An international conference, Snow Leopard Conservation: Population Status, Landscape Management and Cross-Border Cooperation, will be held in Nur-Sultan on 3-4 July. The event will be attended by representatives of the global scientific and environmental community who specialise in snow leopard research and conservation.

A memorandum on cross-border cooperation with a view to preserving the snow leopard is expected to be signed at the conference. The participants will also discuss the prospects for building a snow leopard breeding and rehabilitation centre in Ile-Alatau National Park.

Delegates from all 12 snow leopard range countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Mongolia, China, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Russia – have confirmed their participation. Experts of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Snow Leopard Trust, the Secretariat of the Global Program for the Conservation of the Snow Leopard and its Ecosystems (GSLEP), and other international organisations will also attend the conference.

Kazakhstan joined the Global Program for the Conservation of the Snow Leopard and its Ecosystems in 2013. There are an estimated 110-130 snow leopards living in Kazakhstan.