Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The 14th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP 14), held on 12-17 February in Uzbekistan, is the first international UN Conference on Wildlife Conservation, which takes place in Central Asia.

The event brought together experts from 130 countries, including more than 1,500 participants, in ancient Samarkand.

On 11 February, as part of CMS COP 14, a high-level Plenary session “Nature knows no boundaries: working together for migratory species and sustainable development in Central Asia” was held. 

Daniel Gustafson, Special Representative of the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), spoke at the session “Experiences from other regions and multilateral organizations on transboundary and international cooperation for the conservation of migratory wildlife species.”

As the FAO representative noted in his speech, he is encouraged by the richness and diversity of cooperation between the countries of the Central Asian region on the path to the conservation of migratory animal species. 

“Central Asia is leading the way in innovation that allows us to work together and move forward to overcome challenges such as climate change and unsustainable use of natural resources that impede the conservation and restoration of habitats for migratory wildlife species. It is possible to solve these problems only together and together. The conference taking place in Samarkand became a striking example of the efforts being made at the regional and global levels,” emphasized Daniel Gustafson.

As the specialist noted, most of FAO’s work on the conservation of migratory animal species is related to marine fisheries, where significant progress has been made, but much remains to be done.

“Another important area for us is the interaction between wildlife and humans. We are implementing an interesting project in India regarding wild tigers, which is funded by the Global Environment Facility. In addition, we have been working for a long time to preserve wild elephant populations in Africa. Let’s not forget that environmental health and human health are inextricably linked,” said Daniel Gustafson.