From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Axel Braunlich
Sent: 18 July 2007 06:27
To: [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]
Subject: [ OB ] Bird Survey in the Wakhan Pamirs



Dear All,

Below I forward a request by Peter Zahler, Asia
Program Assistant Director of the Wildlife
Conservation Society. Birding Afghanistan - a
really unique summer opportunity to make a
difference to global ornithological knowledge.

warmest greetings,
Axel
___________

(...) I'm in need of a real birder. In fact, in
the best of all possible worlds, two real
birders, to do a full-scale ornithological survey
of the Afghan Pamirs. Yes, the wonderful Wakhan
Corridor, home to a host of alpine specialists,
and a region of the world that has not had a
decent ornithological survey since the early
1970s, if you can qualify the work that was done then as decent.

Now, I suspect you might be saying to yourself,
" Afghanistan ? Is he crazy?" If you are, the
answer is an emphatic no. We have a tremendous
biodiversity conservation program going
full-blast in Afghanistan , primarily focused on
the Wakhan Pamirs (that little pencil sticking
out to the east, mostly above 4,000 meters). The
program has been underway since the beginning of
2006, and currently has over 60 people working on
it, including about a dozen international experts
from around the world. We've sent over 10
separate teams into the Wakhan already, ranging
from snow leopard and other large mammal surveys
to Marco Polo sheep research to community
conservation initiatives to rangeland assessments
to wildlife-livestock vet studies. You can learn
a bit more about the basics of the program at www.wcs.org/ asia/Afghanistan .

Regarding overall safety in the country, the
Wakhan is, despite newspaper alarmism to the
contrary, probably as safe as Mongolia's Eastern
Steppe these days, and our program has multiple
security systems in place that exceed UN
standards, whether in Kabul or traveling in the
countryside. I've been in-country now about a
dozen times since the program started, and I have
no greater concerns about safety there than I do
in any other country we work in. Of course there
are security risks (as there are anywhere), but
we are extraordinarily careful, have multiple and
redundant systems, and as mentioned the Wakhan
was never really touched by the conflicts that
affected the rest of the country, and thus only
has the normal risks related to remote alpine habitats.

What we're looking for is one or better a pair of
experts who have at least 45 days, preferably 60
(it takes a while to get up there, and it's a big
region) later this year to do a systematic survey
of the Wakhan. WCS would provide a reasonable
stipend and cover all costs, from airfares to
in-country expenses. We would provide any
equipment that is needed, including vehicles and
horses, and we would provide a local guide or
guides, as well as students from Kabul University
and/or a government counterpart to act as
assistants and, hopefully, get some training
(capacity building is a huge part of the program,
given that the 25 years of conflict has left the
country with almost no capacity in almost any
subject). Having sent over a dozen teams into the
Wakhan already, we have a smooth operation,
including a WCS Wakhan Manager who is placed in
the region full-time to provide local support (we
have also placed a doctoral candidate with the
Wakhan Kyrgyz at the far end of the corridor, and
he will be there full-time for the next year
doing research and helping with logistics and support).

If time were available, there would also be the
potential for a short survey trip to the
Hazarajat Plateau region (central Afghanistan) ,
home to the incredible six-lake
natural-travertine- dam Band-i-Amir watershed (and
of course the Bamiyan Buddhas) ¨C we have a
project there as well, at what is probably going
to be both the first official protected area in
Afghanistan and also the country's first Natural World Heritage Site.

If you are interested but have questions, please
feel free to contact either me ([log in to unmask] org)
or our WCS Afghanistan Country Director, Dr. Alex
Dehgan ([log in to unmask] org, based in our full-time Kabul office and cc'ed here).

Warmest regards,

Peter Zahler
Asia Program Assistant Director
Wildlife Conservation Society
2300 Southern Boulevard
Bronx , NY 10460

____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ ______
Axel Braunlich, WWF Altai-Sayan Field Office,
Khovd , Mongolia
address A. Braunlich, P.O. Box 395 , Khovd 213500, Mongolia

My blog about birding and bird conservation in Mongolia :

BIRDING MONGOLIA http://birdsmongoli a.blogspot. com
____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ ______

ORIENTAL BIRD CLUB (OBC)
Support conservation in Asia . Join OBC at www.orientalbirdclu b.org

ORIENTAL BIRD IMAGES - a database of the OBC
>24,000 photos, >2500 species: www.orientalbirdima ges.org
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If you are not confused, you don't know what's going on!