Context: 

The Fourteenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP 14) adopted the Initiative for the Central Asian Flyway introduced by India on February 17, 2024.

Background:

1. The CMS holds a Conference of the Parties (COP) every three years, where the member states review the progress and adopt new measures for the conservation of migratory species.
2. The 14th COP was held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, in February 2024, and it was the first UN wildlife meeting in Central Asia.

About Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty: 

1. The Central Asian Flyway (CAF) initiative is a conservation project led by India under the umbrella of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), which is an international treaty that aims to protect and conserve migratory animals and their habitats.
2. The initiative aims to promote the conservation and sustainable use of migratory waterbirds and their habitats, as well as to enhance cooperation and coordination among the range states and other stakeholders.
3. The Central Asian Flyway (CAF) is a flyway covering a large continental area of Eurasia between the Arctic Ocean and the Indian Ocean and the associated island chains.
4. A flyway is a geographical region within which a single or group of migratory species completes its annual cycle of breeding, moulting, staging and non-breeding.
5. The CAF comprises several important migration routes of waterbirds, most of which extend from the northernmost breeding grounds in Siberia to the southernmost non-breeding wintering grounds in West Asia, India, the Maldives and the British Indian Ocean Territory.
6. The CAF covers 30 countries and at least 279 migratory waterbird populations of 182 species, including 29 globally threatened or near-threatened species.
7. The Central Asian Flyway consists of the following countries: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Georgia, India, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, the Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom (British Indian Ocean Territory), Uzbekistan and Yemen.