The Explorers Club celebrated the launch of its Central Asia chapter at its New York headquarters on November 12, with former president Richard Wiese predicting that the qualifications of its inaugural members would make it one of the organization’s leading international chapters.
“I was blown away, and I don’t say this lightly,” Wiese said, describing his review of around 30 applicants. “I’d say it’s going to be one of our top international chapters in the world. I mean, the qualifications are just stunning.”
The club announced its approval of the Kazakhstan-based Central Asia chapter’s formation on October 23, naming Meiram Begentayev as its chair. The New York gathering brought together explorers, conservationists and diplomats to discuss Kazakhstan’s contribution to scientific discovery and opportunities for future expeditions.
Founded in 1904, the Explorers Club has counted among its members pioneers involved in the first ascent of Mount Everest, the deepest ocean descent and the first Moon landing. Its history includes figures such as Sir Edmund Hillary, Jacques Piccard and Neil Armstrong. Its current honorary chair is Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and the space exploration company Blue Origin.
Welcoming guests, former president Ted Janulis said the organization now had more than 4,000 members across 39 chapters, including 19 outside the United States. He emphasized that exploration should lead to knowledge that helps people become better stewards of the planet.
Yerzhan Kazykhan, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s special representative for negotiations with the United States, traced the initiative to discussions with Wiese about a year and a half earlier. He thanked the club’s leadership for helping turn the proposal into an established chapter.
“We want Kazakhstan to become a meeting point of explorers from around the world,” Kazykhan said.
Kazykhan pointed to Baikonur’s role in human spaceflight and the opportunities for research offered by Kazakhstan’s archaeological sites, mountains and grasslands.
Kazakhstan’s ambassador to the United States, Magzhan Ilyassov, said the chapter could help bring the country’s history and scientific significance to audiences unfamiliar with the region. He also emphasized that relationships formed through exploration could endure beyond changes in political administrations.
“You’re building these long-lasting relations between people,” he told club members.
Former club president Richard Garriott brought some humor to the proceedings, recalling how he launched into space from Kazakhstan in 2008, only to discover upon landing that he needed a second entry visa. Ambassador Ilyassov joined the joke, reassuring him that Kazakhstan had since relaxed its visa requirements.
British explorer and author Nick Fielding presented a longer history of encounters between Kazakhstan and Western travelers, drawing on his research into Thomas and Lucy Atkinson’s nineteenth-century journeys and his own expeditions.
Fielding is undertaking a three-part journey following the Syr Darya river system from its headwaters in Kyrgyzstan through Uzbekistan and Tajikistan into Kazakhstan. The project examines the settlements and archaeological remains along a route connecting the mountains of Central Asia with the Aral Sea.
“Don’t let anybody tell you that Kazakhs are only a nation of nomads,” he said.
Drawing on visits to Otrar, Sauran and Syganak, Fielding described substantial urban centers with sophisticated fortifications, water supplies and heating systems. He told the audience that archaeological sites across the region offered extensive opportunities for further investigation.
For explorers interested in excavation and historical research, he said, “there is a lifetime of work.”
Conservation biologist Albert Salemgareyev, of the Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan, described the recovery of the country’s saiga antelope population to more than 4.6 million animals.
Kazakhstan’s conservation success has also drawn praise from Prince William, who highlighted the government’s efforts in October 2026, and Leonardo DiCaprio, who congratulated the country on its achievements in 2023.
Salemgareyev explained how government protection, international cooperation and satellite tracking had helped researchers understand the animals’ movements and identify areas requiring protection. The work forms part of a broader effort to restore the steppe ecosystem through the Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative.
He also acknowledged that the recovery had created new challenges. Growing saiga populations share grazing land with livestock, making coexistence with farming communities an important task for conservationists.
The initiative’s work extends to reintroducing kulan, or Asiatic wild asses, and Przewalski’s horses. Salemgareyev highlighted the birth of two Przewalski’s horse foals in August at the Alibi Reintroduction Center, following the return of horses from European zoos beginning in 2024. The births marked an important step toward establishing a self-sustaining population in the central Kazakh steppe.
Closing the evening, Wiese returned to the shared curiosity that had brought the participants together.
“You just can’t help but have a feeling of optimism about the world,” he said. “I’m going to look forward to this relationship. Let’s keep building it.”
