International Snow Leopard Day 2020
Snow leopard is a “flagship species” for the high-altitude Himalayas
New Delhi: India is a party to the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection (GSLEP) Programme since 2013. This multilateral programme comprises of 12 snow leopard range countries and they have developed national priorities and identified large landscapes to support viable populations of snow leopards.
At the 4th Steering Committee of the GSLEP program in October 2019 at New Delhi, the “New Delhi Statement” stressed on strengthening the resolve of the snow leopard range countries towards conservation of the mountain ecosystems of Central and South Asia. The First National Protocol was also launched last year on Snow Leopard Population Assessment for monitoring populations.In line with other projects, this initiative exclusively focused on developing landscape-based management plans, habitat restoration plans, livelihoods improvement, mitigation of wildlife crime and illegal trade in wildlife, human-wildlife conflict mitigation strategies, improving awareness and communications strategies.
The Government of India thereafter identified the snow leopard as a flagship species for the high-altitude Himalayas and identified three large landscapes as their habitat, namely, Hemis-Spiti across Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh; Nanda Devi – Gangotri in Uttarakhand; and Khangchendzonga – Tawang across Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
As it is evident, the geographical range of snow leopards encompasses a large part of the western Himalayas including the states and UTs of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. Protecting the snow leopard and its habitat ensures protection of the major Himalayan rivers that support the teeming millions downstream. It also ensures that the ecological balance is maintained in these fragile ecosystems.
Hence, Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Babul Supriyo, said it was important that these concerned states together with the Central government resolve to realise the project to bring up the population of snow leopards in India in the next five years.
Speaking at the International Snow Leopard Day 2020 today through a virtual meeting, Supriyo reiterated government’s commitment towards restoration for snow leopard habitat conservation, and implementing participatory landscape-based management plans involving local stakeholders.
Supriyo asserted that the Government was conserving snow leopard and its habitat through the Project Snow Leopard (PSL), which was launched in 2009. He reiterated that the project also encourages the States and UTs to adopt innovative strategies to resolve issues related to multi-stakeholder landscape management, human-wildlife conflicts, wildlife crime and trade in wildlife parts and products, capacity building, climate-smart energy solutions among other things.
– globalbihari bureau
