Chagat Almashev is the director of the Foundation for Sustainable Development of Altai (FSDA), an NGO focused on conservation of natural and cultural heritage of local and indigenous communities. FSDA established a new form of Protected Areas that has led to the creation of five regional Nature Parks founded by local and indigenous people to preserve sacred sites, totem animals and plants, traditional lands, and biodiversity. Chagat is also a member of the World Commission for Protected Areas of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.