Indian scientists receive international award on behalf of snow leopard conservation alliance
- November 28, 2022
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Indian scientists receive international award on behalf of snow leopard conservation alliance
Subject: Environment
Context-
- Indian snow leopard experts Charudutt Mishra and Koustubh Sharma, along with ChyngyzKochorov of Kyrgyzstan, received the Madrid-based BBVA Foundation’s Worldwide Biodiversity Conservation Award on behalf of The Global Snow Leopard Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP) that they helped create and manage.
About the Award-
- The Spain-based BBVA Foundation Awards for Biodiversity Conservation seek to recognise and support the work done by conservationist organisations, institutions and agencies in carrying forward environmental conservation policies and projects.
The Global Snow Leopard Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP)-
- The GSLEP is a first-of-its-kind intergovernmental alliance for the conservation of the snow leopard and its unique ecosystem.
- GSLEP was created in 2013 when officials, politicians and conservationists arrived at a common conservation strategy enshrined in the Bishkek Declaration (2013) to cooperate in the conservation of this species and its habitat.
- It is led by the environment ministers of 12 countries in Asia that form the home range of the snow leopard.
- These are Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
- The total range spans two million square kilometres.
- The GSLEP Program’s secretariat is based in Bishkek, and is hosted by the Ministry of Natural Resources, Ecology and Technical Supervision of the Kyrgyz Republic.
About Snow Leopard-
- Scientific name: Panthera uncia.
- Habitat: Snow leopards live in the mountains of Central Asia.
- Numbers: There are only between 3,920 and 6,390 snow leopards left in the wild.
- Range extends through twelve countries: Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
- Conservation Status: Snow leopards were considered endangered species until 2017 but the status was changed to vulnerable later in the year.
Challenges to their conservation:
- Increased habitat loss and degradation, poaching and conflict with communities.
Conservation efforts- National level:
- As per reports, India is home to about 450-500 snow leopards which can be spotted in the upper Himalayan regions of the country.
- India has been conserving snow leopards and their habitats through the Project Snow Leopard (PSL).
- India has also been part of the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection (GSLEP) Programme since 2013.
- For conservation, India has identified three large landscapes, namely, Hemis-Spiti across Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh; Nanda Devi – Gangotri in Uttarakhand; and Khangchendzonga – Tawangacross Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
- Snow Leopard is in the list of 22 critically endangered species for the recovery programme of the Ministry of Environment Forest & Climate Change.
- SECURE Himalaya: Global Environment Facility (GEF)–United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) funded the project on conservation of high-altitude biodiversity and reducing the dependency of local communities on the natural ecosystem.
- This project is now operational in four snow leopard range states, namely, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Sikkim.
- Community volunteer programme “HimalSanrakshak” to protect snow leopards.
Conservation efforts- International level:
- In 2013, the Bishkek Declaration set a goal of protecting at least 20 snow leopard landscapes with viable snow leopard populations by 2020, and led to the formation of the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP).
- Since then, October 23 is commemorated each year as International Snow Leopard Day.