On 3–4 July, Nur-Sultan hosted an international scientific conference on Snow Leopard Conservation: Population Status, Landscape Management and Cross-Border Cooperation, organised by the Snow Leopard Foundation international private fund together with the Global Snow Leopard & Ecosystem Protection Programme (GSLEP).

Experts from several countries assessed the current state of the population in the snow leopard habitats, summed up prior experience of the conservation of the species in the wild, identified the main threats and outlined common approaches to the study of the species and ways to preserve its natural habitat. They also focused on the main aspects of the cross-border cooperation, including the scientific assessment of the importance of a memorandum of understanding between the countries where snow leopards live.

The conference was attended by Kazakhstani Minister of Environment, Geology and Natural Resources Magzum Mirzagaliyev, the foundation’s founder Nurali Aliyev, Head of the United Nations Development Programme for Kazakhstan Yakup Berish, General Director of the Zoology Institute Roman Yashchenko, Head of the WWF Central Asian Programme Grigory Mazmanyants and Vyacheslav Rozhnov, director of the Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution at the Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as representatives of international environmental organisations.

In addition, reports on the state of the snow leopard population were presented by representatives of the countries where snow leopard lives: Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Nepal, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Russia and Mongolia.

At the end of the conference, the scientists supported the initiative to sign a special international memorandum on the conservation of the snow leopard between the countries that are part of the species’ habitat.