RESEARCH CAMP ON WILDLIFE OF KYRGYZSTAN

 

Give your personal contribute to the conservation of natural resources supporting a community based tourism project in co-operation with Chon-Kemin National Park.

 

When:

14-26 July 2007

11-23 August 2007

 

Where:

Chon-Kemin National Park, Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia.

 

Expedition Base:

The group will be hosted at a local program of cultural tourism.

 

Background

Kyrgyzstan is situated on the western slopes of Tien-Shan Natural System. It is over 1500 mt above sea level and 90% mountainous. Engilchek glacier occupies over 4,2% of the area and the peaks are over 7000 mt high.

Local wildlife includes 500 species of vertebrates, among them wolf, bear, deer, antelope and snow-leopard.

 

Goals of the research

The purpose of the research is to improve the actual knowledge of local wildlife, supporting Chon-Kemin National Park, through:
-        the compilation of a complete list of species;

-         the relative abundance of the different species.

The data that will be collected from the researchers (number of species, distribution on the territory, ecological data, status of the population) will be of great help to define the best conservation strategy.

 

Involvement of the participants:

The participants will be implicated in all research activities, on foot or horse riding, in the area of Chon-Kemin National Park.

All participants will be given lectures about the ecology of kyrgyz wildlife and environment. They will have the chance to visit the Issyk-Kul depression, second biggest mountain lake in the world and Unesco Biosphere Reserve.

 

Scientific supervision:

The research program is co-ordinated by Guido Tosi, professor of wildlife management at the State University of Insubria; he is an expert of wildlife and scientific co-ordinator of Istituto Oikos.

Chon-Kemin National Park will collaborate to the project and the data will be held in the park database.

 

Team size :

Up to 8 voluntary members + 4 local guides and 2 park rangers.

Research and on field activity leaders: Oikos Institute researcher.

During the excursions there will be local guides and interpreters.

 

Fitness level required :

Very low.

 

 

Expedition contribution :  Euro 1350

 

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