The capacity-building workshop for natural World Heritage properties in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) and Mongolia was held in Almaty on 7 and 8 October 2026. The two-day event aimed to further strengthen the technical capacity of site managers and national authorities to protect natural World Heritage properties, with a particular focus on transboundary cooperation.
The workshop was coordinated by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, the UNESCO Regional Offices in Almaty and Beijing and IUCN. It was built on the 2025 capacity-building workshop held under the same project, which aims to enhance transboundary cooperation among natural and mixed World Heritage properties in Asia by strengthening existing site management, mapping knowledge and capacity gaps, and identifying further opportunities for transboundary cooperation.
The workshop was financed by the Republic of Korea through the UNESCO/Republic of Korea Funds-in-Trust project “Enhancing Transnational Cooperation and Fostering Peace: Natural and Mixed World Heritage in Asia”. The project’s donor is the Korea Heritage Service (KHS). Russian–English interpretation was provided throughout.
Participants reviewed the concept of Outstanding Universal Value and World Heritage activities in Central Asia and Mongolia, including state of conservation, Periodic Reporting, the Upstream Process, Preliminary Assessments and nominations. They discussed how to ensure management effectiveness using tools such as Enhancing our Heritage Toolkit (EoH) 2.0 and the new 2026 Managing World Heritage Manual, and how conservation principles and governance help sustain the values and integrity of properties. State Party representatives and site managers shared experiences from Tajik National Park (Mountains of the Pamirs), the Tugay forests of the Tigrovaya Balka Nature Reserve (Tajikistan), Western Tien-Shan (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan), Cold Winter Deserts of Turan (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan), Uvs Nuur Basin (Mongolia/Russian Federation) and Landscapes of Dauria (Mongolia/Russian Federation), followed by lively exchanges among the participants. Scientific research and monitoring were also on the agenda, including species as indicators of ecosystem health, monitoring needs, techniques and tools, and common challenges, alongside the IKI project “One Health in Nature Conservation in Central Asia” and its support for World Heritage properties.
Natural heritage knows no borders; its conservation requires our shared responsibility and collective commitment. Central Asia and Mongolia are home to invaluable Outstanding Universal Value and unique ecosystems.
