Kazakhstan establishing National Genetic Biodiversity Bank

At the COP17 Leaders' Summit on Biodiversity in Yerevan, Armenia, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced Kazakhstan's initiative to establish an International Fund for the Protection of Rare Species and Biodiversity and urged foreign partners to join it. He said the initiative is complemented by the National Biodiversity 10-year program, and that the National Bank of Genetic Biodiversity is being launched.

Tokayev also addressed regional cooperation. This April, Astana hosted the UN Regional Ecological Summit, which adopted the Astana Declaration on Environmental Solidarity in Central Asia. With the support of all five littoral states, Kazakhstan is spearheading an Interstate Program for the Conservation of the Caspian Sea's Water Resources. Saying water resource management requires closer coordination, he recalled Kazakhstan's proposal last year for an International Water Organization within the UN system.

The President said Kazakhstan has achieved significant progress in biodiversity conservation, citing the recovery of populations of the saiga antelope, snow leopard, Turan tiger, Przewalski's horse and Caspian seal. He also highlighted the Taza Qazaqstan initiative at the summit.