Winner of the 2024 Student WLA Awards – Award of Excellence in the Concept – Analysis and Planning
The current dramatic changes in the global climate are resulting in rapid shifts in wildlife habitats, which are presenting species with unprecedented challenges to their migration patterns and even to their continued existence. Furthermore, numerous mammals frequently encounter border fences when migrating across countries, which poses a significant threat to the wildlife survival.
The Mongolian gazelle, an ungulate that inhabits the Central Asian steppe, migrates across the Sino-Mongolia border each year in search of food resources as the seasons change. As an important long-distance migratory species in the world’s largest temperate grassland ecosystem, Mongolian gazelle is also the only remaining large-scale migratory mammal in the Central Asian steppe.
Climate change-induced degradation of Central Asian steppe ecosystem and the extreme weather events have had a significant impact on long-distance migratory animals such as the Mongolian gazelle, leading to a sharp decline in their populations. Furthermore, the fence of the Sino-Mongolia border and insufficient coordination of conservation efforts, creating additional challenges for the migration of the Mongolian gazelle, with the unfortunate loss of many individuals attempting to cross.
The protection of cross-border migration paths for the Mongolian gazelle is of significant importance for the survival of the species, as well as for the maintenance of regional ecological balance and the mitigation of environmental disasters caused by climate change.
This project proposed climate-adaptive conservation strategies for Mongolian gazelle migration at both regional and protected area scales.
At the regional level, the project started from the climate response mechanism of the natural environment and focused on the transboundary river Kherlen as a significant migration corridor. The Kherlen River basin, which exhibits high levels of wildlife activity, was selected as the study area. The project identified habitats and potential climate refuges for Mongolian gazelle under current and future climate conditions. In addition, climate-adapted migration corridors were planned accordingly.
At the level of the important cross-border protected areas for Mongolian gazelle, the project explored how to find a balance between ecological protection and economic development, taking into account the locals, the border management agencies of the two countries, environmental protection organizations, local governments and other stakeholders. The sustainability of the project was ensured through cooperation with international environmental organizations. In addition, from the perspective of spatial planning, the project also delineated the scope of cross-border protected areas and provided detailed strategies for priority protected areas, potential protected areas and sustainable development areas, which provided more precise and feasible protection measures for the cross-border migration of Mongolian gazelle in the context of climate change.
Ultimately, the project provided a model of climate-adapted conservation for land-based long-distance migratory animals, which is not only for the protection of the Mongolian gazelle, but also a new attempt at global cross-border migratory animal conservation efforts. The goal of the project is to explore how transboundary conservation can contribute to the harmonious development of national border areas, to build transnational, shared climate resilient landscapes with shared governance, and ultimately to build a vision of a biocultural strategic complex.
Climate-Adapted Conservation Of Wildlife Migration
Students: Jiaojiao Zhu, Siyi Liang, Jirong Guang, Liangyi Huang – Huazhong Agricultural University; Advisor: Xin Xia – Huazhong Agricultural University
Jiaojiao Zhu: Background research, conservation planning analysis, implementation strategy development, drawing summary
Siyi Liang: Strategy framework organization, conservation planning analysis, implementation strategy development, descriptive text writing
Jirong Guang: Data collection, conservation planning analysis, vision rendering, descriptive text writing
Liangyi Huang: Data collection, background research, implementation strategy development, vision rendering
Xin Xia: Project supervision, strategy framework guidance, drawing review
