$8 million will put local protectors to work for the rare wildlife of the Pamir and Tien Shan mountains

Some of the world's rarest mountain wildlife is getting a new team of local protectors. A five-year programme running from 2026 to 2031 will offer around 100 small grants to conservation groups across five Central Asian countries, so the people who live closest to the Pamir and Tien Shan mountains can protect the places they know best. The mountains cover about 860,000 square kilometres and are home to Menzbier's marmot, the steppe eagle and the Semirechensk salamander, plus more than 20 threatened tulip species found nowhere else. The European Union is providing most of the $8 million through the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, and the conservation charity Fauna & Flora will coordinate the work — funding projects that keep wildlife corridors open and giving local groups training and support, so they can keep going long after the international money ends.

SDG 15 · Life on land — Mechanism: funding & finance