Main achievements: In 2016 our SCA colleagues in Uzbekistan advised the Uzbek government and helped it to reach the decision to gazette the 'Saigachy Reserve'

In December 2017 we involved Saigachy reserve rangers (7 staff) in a saiga transect survey - we trained the same rangers to use necessary field equipment (e.g. GPS, camera traps), record and collect data. The rangers, border patrol guards and SCA staff joined a field trip led by the State Ecology Committee (Goscomecology), to study the current status of the border fence (the fence was built along the border between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in 2012, and bisected saiga migratory rotes).

Our finding was that the fence has limited saigas’ movements, but the special passes which were installed in 2015 are effective, enabling saigas to cross the border in several places. We continue to support the government and the park rangers to protect saigas as well as the complete ecosystem in the reserve.