“Climate smart landscape management is a critical, and globally advanced methodology that is being rolled out in this important part of the world,” said Kate Newman, vice president for public sector initiatives at WWF. “It is encouraging that countries are on track to complete a number of plans ahead of schedule.”
Speaking at the opening of the GSLEP steering committee meeting, prime minister of the host country Nepal, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, emphasized that snow leopards are the guardians of the water towers and the indicator of the health of the mountain ecosystem. Saving their habitat is not just the responsibility of a handful of snow leopard range nations, but of everyone who needs clean air and water.
He also reiterated Nepal’s commitment to snow leopard conservation, pledging almost half a million dollars for the effort, and launching a new National Snow Leopard Conservation Action Plan for Nepal at the opening ceremony, which includes a budget of $3.15 million for implementation. The plan was prepared with financial and technical support of WWF Nepal.
Underscoring the urgency of transboundary snow leopard anti-poaching work, James Compton, senior director at TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, emphasized how, like snow leopards, poachers and traffickers also respect no borders. He presented the alarming findings of a recent TRAFFIC report that since 2008, a minimum of four snow leopards have been killed per week. But this number could be substantially higher since many killings in remote areas go undetected.
The report, An Ounce of Prevention: Snow leopard crime revisited, was produced with support from the USAID funded Conservation and Adaptation in Asia’s High Mountain Landscapes and Communities program. Through the program, WWF and USAID have also been supporting the GSLEP process.
The GSLEP steering committee meeting and landscape management planning workshops hosted by Nepal are both geared towards preparation for a Global Snow Leopard Summit of the twelve range nations, to be hosted by the Government of Kyrgyzstan on Sept. 7 and 8, 2017.
