred by their success,
the countries where Saiga antelope survive
pledged to redouble their efforts to restore
the populations of these animals to their
former numbers, so that they can regain
their place in the spiritual, cultural and
economic life of the Eurasian plains.
Both CMS and CITES Parties
will continue to actively involve local
communities to restore Saiga populations
to healthy levels and ensure tightly controlled
sustainable use of the species for regional
and East Asian consumers.
Notes to Editors:
The Convention on the
Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild
Animals (CMS), also known as the Bonn Convention,
works for the conservation of a wide array
of endangered migratory animals worldwide
through the negotiation and implementation
of agreements and species action plans.
At present, 114 countries are Parties to
the Convention. In 2006, CMS concluded the
Memorandum of Understanding concerning conservation,
restoration and sustainable use of the Saiga
Antelope. www.cms.int
CITES
The Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna
and Flora (CITES) is an international agreement
between governments. Its aim is to ensure
that international trade in specimens of
wild animals and plants is sustainable,
legal and traceable. It has a membership
of 175 countries.
Saiga antelope
In 2002 the sub-species
Saiga tatarica tatarica, which includes
several transboundary populations was listed
on CMS Appendix II. In 2006 a Memorandum
of Understanding concerning Conservation,
Restoration and Sustainable Use of the Saiga
antelope (Saiga tatarica tatarica) came
into force. It is aimed at restoring Saiga
populations and has been signed by all countries,
where Saiga antelopes live in the wild today.
Since 2008 the entire species has been listed
on CMS Appendix II. In line with the abovementioned
expansion of the MoU to include the Mongolian
Saiga, the agreement is now called Memorandum
of Understanding concerning Conservation,
Restoration and Sustainable Use of the Saiga
antelope (Saiga spp.). In 1995 the Saiga
was included in Appendix II of CITES primarily
to ensure that international trade in Saiga
horn does not threaten their survival.
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