The first meeting of the signatories to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerning conservation, restoration and sustainable use of the Saiga Antelope (Saiga Tatarica Tatarica), a cooperative initiative between the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), was convened from 25-26 September, in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

It was preceded by a technical workshop, held on 23 September. In development for almost five years under the auspices of CMS, the MoU entered into effect on 24 September, when Kazakhstan signed, joining Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The technical workshop and the MoU meeting have provided the possibility to collect new information on the Saiga’s conservation status: the overview report indicates that the previous severe decline in the global Saiga population has stabilized since 2002 with increases reported for some populations. According to IISD sources, the meeting endorsed a medium term international work programme, which prioritizes activities under the MoU’s action plan on a range wide and population basis, and provides a road map for the range States, consumer/trading countries, interested organizations and the donor community to organize their activities in support of the MoU’s implementation. The meeting helped achieve a sense of ownership in the process and partnership within the research and conservation communities both within and between the range States and consumer countries such as China.
Links to further information
The meeting’s documents
CMS press release, 24 September 2006