Russia and Mongolia will set up three new cross-border protected areas to conserve animals migrating across the border, Russian Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Sergei Donskoi said at a meeting of the intergovernmental commission for trade, economic, science and technical cooperation. The decision was previously adopted by the Russian-Mongolian commission for environmental protection, which considered cooperation in animal protection, including that of snow leopards migrating across the Russian-Mongolian borders.

The first protected area will be part of Tunkinsky National Park (Buryatia) and Lake Khuvsgul National Park (Mongolia) to preserve the biodiversity of the ecosystems of Tunkinskaya Valley and Lake Khuvsgul area.

The second cross-border area will be in Sailyugem National Park (Republic of Altai) and the Silhem Nature Reserve (Mongolia). It will provide all the conditions for endangered species on the Sailyugem Ridge and adjoining areas to return to their historical range.

The third cross-border protected area, Istoki Amura (Sources of the Amur), will be in the Sokhondinsky Biosphere Reserve (Trans-Baikal Territory). The protected area will connect the Sokhondinsky reserve with Mongolia’s Onon-Balj National Park.

“Bilateral cooperation in environmental protection and the rational use of natural resources are above all aimed at preserving the biodiversity of the cross-border ecosystems,” Donskoi said. “It will also allow specialists from both countries to conduct long-term environmental monitoring and study natural complexes and sites.”