Last year, I was in the Kyrgyz Republic, to participate in a workshop, organized by the State Agency of Environmental Protection and Forestry, to launch and operationalize the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP). This was a follow up to the Forum held in Bishkek under the leadership of H.E. President Atambaev in October 2013. (1)
Every afternoon, our team engaged the participants in a series of collaborative exercises to equip the Secretariat and Focal Points from all range countries with a set of tools and insights to help understand the complexity of the biodiversity and conservation challenges they face on the ground, and to use that understanding to develop more targeted and robust national action plans and global priority actions.
The exercises focused on the difference between technical and adaptive challenges, on analyzing stakeholders’ positions and level of influence, on ways to target specific actors and to craft messages that appeal to them, and ways to bring about a series of results under pressure and in a very short time frame through the Rapid Results approach.
1) The workshop was attended by 68 people including national focal points from 10 out of the 12 range countries and representatives from various national and international organizations (CMS, Global Environment Facility, Global Tiger Initiative, INTERPOL, NABU, Snow Leopard Conservancy, Snow Leopard Network, Snow Leopard Trust, UNDP, USAID, World Bank, WCS and WWF)
In the days following the workshop, I was fortunate to travel with some of my colleagues to Sarychat-Ertash State Nature Reserve is located in the Central Tien-Shan. I am very grateful to Alexander Vereschagin, Deputy Director of the Reserve for taking us there and for sharing his deep knowledge about biodiversity in this part of the world.
The Sarychat-Ertash State Nature Reserve is located in Issyk Kul Province of the Kyrgyz Republic. It was established in 1995 mainly to protect the endangered snow leopard and the argali, a large wild sheep of Central Asia. Other large mammals are Siberian ibex, wild boar, Eurasian lynx, gray wolf and brown bear.
The Reserve’s headquarters is located in Barskoon village, on the south shore of Lake Issyk-kul and some 220km from the Reserve’s northern border. Access to the Reserve is strictly restricted and we had to obtain a special permit delivered by the authorities. The security has become tighter since January 2013, when eleven people believed to be members of a militant group of ethnic Uyghurs were killed after illegally crossing into the Kyrgyz Republic from China.
2) Fresh kymyz is only available in the summer, from about May until August, when it can commonly be purchased by the roadside in mountainous areas.
While waiting for our permit, we spent our first day down in the Barskoon Valley, hiking to a group of waterfalls which are up to 24 m tall. We also mingled with local herders who prepare the famous “kymyz”, a slightly alcoholic drink made by fermenting mare’s milk. This drink is considered to be the signature drink of nomadic culture in Central Asia.
3) For an overview of the reserve see: Farrington, J.D. 2004. Snow leopard sanctuary on the Silk Road. National Parks and Protected Areas International Bulletin, no. 15:12-15. Nov. 2004. Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K.
The next day, we started our trip up the Barskon valley towards the The Sarychat-Ertash State Nature Reserve. It takes about six hours to drive the 200 kilometers (mostly dirt road) from the reserve’s headquarters at Barskoon, on the southern shore of Lake Issyk Kol, to the Koenduu ranger camp, in Sarychat Ertash’s southern buffer zone.
Within a few kilometers after the first check point, we started to climb and had a magnificent view of the mountain range. The road in this early part of the journey is well maintained as is is the main road leading to the Kumtor Gold Mine. We quickly reached the high altitude plateau, still blanketed by a thin snow cover from the previous evening snowstorm.
A couple of hours later, we stopped to look at the map and get an orientation. The reserve is located in the heart of the Tian Shan between Lake Issyk Kol and the Chinese border, and straddles the high plateau grasslands, glacier fields and plunging river gorges of the Ertash River basin. The total territory of the Reserve is 135,400 hectares, of which 72,080 hectares are assigned as core zone and 62,060 hectares as buffer zone. The Reserve is situated between the altitudes of 2000 to 5500 meters above sea level.
Photo: Courtesy Alexander
After passing the second checkpoint, we continued the long road to the Reserve. We could see a number of ibex, including some running in the distance parallel to the car. We also started to spot some argali, and decided to leave the dirt road with one vehicle across the glacier fields to climb higher and come closer to these magnificent animals.
Later on that day we reached our destination, the camp of Koenduu, located at the foot of the Ak Shirak range at an elevation of 3,400 m/11,155 feet. This is formerly a winter herding camp, and it now
occupied year round by a reserve ranger and his family.
The nearest village is Ak-Shyirak situated some 18 km eastward of Koyenduu on the southern border of the Reserve. The village residents include a number of the Reserve’s rangers and their families and a local population of approximately 30-40 people. This was a very special day in Koyenduu, as most of the rangers and their family had gathered to witness the installation of a wind turbine by a WWF team. For the first time the rangers in this camp had access to power.
The time spent with the Ranger community was very special. The commitment of these men and women who work days in and days out in very difficult conditions to protect these nature expanses and the biodiversity they contain, is nothing short of remarkable. They work in freezing conditions, with temperatures as low a minus 40 Fahrenheit in the winter. Their quarters are rudimentary and they do not have basic amenities. They watch over large mountainous areas, with only basic equipment. John Farrington describes the working conditions: “Lacking adequate camping equipment and rain gear, the under-equipped rangers are extremely vulnerable to hypo- thermia in the event of heavy rain, snow, or a fall while fording a river on horseback. This is especially true while they are away from one of their estab- lished camps, as there is no wood available for campfires in most of the reserve.“
Ultimately, the success of the Global Snow Leopard program depends on the collective leadership and engagement of all segment of the society (government, private, NGOs, civil society). But nothing matters more that the work of those working on the front line. It is my hope that attention will be devoted to the working conditions of the Rangers, and that resources will be applied to help them complete their mission.