MANHATTAN (NPTV/UNITED NATIONS): Last year UN General Assembly has proclaimed 23rd October as International Day of the Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia).
Since it can blend with the landscapes, snow leopard is often called the ghost of the mountains.
The theme for International Snow Leopard Day this year is, “Safeguarding Snow Leopard Habitats for Future Generations.” The day is observed to augment the regional and global cooperation in support of efforts to conserve the snow leopard (that happens to be an endangered species).
On the occasion Pakistan’s Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination said the government was determined to safeguard Snow Leopard’s habitat through cooperation with provincial authorities, conservation partners, and mountain communities. Pakistan happens. In Pakistan, where even the citoyens are not fully aware of human rights, fortunately there are those who attempt to take care of animal rights.
Incidentally, 167 Snow Leopards call Gilgit-Baltistan [situated in the northern mountainous areas of Pakistan (consisting of the highest peaks in the world)] their home. Besides Pakistan, this predator is also found in the mountains of Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
International Union for Conservation of Nature had classified the snow leopard population as venerable in 1917. Since 1975, the snow leopard has been listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
The General Assembly stressed the urgent need to address the unprecedented global decline in biodiversity, including by preventing the extinction of threatened species, improving and sustaining their conservation status and restoring and safeguarding ecosystems that provide essential functions and services, including services related to water, health, livelihoods and well-being.
Governments of the snow leopard range countries take measures towards safeguarding the species, including the establishment of breeding programmes and the development of a regional strategy and national action plans for the conservation of the snow leopard
There are several regional initiatives for range State cooperation, trans-boundary approaches and outcomes of multi-partner initiatives, conventions and mechanisms at the regional level, including:
Saudi Arabia and Panthera’s Arabian Leopard Initiative,
Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Programme,
Strategy for Snow Leopard Conservation in the Russian Federation,
Snow Leopard Conservation Action Plan 2024–2030 and Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Management Plan 2017–2026 of Nepal,
Snow Leopard Conservation Action Plan 2024–2034 of Bhutan, a climate-integrated landscape approach to snow leopard conservation,
Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Programme of Pakistan,
Bishkek Declaration of 2017 entitled “Caring for snow leopards and mountains: our ecological future”, signed by 12 snow leopard range countries, including all five Central Asian countries,
Samarkand Resolution of 2024 for snow leopard conservation and climate adaptation, adopted at the eighth Steering Committee Meeting of the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Programme,
Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of the Snow Leopard and its Ecosystems in the Western Tien Shan and Pamir-Alai, signed by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan,
Initiative of India to create the International Big Cat Alliance,
Jaguar 2030 road map,
North-East Asian Subregional Programme for Environmental Cooperation Nature Conservation Strategy on conservation of flagship species that include the amur tiger, the amur leopard and the snow leopard, and
International Tiger Forum.
It is pertinent to mention here that the greatest threats to the survival of the snow leopard are habitat loss and fragmentation, prey depletion and illicit trafficking, illegal hunting, including poaching, and climate change.
NPTV/UNITED NATIONS
