Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative (ADCI) is the Government of Kazakhstan-led initiative to support the conservation of steppe and semi-desert

ecosystems An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syst ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

Background

ADCI is jointly initiated by Association for the Conservation of the Biodiversity of Kazakhstan (ACBK), the Committee of Forestry and Wildlife of the

Ministry of Agriculture (Kazakhstan) The Ministry of Agriculture ( kk, Ауыл шаруашылығы министрлігі) is a central body within the Government of Kazakhstan. Its current minister is Erbol Qaraşukeev. Function The Ministry deals with the basic forms of agricu ...

Frankfurt Zoological Society Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS) is an international conservation organization founded in 1858 with headquarters in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. FZS focuses on maintaining biodiversity and conserving wildlife and ecosystems in protected areas an ...

, Fauna and Flora International and the

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a charitable organisation registered in England and Wales and in Scotland. It was founded in 1889. It works to promote conservation and protection of birds and the wider environment thr ...

. The program includes the whole area of around 50 to 60 million hectares, which corresponds to the distribution range of the Betpak-Dala

Saiga antelope The saiga antelope (, ''Saiga tatarica''), or saiga, is a critically endangered antelope which during antiquity inhabited a vast area of the Eurasian steppe spanning the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains in the northwest and Caucasus in t ...

community in Central Kazakhstan. The effort also hopes to reintroduce the

Turkmenian kulan The Turkmenian kulan (''Equus hemionus kulan''), also called Transcaspian wild ass, Turkmenistani onager or simply the ', is a subspecies of onager (Asiatic wild ass) native to Central Asia. It was declared Endangered in 2016. The species's popu ...

and

Przewalski's horse Przewalski's horse (, , (Пржевальский ), ) (''Equus ferus przewalskii'' or ''Equus przewalskii''), also called the takhi, Mongolian wild horse or Dzungarian horse, is a rare and endangered horse originally native to the steppes of ...

, although the primary focus has been on the conservation of native saiga populations.

Conservation of Kulans

Currently, a program under ADCI is preparing a tiny population of endangered kulans for release into the wild. In 2017, a first batch of nine animals was released into an acclimatisation cage on the outskirts of the protected area of Altyn Dala. The creatures were carried 1200 kilometres by helicopter from

Altyn-Emel National Park Altyn-Emel National Park ( kk, Алтынемел саябағы, ''Altynemel saiabağy'' ; rus, Алтын-Эмель национальный парк , ''Altyn-Emel' Natsional'nyy Park'') is a national park in Kazakhstan. It was created in 19 ...

in the country's southeast.

References

{{authority control Ecological experiments Nature reserves in Kazakhstan