Wild Sheep Partnership for Central Asia

From August 2-9, 2026, WISPA-CA specialists participated in an international field expedition in Mongolia.

During the expedition, the team studied the status of wild sheep populations and other wildlife species, assessed habitat conditions, and became familiar with monitoring approaches used by Mongolian specialists. An important part of the expedition was the discussion and comparison of national monitoring methodologies.

Mongolia has substantial practical experience in the monitoring and management of wild sheep populations, making direct participation by specialists from other countries particularly valuable. The participants were able to compare survey techniques, discuss their strengths and limitations, and identify approaches that could contribute to further improvement of regional monitoring.

The expedition also supported the development of a shared understanding of which parameters should be recorded if national monitoring data are to be used in broader regional assessments. For WISPA-CA, this is essential: regional analysis is only meaningful when specialists understand how national data were collected and how comparable those data are across countries.

Team photo in Mongolia (from left): Munkhbaatar Dorjkhand, Umedjon Nabiev, Muhammadsoleh Oev, Ismoil Kholmatov, Erlan Bekkaziev, Tura Kholikov, Amgalanbaatar Sukh, Nurlykhan Ismoilov, Askar Davletbakov, Merey Aukeshev, Aibat Muzbay, Zairbek Kubanychbekov, Mirzanazarova Ulbolsin, Sultanbek Tleumurato   -  Photo courtesy Argali Research and Conservation Center

Following the Mongolia expedition, the WISPA-CA field program continued in Kazakhstan from August 10-16 at the Kazakh uplands of Central Kazakhstan.  

Specialists from the five participating countries took part in field surveys and monitoring of wild sheep populations, including argali, as well as other wildlife species.
Participants became familiar with Kazakhstan’s approaches to wildlife monitoring, assessed habitat conditions, and discussed field observations directly during the surveys. The expedition was particularly important for young specialists.

Working alongside experienced colleagues from different countries gave them the opportunity to learn directly in the field: how to locate and identify animals, select observation points, work in difficult terrain, assess habitats, and correctly record field observations. One young participant described a memorable close encounter with an old male argali during the survey. Experiences of this kind provide more than theoretical knowledge. They help young specialists better understand animal behavior, field detection, and the practical realities of monitoring mountain ungulates.

The Kazakhstan expedition therefore became another step toward building a strong regional professional community of wild sheep specialists.

Team photo in Kazakhstan (from left): Nurlykhan Ismoilov, UlamUrnukh, Davkharbayar Dargia Muhammadsoleh Oev, Amgalanbaatar Sukh, Tura Kholikov, Sultanbek Tleumuratov, Orynbassar Shaimukhanbetov, Ulbolsin Mirzanazarova, Merey Aukeshev, Nursultan Turganbaev, Taalai Amanov, ⁠⁠Ulan Abylgaziev Ismoil Kholmatov, Zhanat Abdildin, Aibat Muzbay, Umedjon Nabiev. -  Photo courtesy Tajikistan Nature Foundation

One of the most practical outputs of the project supported by the Wild Sheep Foundation has been the development of the WISPA-Survey mobile application. The application was designed around the real conditions in which wild sheep specialists carry out field monitoring.

Traditionally, much field information is recorded in paper notebooks. In mountainous environments, this can be difficult and inefficient. During snowfall, rain, strong wind, or very low temperatures, writing in a field notebook becomes challenging and sometimes nearly impossible. In addition, after the expedition, handwritten notes must often be transferred manually into electronic tables, matched with GPS coordinates, and processed separately to produce maps.

WISPA-Survey brings these functions together in one mobile tool. A field specialist can now carry out much of the monitoring work using a smartphone with the application installed. WISPA-Survey combines the functions of:

• an electronic field notebook;
• a wildlife observation recording tool;
• a GPS device;
• a spatially referenced database;
• a primary data-processing tool;
• a system for generating tables;
• a tool for producing maps from monitoring data.

Field observations can therefore be recorded immediately in digital form together with their coordinates and other required parameters.

This significantly reduces the amount of manual work needed after field surveys and helps minimize errors that can occur when information is transferred from paper notebooks into electronic databases. Another important advantage is that WISPA-Survey is not limited to data collection.

Based on entered survey data, the application can also generate tables and spatial maps, turning it from a simple electronic notebook into a practical monitoring and analytical tool. For a regional partnership such as WISPA-CA, this has an additional value: the use of a common digital environment creates opportunities to standardize data structure and improve comparability between countries.

The development of WISPA-Survey is intended to continue. A future stage will focus on expanding the analytical capabilities of the application and integrating artificial intelligence tools and specialized AI agents. These tools may eventually assist specialists with:

• automated checks of data completeness and quality;
• identification of potential errors and anomalous values;
• spatial analysis of observations;
• comparison of monitoring results between years;
• more complex calculations based on survey data;
• preparation of analytical outputs for national specialists and coordinators.

In this way, WISPA-Survey is expected to develop from a digital field-recording tool into a broader platform for collection, mapping, quality control, and analysis of wild sheep monitoring data. This can become an important mechanism for improving regional data compatibility and supporting evidence-based conservation decisions.
 

The USD 250,000 GIA grant from the Wild Sheep Foundation has supported several closely connected components of the WISPA-CA initiative. It has not simply financed a series of individual expeditions.

The grant has helped establish a regional model of cooperation that links:
local expert leadership → international cooperation among regional specialists → joint fieldwork → exchange of national monitoring methodologies → training of young professionals → more standardized data collection → digital monitoring tools → application of results in national and international conservation planning.

International expeditions provide direct professional exchange and practical learning. WISPA-Survey provides a technological foundation for more efficient and standardized monitoring. Joint analysis and discussion of results improve the potential for regional comparison and cooperation.

Together, these components strengthen the capacity of specialists across Central Asia. A particularly important result is the development of national and local expertise. The stronger the professional capacity within each country, the less dependent the region becomes on a model in which local wildlife status, conservation priorities, and management recommendations are primarily interpreted and presented by experts from Europe or North America who may only spend a limited amount of time in the region.
WISPA-CA promotes a different approach.

Local specialists build their own expertise, learn to work with international datasets and methodologies, gain access to analytical tools, and become increasingly capable of representing their own countries and natural heritage at regional and global levels.

Ranger of Ikh Nart Nature reserve. Photo courtesy Aibat Muzbay
 

The experience gained through WISPA-CA expeditions has direct practical value for the development and improvement of national action plans for wild sheep conservation.
A national specialist who has personally participated in monitoring in a neighboring country is better positioned to understand:

• how reported population estimates were produced;
• which survey methodologies were used;
• which areas were covered;
• what limitations affected the fieldwork;
• how directly those data can be compared with monitoring results from their own country.

This strengthens professional dialogue between countries and allows regional information to be used more effectively in defining national conservation priorities.
It also means that preparation of national conservation plans can rely more strongly on national expertise.

Local teams become better equipped to identify priorities, justify conservation measures, interpret monitoring results, and communicate the needs of their own species and landscapes.

The broader objective of WISPA-CA is to ensure that specialists from Central Asia are not only involved in national monitoring but are also able to participate meaningfully in international conservation processes.

The preparation and implementation of a global action plan for wild sheep requires an understanding of population status across the range, key threats, national monitoring systems, conservation practices, and management capacity.

Joint WISPA-CA expeditions help regional experts build exactly this broader understanding. It is important that Central Asia is represented at the global level not only through the views of external researchers, but directly by specialists from the countries themselves — people who work continuously with these populations, landscapes, institutions, and conservation challenges.

WISPA-CA therefore creates conditions in which experts from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan can speak for their own countries, present their own data, and articulate conservation priorities for their own wildlife.

This makes Central Asian participation in global wild sheep conservation more informed, professional, and equitable.