Important Bird Areas are the territories significant for birds conservation, mostly for globally- threatened species. BirdLife International has been monitoring the IBA over 25 years worldwide. As soon as the IBA territories are identified and their concernment is proved, the BirdLife with support of representatives at the country level arranges conservation activities. Now, IBA inventory in Kazakhstan is at the completion stage, and in autumn 2008 the results of the IBA monitoring with the list of the IBA territories in Kazakhstan will be officially published. The problem now is that only a small part of IBA are included into the existed Nature protected areas network and are under protection. The greater part, wetlands and forest ecosystems, in particular, are unsustainably used and are threatened. Local authorities of different levels and local communities awareness about the wetlands, forest and other ecosystems meaning is poor, there?s no clear understanding among the local communities of the advantage to conserve the IBA. There?s no any informational or methodical materials accessible for local communities that could give recommendations how the wetlands and IBA could be substantively used. Now there?s a necessity to develop approaches for conservation and sustainable use of IBA, development and introduce into practice informational and methodical materials, establishment of monitoring system, raising awareness of both decision making focal points and local community at different levels.

Project aim:
The project presumes conservation of biodiversity of 4 pilot important bird areas with participation of students and local community members to polish mechanisms for IBA conservation in Kazakhstan

Project tasks:
- Active involvement of the youth into nature protection activity
- Supplying sustainable methodical and technical operation of the student bird watchers clubs as a basis for the project sustainability
- Monitoring of the pilot IBA, perfecting methods to be further used all over Kazakhstan, conservation of the pilot IBA biodiversity through development and implementation of local action plans
- ?ooperation with local community and hunters, influence on local nature-protection policy, propaganda of IBA role at the local and regional level

Project results:
- Stable long term activity of the student bird-watchers clubs is ensured, active group in each of the clubs of amongst of the students (at least 15 active members in each club) is established
- Systematic monitoring of 4 IBA with the total area of 723000 hectares is arranged
- Standard IBA monitoring approach is developed to be further duplicated for monitoring of all the IBAs of the country
- The information about the IBAs in Kazakhstan is regularly updated and added to the Birdlife International global database, and this information is used for planning activities on conservation and rational use of globally significant species on the IBAs
- The IBA conservation action plan is developed to be further used for the entire pilot IBAs over the country
- The approaches on involvement of volunteers of amongst of local community to the IBA conservation activity is developed and implemented
- Zoning of hunting areas is done; recommendations on creation of the «rest zones» are developed
- The rare and endemic species habitat conditions on the territories of the 4 IBA are improved
- The approaches for involvement of students into nature protection activities are polished