Toktogul hosted a two-day training on a range of environmental issues for Alatai State Nature Park’s administrative staff, rangers, and public inspectors. The participants learned the basics of environmental legislation, fire safety, and the Google Earth as well as GPS-navigator. In addition to presentations, the participants analyzed cases in group work and completed practical tasks.

In light of the latest amendments and additions to the country's national legislation, the trainers gave a general overview of the primary legal acts in the area of protected areas, environmental protection and biodiversity. The participants got acquainted with the rights and obligations of protected areas rangers and how to conduct proceedings in cases of violations – commencement of proceedings, conducting inspections and searches, transferring materials to law enforcement agencies, drawing up protocols.

One of the training participants, Otunchiev Buzurmankul, the public inspector of the Alatai Nature Park, said that he learned about the legal procedures for registering violations, including the poaching. “Now I know what articles and what codes to be guided by in anti-poaching activities and drawing up protocols of offense. I learned what fines are to be applied when shooting wild animals and destroying rare plants in the Red List”, says Otunchiev Buzurmankul.

The training participants considered measures to ensure fire safety in the protected areas, and they also noted the need to strengthen preventive measures and improve work with the local population.

The second day of the training was completely devoted to practical tasks and the study of information technology. Participants mapped routes, tagged locations, and uploaded photographs into a 3D electronic map of Alatai.

“I am really impressed with the capabilities of the GPS-navigator and the Google Earth. The trainers explained how to record the trajectory and distance of the rangers' movements during monitoring trips, how to pinpoint exact coordinates of objects. For example, these can be the places where camera traps are located. This is especially critical in winter when the paths remain under the snow,” says Otunchiev Buzurmankul.

The training is conducted jointly with the Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Protected Areas of the SAEPF, and CAMP Alatoo. It is a part of a series of training sessions dedicated to the development of protected areas. Capacity building trainings have been held since the beginning of this year and cover all critical areas of work of nature parks and reserves. For this, an educational module was developed, including issues of biodiversity conservation and environmental protection, monitoring and research activities, and management issues.

The trainings are organized as part of the UNDP-GEF project "Conservation of globally important biodiversity and associated land and forest resources of Western Tian Shan mountain ecosystems to support sustainable livelihoods." UNDP is currently implementing the project to preserve unique natural complexes and biodiversity, to promote the protection of rare and endangered species of fauna and flora. The project is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). It is being implemented in partnership with the State Agency for Environmental Protection and Forestry under the Kyrgyz Republic Government. Read more about the project here.

About the Western Tian Shan

Western Tian Shan is a mountain system characterized by a high level of endemism and rich flora and fauna. The region is included in the UNESCO world heritage list. It is one of the 34 global Biodiversity Hotspots and is included in the world Ecoregion rating of Global 200, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The territory of the Western Tian Shan is inhabited by 27 species of animals on the verge of extinction, and 54 red book species of plants grow here.