India, Oct. 20 -- Representatives from a number of Central Asian countries have endorsed a six-year work programme that identifies priority transboundary conservation regions important for conserving seventeen iconic mammal species of the region. The work programme has been endorsed for the Central Asian Mammals Initiative (CAMI). It was launched in 2014 at the 11th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP11) to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).

CAMI presents a common framework to address major threats to the region's migratory species. It currently covers 17 species including the argali sheep, Asiatic cheetah, Asiatic wild ass, Bukhara deer, Eurasian lynx, gobi bear, goitered gazelle, ki...