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Farrington, J. (2005). A Report on Protected Areas, Biodiversity, and Conservation in the Kyrgyzstan Tian Shan with Brief Notes on the Kyrgyzstan Pamir-Alai and the Tian Shan Mountains of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and China. Ph.D. thesis, , Kyrgyzstan.
Abstract: Kyrgyzstan is a land of towering mountains, glaciers, rushing streams, wildflowercovered meadows, forests, snow leopards, soaring eagles, and yurt-dwelling nomads. The entire nation lies astride the Tian Shan1, Chinese for “Heavenly Mountains”, one of the world's highest mountain ranges, which is 7439 m (24,400 ft) in elevation at its highest point. The nation is the second smallest of the former Soviet Central Asian republics. In
spite of Kyrgyzstan's diverse wildlife and stunning natural beauty, the nation remains little known, and, as yet, still on the frontier of international conservation efforts. The following report is the product of 12 months of research into the state of conservation and land-use in Kyrgyzstan. This effort was funded by the Fulbright Commission of the U.S. State Department, and represents the most recent findings of the author's personal environmental journey through Inner Asia, which began in 1999. When I first started my preliminary research for this project, I was extremely surprised to learn that, even though the Tian Shan Range has tremendous ecological significance for conservation efforts in middle Asia, there wasn't a single major international conservation organization with an office in the former Soviet Central Asian republics. Even more surprising was how little awareness there is of conservation issues in the Tian Shan region amongst conservation workers in neighboring areas who are attempting to preserve similar species assemblages and ecosystems to those found in the Tian Shan. Given this lack of awareness, and the great potential for the international community to make a positive contribution towards improving the current state of biodiversity conservation in Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia, I have summarized my findings on protected areas and conservation in Kyrgyzstan and the Tian Shan of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Xinjiang in the chapters below. The report begins with some brief background information on geography and society in the Kyrgyz Republic, followed by an overview of biodiversity and the state of conservation in the nation, which at the present time closely parallels the state of conservation in the other former Soviet Central Asian republics. Part IV of the report provides a catalog of all major protected areas in Kyrgyzstan and the other Tian Shan nations, followed by a list of sites in Kyrgyzstan that are as yet unprotected but merit protection. In the appendices the reader will find fairly comprehensive species lists of flora and fauna found in the Kyrgyz Republic, including lists of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, trees and shrubs, wildflowers, and endemic plants. In addition, a
draft paper on the history and current practice of pastoral nomadism in Kyrgyzstan has been included in Appendix A. While the research emphasis for this study was on eastern Kyrgyzstan, over the course of the study the author did have the opportunity to make brief journeys to southern Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Xinjiang. While falling short of being a definitive survey of protected areas of the Tian Shan, the informational review which
follows is the first attempt at bringing the details of conservation efforts throughout the entire Tian Shan Range together in one place. It is hoped that this summary of biodiversity and conservation in the Tian Shan will generate interest in the region amongst conservationists, and help increase efforts to protect this surprisingly unknown range that forms an island of meadows, rivers, lakes, and forests in the arid heart of Asia.
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Feh, C. (2001). Ecology and social structure of the Gobi khulan Equus hemionus subsp. in the Gobi B. National Park, Mongolia. Biological Conservation, 101, 51–61.
Abstract: The status of the Gobi khulan Equus hemionus subsp. is recorded as ``insufficiently known'' in the Species Survival Commission's Equid Action Plan. Recent counts confirm that Mongolia holds the most important population of the whole species. Since 1953, the animals have benefited from a protected status, but this is now challenged. A 5-year study in the B part of the Gobi National Park on one subpopulation showed that it has remained stable over the past 15 years with an adequate mean reproductive rate of 15% and a 50% survival rate over the first year. Age/sex related mortality and prey analysis indicate that wolf predation probably has some impact on the population, in particular for 4-6-year-olds of both sexes at the start of reproduction. Desert and mountain steppes are the khulan's year-round preferred habitat, but `oases', play an important role at the beginning of lactation. Anthropogenic factors affect both home range and habitat use through direct intervention or permanent occupation of the scarce water sources. Khulans of this subpopulation, unlike other Asian and African wild asses, form year-round stable, non-territorial families. These families and all-male groups join together into ``bands'' in winter, and herds of several hundred animals, where reproductive rate is highest, form throughout the year. The existence of such herds may thus be critical for the breeding success of the population. Our study provides the first detailed quantitative data for this subspecies, which will help to monitor changes in the future. # 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Fox, J. L., & Freeman, H. (1984). An Internationally cooperative fiels study of the snow leopard in Northern India. In L.Blomqvist (Ed.), (Vol. 4, pp. 39–42). Helsinki, Finland: Leif Blomqvist and Helsinki Zoo.
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Fox, J. L. (1991). Wildlife Ecology Workshop Held in Indias Himalaya Region (Vol. ix). Seattle: Islt.
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Gurung, C. P. (1997). Ecotourism: Nepal's Experience. In R.Jackson, & A.Ahmad (Eds.), (pp. 170–177). Lahore, Pakistan: Islt.
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Hol, E. H., & Marden, T. (1994). Methods for Sampling and Analysis to establish potential exposure of wildlife to persistent contaminants in remote areas. In J.L.Fox, & D.Jizeng (Eds.), (pp. 279–287). Usa: Islt.
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Hol, E. H., Marden, T. B., & Roelke, M. E. (1994). The importance of ecotoxicological research in management of the snow leopard: lessons learned from the Florida panther. In J.L.Fox and D.Jizeng (Ed.), (pp. 113–125). Usa: Islt.
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Hussain, I. (1999). Conserving Biodiversity through Institutional Diversity: Concept Paper.
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Hussain, S. (2002). Nature and Human Nature: Conservation, Values and Snow Leopard.. Islt: Islt.
Abstract: The failure of top-down environmental conservation practices gave rise to the so-called
`Community Based Conservation' or CBC approach. CBC promises to achieve the dual goals of
conserving nature and improving peoples' livelihoods. CBC programs also aim to involve local
communities as active partners in conservation efforts, and to use traditional knowledge and
local values in management of resources (Adams & Hulme 2001; Agrawal & Gibson 1999).
There are variations between different CBC programs; however, the underlying rationale of the
approach, common to all programs, is that introducing or changing economic incentives into the
conservation calculus of local people will bring about the behavioural change necessary for
successful conservation (Kellert et al 2000). Thus, the major emphasis in CBC programs is
conserving nature based on its utilitarian value. Since utilitarian value is measured in terms of
economics, hence the emphasis of CBCs on economic incentives in promoting conservation.
Recent evaluation of the CBC approach has shown that while local people may have benefited in
economic terms from the use of nature, no tangible improvements in biodiversity conservation
have occurred (Kellert et al 2000; Terborgh 1999). The disappointing performance of CBC
programs, which promised so much and yet have failed in practice to deliver, has recently lead to
a resurgence of the protectionist approach, calling for a renewed separation between the
conservation and human development objectives (Redford & Sanderson 2000; Terborgh 1999;
Oats 1999). Others, however, believe that the CBC approach has enormous potential, and that a
return to protectionist strategies would be disastrous, like `reinventing the square wheel'
(Brechin 2001; Wilhusen 2001). It is crucial that the flaws in the CBC approach are remedied if
there is to be any hope of a conservation agenda that does not conflict with the needs, aspirations
and interests of local people, and that therefore has a chance of having a long term, sustainable
conservation outcome.
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Inayat, S. (2002). Role of Women In Conservation of Snow Leopard In Pakistan.. Islt: Islt.
Abstract: Generally speaking, men and women are the two wheels of the same vehicle. Women's
participation and involvement in the conservation of snow leopards is as indispensable as it is to
any other discipline. Unfortunately, their dual role was not exploited and so the involvement of
women in nature conservation is considered almost inappropriate and not up to the mark.
Mountainous people still live with their centuries old traditions and culture. Although with the
passage of time they are leaning towards modernization, still most of them are associated with
the centuries-old tradition of keeping livestock. These people take their livestock to the pastures
and thus share in the snow leopard's habitat. A large number of livestock grazing in the snow
leopard's habitat attracts this opportunistic animal to attack domestic animals. This is the point
where the conflict between snow leopards and livestock owners starts, with the snow leopard
killed in retaliation. Snow leopard depredation causes economic losses to the herders and
women, being the managers of the house, take the maximum impact. Keeping this fact in view,
a study was undertaken in the two demonstration sites of the snow leopard project in Chitral and
Gilgit. A specific questionnaire was used and information was collected from all the women
herders in the two demo sites. The study revealed that women have positive attitudes toward and
feel love for this precious animal.
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