NABU
  • Contacts
  • Press
  • Shop
  • DE | EN
  • About us
      • News
        UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration begins 5 June with a new peatland conservation guideline issued

        UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration begins 5 June more →

      • Ecosystem Restoration
        Restoring peatlands, sequestering carbon

        Restoring peatlands, sequestering carbon more →

      • Topics in depth
      • Regional Development
      • Biosphere Reserves
      • Civil Society
      • Environmental Education
      • Cooperations
      • Projects
      • Water for Life
      • Hutan Harapan
      • Biodiversity Project Ethiopia
      • Ethiopia's Wild Coffee Forests
  • Topics
      • Ethiopia
        Green diversification of Ethiopia’s garden coffee value chain

        Ethiopia’s garden coffee value chain more →

      • Indonesia
        Indonesia: Restoring forests for future needs

        Indonesia: Restoring forests for future needs more →

      • All Topics
      • Climate Change
      • Biodiversity
      • Species
      • Regional Development
      • Land Use
      • Traffic
      • Ecosystems
      • Protected Areas
      • Education
      • Civil Society
      • Cooperations
  • Focus Regions
      • Ethiopia
        Developing forest landscapes for livelihoods and climate adaptation in Southwest Ethiopia

        Developing forest landscapes in Southwest Ethiopia more →

      • Central Asia
         Wild, beautiful and endangered

        Wild, beautiful and endangered more →

      • Focus Regions
      • Europe
      • Africa
      • Asia
      • Caucasus
      • Projects worldwide
      • Europe: Peat Restore
      • Germany: Havel
      • Ethiopia: Coffee-novation
      • Ethiopia: Water for Life
      • Madagascar: Green coasts
      • Kyrgyzstan: Snow leopard
      • Indonesia: Hutan Harapan
  • EU Policy
      • Project
        How do we finance nature and climate protection?

        How do we finance nature and climate protection? more →

      • EU Policy
        The EU’s Common Agricultural Policy needs a drastic reform

        The EU’s Common Agricultural Policy needs a drastic reform more →

      • Topics
      • Agriculture
      • Ecosystems
      • Traffic
      • Species
      • Education
      • Climate change
      • Issues
      • Common Agricultural Policy
      • Electromobility in Europe
      • Common Fisheries Policy
      • Sustainable Finance
  • Get involved
      • Snow Leopards
        Support us with your donation or adoption

        Hoping is not enough more →

      • Africa
        Nature conservation and regional development really have an impact – NABU knows this and acts on it.

        Help Africa’s nature by supporting one of our funds more →

      • Topics
      • Civil Society
      • Private Sector Cooperations
      • Habitat protection
      • Donate
      • Snow Leopards
      • Africa
  • Presse
  1. About us
  • About us
  • Data Protection
  • Safeguards
  • The 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the UN
  • Contacts
  • NVEG Eurasia
  • Press
  • Imprint
  • Transparency
Read

National Voluntary Expert Group on Eurasia

Working for nature conservation and science in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

The aim of the National Working Group on Eurasia is to preserve biodiversity in the countries of the former Eastern bloc states. In recent years it has focused on countries in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan).


The landscape of the Ustyurt Plateau in Kazakhstan is characterized by high chalk cliffs representing different shorelines of the former Tethys Ocean, which existed here until 50 million years ago. One objective of the National Voluntary Expert Group on Eurasia is to have the existing nature reserves designated as UNESCO world natural heritage sites; another is to boost community-based conservation of the saiga antelope. The picture shows the chalk cliffs of Borzhira in the Mangystau Region. - photo: Til Dieterich

The landscape of the Ustyurt Plateau in Kazakhstan is characterized by high chalk cliffs representing different shorelines of the former Tethys Ocean, which existed here until 50 million years ago. One objective of the National Voluntary Expert Group on Eurasia is to have the existing nature reserves designated as UNESCO world natural heritage sites; another is to boost community-based conservation of the saiga antelope. The picture shows the chalk cliffs of Borzhira in the Mangystau Region. - photo: Til Dieterich

Protecting biodiversity, especially the saiga antelope and mountain ungulates, is a major focus of our work in Central Asia. To protect these species we take a community-based approach, directly involving the local population in order to achieve lasting results. The sustainable use of ungulate species is of vital importance for the work of the Eurasia group; this ensures that the local population will derive long-term benefits from protecting the wild animals, creating momentum that will continue after the end of NABU’s campaign. Our work also includes environmental education. For example, a textbook, a comic and an animated film about saiga conservation have been developed, to make the population more aware of the protection of this species. Another key aim of this work has been to persuade young people not to spend their time poaching.

Better management of nature reserves and their designation as UNESCO world natural heritage sites is another important field of work, especially in Kazakhstan. In recent decades, the oil and gas industry has been pushing more and more to open up new areas for exploration. Ideally, national reserves should also have international conservation status, to help preserve valuable ecosystems for future generations.

Another important contribution made by the Eurasia group in the countries of the former Soviet Union in the past is the development of NGOs, e.g. organizations supporting NABU’s global efforts for the BirdLife network. As the Eurasia group sees it, strong local NGOs are crucial to achieving sustainable results in nature conservation. Despite the growing challenges of strengthening civil society in the countries of Central Asia, the Eurasia group remains committed to this fundamentally important task.


Get involved!

We are open to NABU members who care about the protection of biodiversity in the former Eastern bloc countries. Please get in touch with the spokespersons of the Eurasia group if you are interested in taking an active role.


  • Stefan Michel with community representatives, looking at maps for the community-based conservation of mountain ungulates in Tajikistan - photo: archive of National Voluntary Expert Group on Eurasia

  • Observing the saiga antelope from the roof of the off-road vehicle donated by NABU for community-based conservation of this species on the Ustyurt Plateau in Kazakhstan - photo: Stefan Michel

  • Til Dieterich meets local farmers to investigate a mass extinction event of saiga antelopes in the Ural population in 2011 - photo: Bibigul Sarsenova

  • Examining an owl killed by a power line in Kazakhstan - photo: Mark Pestov

Downloads

10.5 MB - Brochure: "Essential for LIFE - NABU's International Work for Ecosystems and Biodiversity"

External Links

SCA – Saiga Conservation Alliance. NABU’s National Voluntary Expert Group on Eurasia is a member of this alliance: saiga-conservation.org

RELATED

Saiga antelopes prefer temperate steppes and semi-deserts - photo: shutterstock/Victor Tyakht
Return of the saiga antelope

Saiga antelopes are part of the steppe, just as bison are part of the prairie. Yet this rare animal only survives in five areas in Asia. NABU is helping to preserve the saiga in Kazakhstan with projects for community-based conservation and environmental education. more →

Covers of the comic book adaptations "Saga of the Saiga" Part 1 & 2 - © NABU
Environmental education for the Saiga

The Saiga antelope had been near extinction in the past three decades. Intensive poaching had caused a population collapse. The species is now recovering due to a massive conservation effort. NABU supported this recovery with creative youth media. more →

CONTACT

Stefan Michel - photo: dto.
Stefan Michel
Spokesperson National Voluntary Expert Group on Eurasia Stefan.Michel@NABU.de
Til Dieterich - photo: dto.
Til Dieterich
Spokesperson National Voluntary Expert Group on Eurasia til.dieterich@NABU.de 01 520-27 94 675

Contact

NABU
Charitéstraße 3
10117 Berlin
Germany

phone +49 (0)30.28 49 84-0 |
fax +49 (0)30.28 49 84-20 00
NABU@NABU.de

Info & Service

Contacts
Press
Jobs
NABU-TV
Shop

Imprint
Data Protection Notice
Cookie-Settings
Transparency

Main Topics

Biodiversity
Climate Change
Regional Development
Ecosystems
Land Use
Traffic
Focus Regions

Donate for Nature

Bank für Sozialwirtschaft
BLZ 370 205 00
Konto-Nr. 805 1 805

IBAN: DE65 3702 0500 0008 0518 05
BIC-Code: BFSWDE33XXX
Donate online


  • Press
  • Newsletter
  • Information Center
  • Deutsche Version