towards project snow leopard - Nature Conservation Foundation

14 • Workshop Process
welfare alongside conservation.
The Guest of Honour, Jenab Tariq Hameed Karra, Hon’ble Minister for Housing,
Urban Development and Forests, Jammu & Kashmir, gave a comprehensive overview of issues in
snow leopard and high altitude wildlife conservation, reemphasized the need to promote wildlife
conservation while safeguarding and promoting the welfare of local communities, expressed his state’s
support for PSL, and hoped that the workshop would come up with a set of good recommendations
for follow-up action. Finally, in his address, the Chief Guest Thiru A. Raja, Hon’ble Union Minister of
Environment & Forests, Government of India, announced the Government of India’s intent to offer
all possible support to strengthen conservation in India’s high altitudes, and assured the participants
that the Government would positively consider the recommendations and resolutions that would
be made during the workshop. The inaugural session concluded with Shri A. K. Srivastava, IFS,
CWLW of Jammu & Kashmir, reiterating the need for PSL, and proposing the vote of thanks.
Technical sessions
The three technical sessions of the national workshop involved a combination of presentations, state
reports, and overviews, followed by detailed discussions. The subjects covered in the presentations,
and the main points that emerged during the subsequent discussions, are summarized in Chapter 4.
The first technical session chaired by Shri J.C. Kala, DG Forests, Government of India, and co-chaired
by Shri P.R. Sinha, Director, WII, involved state reports by the CWLW or their representatives from
all the five states. These presentations provided overviews of the status of high altitude biodiversity
in each state, and articulated the respective states’ views on PSL.
The second technical session was chaired by Dr. B.S. Burfal, PCCF, Uttaranchal and
co-chaired by Dr. Anmol Kumar, ADIG Forests, MoEF. It involved presentations by Dr. Tom
McCarthy, Conservation and Science Director, ISLT, on the state of current knowledge on snow
leopard ecology and threats, by Shri Jigmet Takpa, Regional Wildlife Warden, Ladakh, on biodiversity
values of Ladakh, by Dr. S. Sathyakumar, Scientist WII on conservation initiatives by WII on the
snow leopard and its prey species in the Trans-Himalaya, and by Dr. Mir Mansoor, Chief Wildlife
Veterinary Officer, Jammu & Kashmir, on issues of snow leopard conservation and illegal trade.
The final technical session was chaired by Shri I.A. Khan, PCCF, and Shri A.K. Srivastava,
CWLW, Jammu & Kashmir. It involved presentations by Dr. V.B. Mathur, Dean, WII, on
conservation education initiatives by WII focusing on the snow leopard, by Dr. Yash Veer Bhatnagar,
NCF and Associate Director ISLT-India Program, who summarized on behalf of the five states the
constraints they face in managing high altitude wildlife and their expectations from PSL, and by
Dr. Devendra Pandey, Director, Forest Survey of India, on forest scenario in the Himalayan high
altitudes.
The workshop ended with the collective drafting of a series of recommendations to the
MoEF for early initiation of PSL (Chapter 5). The workshop ended on a positive resolve that our
country would soon have a Project Snow Leopard.