On 3 June, UNEP’s Almaty office joined partners at the city's UN House to celebrate WED with a conference titled 'From awareness to action for Central Asian endangered species'.

The event was attended by around 50 participants and explored the illegal wildlife trade through a Central Asian lens by focusing on issues such as poaching and illegal fishing and species such as the Caspian Seal and snow leopard.

Participants also heard key results from the recent UN Environment Assembly, where a resolution was adopted by all UN member states on the illegal trade recognizing the important role that the conservation and sustainable use of wildlife can play in the achievement of the 2030 Agenda.

UNEP’s Sub-Regional Office for Central Asia joined forces with UNIC in Kazakhstan, UNESCO Almaty Cluster Office for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and the Kazakh-German University in Almaty and the Natural Resources Institute to organise the event.

Partners included the Kazakh National Research Technical University, the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University and Turar Ryskulov New Economic University.

For more details on WED in Kazakhstan please write to natalia.alexeeva@unep.org.