CONVENTION ON UNEP/CMS/COP13/Inf.27 MIGRATORY 8 January 2020 SPECIES Original: English 13th MEETING OF THE CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES Gandhinagar, India, 17 - 22 February 2020 Agenda Item 26.3 REPORT ON TRANSBOUNDARY CONSERVATION HOTSPOTS FOR THE CENTRAL ASIAN MAMMALS INITIATIVE (Prepared by the Secretariat) Summary: This report was developed with funding from the Government of Switzerland within the frame of the Central Asian Mammals Initiative (CAMI) (Doc. 26.3.5) to identify transboundary conservation hotspots and develop recommendations for their conservation. The report builds on existing projects, in particular, the CAMI Linear Infrastructure and Migration Atlas (see Inf.Doc.19) and focusses on the same species and geographical area. The study was discussed during the CAMI Range State Meeting held from 25-28 September 2019 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia where participants reviewed the pre-identified areas. Their comments are incorporated in this report. Participants also provided new information about important transboundary sites from Bhutan, India, Nepal and Pakistan and recommended to send the report for final review to Range States and experts. It was also recommended that the final report covers all CAMI species as adopted at COP13. This report is therefore a final draft with the last step to expand the geographical and species scope and finalize the report to be undertaken after COP13. Mapping Transboundary Conservation Hotspots for the Central Asian Mammals Initiative Photo credit: Viktor Lukarevsky Report – Draft 5 incorporating comments made during the CAMI Range States Meeting on 25-28 September 2019 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The report does not yet consider the Urial, Persian leopard and Gobi bear as CAMI species pending decision at the CMS COP13, as well as the proposed expansion of the geographic and species scope to include the entire CAMI region in this study. This report was prepared with funding from the Government of Switzerland. Stefan Michel Erfurt, 05.10.2019 Disclaimer: The content of this draft report is the sole responsibility of the author and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the CMS Secretariat. 1 Table of content Table of content .................................................................................................................................... 2 Abbreviations ......................................................................................................................................... 4 1. Background .................................................................................................................................... 5 2. Working approach and methods ................................................................................................ 7 3. Characteristics of the species ..................................................................................................... 9 3.1 General remarks......................................................................................................................... 9 3.2 Asiatic cheetah Acinonyx jubatus venaticus ........................................................................ 10 3.3 Wild camel Camelus ferus ...................................................................................................... 13 3.4 Bukhara deer Cervus hanglu bactrianus .............................................................................. 15 3.5 Przewalski’s horse or Takhi Equus ferus ............................................................................. 18 3.6 Asiatic wild ass Equus hemionus .......................................................................................... 19 3.7 Chinkara Gazella bennettii ..................................................................................................... 23 3.8 Goitered gazelle Gazella subgutturosa ................................................................................ 24 3.9 Argali Ovis ammon ................................................................................................................... 27 3.10 Urial Ovis vignei ..................................................................................................................... 31 3.11 Persian leopard Panthera pardus saxicolor ....................................................................... 34 3.12 Snow leopard Panthera uncia .............................................................................................. 37 3.13 Mongolian gazelle Procapra gutturosa ............................................................................... 41 3.14 Saiga antelope Saiga tatarica .............................................................................................. 43 4. List of potential trans-boundary conservation hotspots ........................................................ 48 4.1 List of potential sites ................................................................................................................ 48 4.2. Characteristics of sites ........................................................................................................... 51 Site ID: 1 Name: High Pamirs Countries: AFG-CHN-TJK .......................................... 51 Site ID: 2 Name: T.b.d. Countries: AFG-IRN ................................................................ 54 Site ID: 3 Name: Wakhan Countries: AFG-TJK ........................................................... 57 Site ID: 4 Name: Panj River valley-Tigrovaya Balka Countries: AFG-TJK ................ 60 Site ID: 5 Name: Panj River valley Countries: AFG-TJK ............................................. 62 Site ID: 6 Name: Badghyz Countries: AFG-(IRN?)-TKM ............................................. 64 Site ID: 7 Name: Aral Paygambar Countries: AFG –(TKM)-UZB ............................... 68 Site ID: 8 Name: Jungarian Alatau Countries: CHN-KAZ ............................................ 70 Site ID: 9 Name: Tarbagatay/Saur Ranges Countries: CHN-KAZ .............................. 72 Site ID: 10 Name: Khan Tengri region Countries: CHN-KAZ-KGZ .............................. 75 2 Site ID: 11 Name: Altai Countries: CHN-KAZ-MNG-RUS .............................................. 77 Site ID: 12 Name: Southern Tien Shan Countries: CHN-KGZ ...................................... 80 Site ID: 14 Name: Gobi desert / Yin mountains Countries: CHN-MNG ....................... 82 Site ID: 15 Name: South-western Gobi Countries: CHN-MNG ..................................... 85 Site ID: 16 Name: Jungarian Gobi Countries: CHN-MNG ............................................. 88 Site ID: 17 Name: Daurian steppe Countries: CHN-MNG-RUS.................................... 91 Site ID: 18 Name: Kopet Dagh Countries: IRN-TKM ...................................................... 94 Site ID: 19 Name: Western Kyrgyz Range Countries: KAZ-KGZ ................................. 97 Site ID: 20 Name: Northern Tien Shan Countries: KAZ-KGZ........................................ 99 Site ID: 21 Name: Western Tien Shan Countries: KAZ-KGZ-UZB ............................. 101 Site ID: 22 Name: Ural Steppe Countries: KAZ-RUS ................................................... 103 Site ID: 23 Name: Northern Betpakdala Countries: KAZ-RUS.................................... 105 Site ID: 24 Name: South-western Ustyurt Countries: KAZ-TKM ................................. 107 Site ID: 25 Name: Eastern Ustyurt Countries: KAZ-UZB ............................................. 111 Site ID: 26 Name: Aral Sea / Western Kyzylkum Desert Countries: KAZ-UZB .......... 114 Site ID: 27 Name: Eastern Turkestan Range Countries: KGZ-TJK............................ 117 Site ID: 28 Name: Pamir-Alai Countries: KGZ-TJK-UZB ............................................. 119 Site ID: 29 Name: Eastern Sayan Countries: MNG-RUS ............................................ 121 Site ID: 30 Name: Western Hissar Mountains Countries: TJK-UZB .......................... 124 Site ID: 31 Name: Zerafshan river valley Countries: TJK-UZB ................................... 126 Site ID: 32 Name: Western Turkestan Range Countries: TJK-UZB ........................... 129 Site ID: 33 Name: Babatag Countries: TJK-UZB .......................................................... 131 Site ID: 34 Name: Lower Amudarya Countries: TKM-UZB .......................................... 134 Site ID: 35 Name: Kugitang/Koytendag Countries: TKM-UZB .................................... 136 5. Discussion and Recommedations .......................................................................................... 138 5.1 Determination of priority sites ............................................................................................... 138 5.2 Recommendations ................................................................................................................. 143 6. References................................................................................................................................. 145 Annex .................................................................................................................................................. 151 3 Abbreviations AoI – Area of Interest AOO – Area of Occupancy CAMI – Central Asian Mammals Initiative CITES – Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species CMS – Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals EOO – Extent of Occurrence IUCN – International Union for the Conservation of Nature MME – Mass Mortality Event(s) MSF – Michael Succow Foundation (Germany)