Today we’re joined by RSPB colleagues Sorrel Jones and Genevieve Stephens who travelled to western Kazakhstan in summer 2023 to work with local partners studying the overlaps between the growing Saiga Antelope population and livestock farmers who rely on the land to make a living. Join us as Sorrel and Genevieve share reflections on their experiences in the magnificent steppe landscape and how they worked with local stakeholders.
Long-standing partnershipsThe RSPB has been working in partnership with the Association for the Conservation of the Biodiversity of Kazakhstan (ACBK), the Government of Kazakhstan, and other international partners over the past two decades to restore steppe, desert, and wetland ecosystems throughout Kazakhstan as part of the Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative. Altyn Dala means ‘Golden Steppe’ in the Kazakh language. This is one of only 10 United Nations World Restoration Flagships under the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
In 2021, the partnership achieved a significant milestone by establishing a new State Protected Area and Nature Sanctuary, Bokey Orda and Ashiozek, which combined span 720,000 hectares in western Kazakhstan. This contributes to a vast network of nearly five million hectares of protected and conserved areas and ecological corridors established through partnership efforts. That’s an area equivalent to over a third of the size of England!
Saiga Antelope on the upThis recently designated site uniquely encompasses almost the entire migration route of the world’s largest population of Saiga Antelope (over one million animals), including many of their calving and rutting sites.
Saiga are sandy-coloured antelopes weighing around 50kg as adults. They are exceptionally well adapted to life on the steppe, with thick hair insulating them during freezing (-40°C) winters and distinctive bulbous noses that warm freezing winter air, then cooling and filtering dust during super-heated (+40°C) dry summers.
In the past they migrated across the Eurasian steppes in their millions – even including the UK. However, following decades of poaching, habitat fragmentation and disease, this antelope’s original range contracted dramatically, and the species was pushed to the brink of extinction.
Since 2005, the Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative has been involved in restoring their populations in Kazakhstan. Together with our partners, we’ve monitored Saiga populations to understand the species’ ecology and inform conservation action, expanded and established new State Protected Areas, developed legislation for the nation’s first Ecological Corridor, and worked with border control and law enforcement staff to effectively counter poaching and the illegal wildlife trade.
Today, things are really looking up, with almost two million Saiga now found roaming the steppe grasslands of Kazakhstan, up from less than 40,000 in 2005. The increase in numbers over the last two decades means the antelope’s conservation status has improved dramatically from being classed as ‘Critically Endangered’ to ‘Near Threatened’ on the IUCN Red List of threatened species, reflecting one of the most successful recoveries of a mammal ever recorded.
A group of Saiga near the village of Kastalovska, west Kazakhstan © Genevieve Stephens/RSPB.
However, the growing Saiga population finds itself in an environment of scarce freshwater resources, shared by pastoral communities. Ensuring the sustainable future of the landscape’s Saiga population and human inhabitants requires a renewed approach to natural resource management.
To investigate this further, in summer 2023 we travelled to the region alongside Arman Kibatov and Aida Tabelinova of ACBK, as well as Kazakh social scientist Aigul Zhanadilova. Our primary objectives were to gain insights into the emerging challenges confronting both local pastoralists and the Ural Saiga population in the context of water scarcity. We would do this by meeting with local stakeholders to collaboratively pinpoint ‘hotspots’ for further monitoring, which in turn will be used to find solutions that benefit both the people and wildlife of the steppe landscape.
Kazakhstan’s water scarcityWe began our trip in the city of Uralsk, followed by a three-hour drive to the rural town of Kaztalovska, the administrative centre of the Bokey Orda Protected Area, located near the Ural River.
As is the case across much of Kazakhstan, the region is becoming increasingly vulnerable to water scarcity. Predictions suggest that by 2040 the nation could experience substantial shortages, reaching as little as 50% of its essential requirements. A myriad of factors contributes to this crisis: Kazakhstan is a landlocked country located in the lower reaches of transboundary river basins, depending on rivers flowing in from the bordering China, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia. The forecasted surge in freshwater usage by these countries will intensify the strain.
Climate change escalates these challenges. Increasing annual temperatures give rise to more frequent and prolonged winter thaws, diminishing the depth of frozen groundwater. Melted water seeps into the soil instead of replenishing the rivers. The repercussions extend further, with warm springs triggering additional evaporation, diverting water into the atmosphere rather than vital reservoirs.
In rural areas, shrinking water resources could have a catastrophic effect on the wider ecosystem, contributing to the degradation of habitats and soils (known as desertification), depriving wildlife of an essential lifeline and making life challenging for livestock farmers.
Camera trap image of a group of Saiga drinking in west Kazakhstan © ACBK.
Local knowledge and participatory mappingOur accommodation was a comfortable homestay, conveniently attached to a canteen-style restaurant serving traditional Kazakh meals, such as manti (like dumplings) and plov (like biryani or risotto), to an endless stream of visitors, from long-haul lorry drivers to local families.
Over the following weeks, we ran a series of focus groups and carried out semi-structured interviews with stakeholders from the four districts adjacent to the Protected Area. The key groups included Protected Area staff, local government staff, and pastoral farmers, each of whom hold valuable knowledge of the landscape’s social and natural resources.
With each group, we used large paper maps and invited participants to locate their important water resources, indicate where and how Saiga Antelope were moving across and using the landscape, and discuss how water issues might be tackled. This approach is commonly referred to as ‘participatory mapping’, a tool to promote inclusive decision-making processes and engage community members to contribute local knowledge and insights. Together, we created maps of spatial features and resources that reflect the perspectives of the people who know the land extremely well.
On several occasions, participating farmers invited us to visit their pastures. We were shown numerous small water bodies, finding them nearly depleted following several hot summer months.
The team conducting a participatory mapping exercise with Protected Area staff. © Genevieve Stephens/RSPB.
Developing our understandingUsing the information that we collected, ACBK experts have developed a complex picture of the ways Saiga and water issues play out across the landscape. Findings indicate some of the drivers of water scarcity, such as the placement and access to wells, as well as how these challenges can be overcome. Many farmers expressed their wish to coexist with Saiga and proposed practical management strategies, such as the creation of additional water reservoirs within the Protected Area to attract Saiga away from the bordering areas used by livestock, as well as the restoration of damaged reservoirs and wells across the wider landscape.
Cows bathing in a traditional snowmelt reservoir, which, we were told, would usually be fuller in August were it not for the unusually warm preceding spring. © Genevieve Stephens/RSPB.
Looking to the futureSince our visit, ACBK staff have installed camera traps in key hotspots we identified through the mapping workshops, site visits and additional spatial modelling. These hotspots will be monitored over the coming months, and the information gathered will be presented to the local communities in a series of workshops to build a shared understanding of issues and discuss possible solutions that will benefit both the region’s people and wildlife.
A new report launched by the Convention on Migratory Species at their recent Conference of the Parties in Uzbekistan highlighted the plight of many migratory species. Our partnership is in the fortunate position of having helped the population of one such migratory species, the Saiga Antelope, to recover in Kazakhstan. Now we must shift our efforts to looking at how the landscape in which the species lives can support both the growing Saiga population and the people that live in this sparsely populated region of Kazakhstan. Our joint visit with Kazakh colleagues demonstrated that there is every willingness to reach peaceful coexistence but also recognises that these efforts will take time, communication, and creativity.
Goats in Kaztalovska. One participant shared with us that, at the end of each day, the community's goats autonomously make their way back home following their time grazing in the open pastures. They return to the village collectively, only to later separate into household groups and locate their respective front doors. © Genevieve Stephens/RSPB.
AcknowledgementsThis trip is part of a broader project made possible thanks to funding and support from the Whitley Fund for Nature as well as the expertise and time of Albert Salemgarayev, Aida Tabelinova, and Arman Kibatov of ACBK, as well as Aigul Zhanadilova.
Continue reading• Identifying soil fungi across Kazakhstan’s grasslands, mountains and deserts • Saving migratory birds of prey on an international scale - the CMS Raptors MOU • Behind the scenes of an extraordinary expedition to the land of the Saiga antelope
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