On 30 January, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Tatarstan held a meeting to discuss the establishment of an interregional snow leopard reintroduction, rehabilitation, breeding and protection centre.

Minister Farid Abdulganiyev met with Irina Sannikova, executive director of the Strana Zapovednaya (Preserved Realm) Foundation, Gennady Kiselyov, director of the Sayano-Shushensky Biosphere Reserve, and Viktor Lukarevsky, a non-staff employee of Sochi National Park. Mr Abdulganiyev spoke about the positive experience of Tatarstan’s Volzhsko-Kamsky Biosphere Reserve in the research and conservation of the white-tailed eagle listed in the Red Data Book. The minister also said that the experience of leading experts in breeding and preserving wild animals is being studied and will be used at the snow leopard reintroduction centre.

Participants in the meeting also discussed prospects for establishing in Tatarstan nurseries that meet international standards.