From snow leopards to the Aral Sea: How SCO cooperation is tackling shared ecological challenges

From the high mountains where snow leopards roam to the shrinking landscapes of the Aral Sea, Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) countries are joining hands to tackle ecological challenges through cooperation and shared solutions. As one of the world's most biodiverse countries and one of the first parties to sign and ratify the Convention on Biological Diversity, China is deepening cooperation with regional partners to advance biodiversity protection and environmental restoration.

Protecting 'king of snow mountains'

The snow leopard, known as the "king of the snow mountains," inhabits high-altitude areas from Central Asia to the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau and the Mongolian Plateau. Many SCO member states are home to the species.

Against the backdrop of climate change and the global biodiversity crisis, protecting snow leopards is critical to maintaining ecosystem stability. SCO countries and broader Asian range countries have agreed to work together to conserve the species and the natural ecosystem they depend on.

Cooperation dates back to October, 2013, when 12 snow leopard range countries, including China, gathered at the first Global Snow Leopard Conservation Forum in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. They signed the Bishkek Declaration on the Conservation of the Snow Leopard, and launched the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystems Protection Program (GSLEP) to implement the commitments.

In 2018, the International Snow Leopard Conservation Conference in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen adopted the Shenzhen Consensus on Global Snow Leopard Conservation.

In 2025, led by World Wildlife Fund for Nature in China (WWF-China) and WWF-Mongolia, the two countries launched the "United for Snow Leopards" project, the first joint snow leopard conservation initiative between China and Mongolia. The five-year initiative focuses on strengthening international conservation and cooperation, supporting community-led conservation and raising public awareness.

Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah, Pakistan's Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, said the country's snow leopard population is recovering, thanks to the cooperation and joint protection among SCO member states.

Recovering 'Dry Tears' of Central Asia

The Aral Sea, spanning Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, was once the world's fourth-largest lake. Since the 1960s, excessive water use and climate change have caused it to shrink by more than 90%. Rising soil salinity has transformed more than 50,000 square kilometers of the dried lakebed into desert, earning it the tragic nickname "Dry Tears" of Central Asia.

Countries around the Aral Sea have taken measures to address the ecological crisis, while Chinese scientists have contributed expertise and practical solutions.

In 2013, the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and research institutions in Central Asia jointly established the Research Center for Ecology and Environment of Central Asia, headquartered in Tashkent, with branches in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The center has supported cooperation in water conservation, desertification control, saline-alkali land management and ecological restoration.

Chinese research teams have conducted field surveys, established more than 80 monitoring sites, and used high-resolution remote sensing to study the Aral Sea's decline and its causes. They also divided the region into seven major ecological types and 14 subregions based on soil, vegetation, biodiversity and water-resource indicators, providing a scientific basis for targeted restoration.

China has also introduced its experience in treating saline-alkali land. Five halophyte gardens have been jointly established in Uzbekistan, with two more gardens planned. These salt-tolerant plants can help reduce soil salinity and improve degraded land.

Erkin Mukhitdinov, head of the Forestry Agency of Uzbekistan's Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change, said the country plans to use the gardens as seed and breeding bases and expand the planting of salt-tolerant species such as saxaul and tamarisk.

Since 2018, Uzbekistan has afforested about 2 million hectares with halophytes. Expanded vegetation cover has helped reduce the intensity of sand and salt-dust storms in the region.

The International Innovation Center for the Aral Sea Basin in Nukus has also worked with China and other countries on restoring vegetation on the dried lakebed. After studying Chinese halophyte cultivation techniques, the center has introduced more than 40 salt-tolerant plant species to explore their local adaptability and applications.

Experts say that recovering the Aral Sea in the long run will depend on protecting and utilizing water resources across the basin. Since 2011, Chinese and Central Asian research institutions have cooperated on efficient irrigation technologies. Demonstration projects in Uzbekistan's cotton fields have reduced water use by 50 to 70% while maintaining yields above 400 kilograms per mu (about 0.067 hectares).

Climate and biodiversity cooperation

Climate action has also been strengthened within the SCO.

In 2022, SCO heads of state adopted the Statement by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Heads of State Council on Climate Change Response, marking the organization's first document dedicated to addressing climate change. In 2024, the SCO decided to establish a special working group on climate change.

In April 2026, the Green and Sustainable Development Forum of the SCO adopted a Ningbo initiative on sustainable development cooperation, further calling for deeper cooperation on biodiversity conservation and sustainable use, as well as coordinated efforts to implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.