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36 • Workshop Presentations and Discussions learn lessons from the management philosophy of Biosphere Reserves, in particular for landscape level and participatory conservation. He reported that the occurrence of the snow leopard has been confirmed in seven protected areas of Uttaranchal, and that four forest divisions have potential habitat for the species. He highlighted the major threats as illegal hunting, loss of habitat of prey species and conflict with graziers. He also listed the constraints faced by the state in snow leopard conservation which include the low density of the species, difficult terrain, the long international boundary along its habitat, inadequate scientific knowledge on the status of the species, and limited external support. He concluded by depicting the goals, objectives and major steps for snow leopard action plan in the state of Uttaranchal. Shri N.T. Bhutia, CWLW, Sikkim, highlighted the importance the state Government gives to wildlife conservation under the leadership of the present Chief Minister. He assured of full cooperation of the state in formulating and implementing the PSL. Mr. S. C. Lachungpa, CF (Wildlife), northeast Sikkim, then gave an overview of the reported snow leopard occurrence including five protected areas and other Trans-Himalyan areas in the state. He identified strengths of the state as strong political will, cultural values and large contiguous and undisturbed tracts of habitat for the species. He highlighted the threats to high altitude wildlife and the measures taken by the state to tackle these threats. Significant efforts at creating awareness and spreading the message of conservation to large sections of the society and tourists (eco-tourism) were also outlined. In his concluding remarks, the Chairman, Shri J.C. Kala, DG Forests and Special Secretary, MoEF, said that the Ministry was convinced about the importance of a project like the PSL and assured the house that a committee would be constituted to take forward the process of project formulation based on the recommendations that emerge from the workshop. Technical Session II Dr. Tom McCarthy, Science and Conservation Director of the International Snow Leopard Trust, provided a succinct overview of the current global status and challenges of snow leopard conservation. He depicted the main threats to snow leopards as retribution killing, loss of natural prey and poaching for hide and bones. He identified the major challenges in snow leopard conservation as lack of broad coordination, unclear focus for the allocation of limited funds, lack of comprehensive guidelines or best practices, and redundancy of efforts. As the way forward, he suggested prioritization of threats and information gaps, defining best practices and consensus on strategy and networking among people involved in snow leopard conservation. While appreciating the lead India has taken in science and conservation efforts for the snow leopard, he suggested that the Snow Leopard Survival Strategy document would be a useful resource while planning the PSL. He also highlighted the specific threats to snow leopard in the Himalaya and emphasized participatory approaches that consider human needs. Finally, he gave an insight into cutting-edge techniques for research on snow leopards with emphasis on camera trapping and molecular (genetic finger printing) methods. Dr. S. Sathyakumar, Scientist, WII, gave an overview of the conservation initiatives for
Towards Project Snow Leopard • 37 snow leopard and associated species in the Indian Trans-Himalaya by WII. He informed that since 1985 WII has been involved in research on these species in the form of ten completed projects, and one ongoing project. These projects focused on studying ecology of specific species, surveys, rangeland ecology and conservation. Initiatives such as SLIMS (Snow Leopard Information and Management Systems) and conservation education workshops for teachers in Ladakh were also highlighted. The initiatives were mainly focused in the states of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal. Dr. Mir M. Mansoor, Chief Wildlife Veterinarian and Biologist, Jammu & Kashmir, presented a detailed documentation of the illegal trade of snow leopards and their body parts including reported seizures, market values of different parts reportedly sold and legally held products and body parts of the snow leopard in the state of Jammu & Kashmir by furriers. As a background he also provided an overview of the conservation status and national as well as international treaties and conventions and their signatories relevant to snow leopard conservation. Technical Session III In this session, the first presentation was made by Dr. V. B. Mathur, Dean Faculty of Wildlife Science, WII and Ms. Shivani Chandola, Research Fellow. The presentation focused on conservation education products developed by WII in collaboration with Centre for Environment Education, ISLT and Snow Leopard Conservancy and the teacher training workshops conducted for using these tools to enhance awareness about snow leopard conservation. A series of four posters titled ‘Hardy mountains, fragile ecosystems’ and a booklet were developed and used for six teacher training workshops in Kargil and Leh Districts of Ladakh. The evaluation of these workshops in the form of formative feedback was discussed and the positive influence of the workshops for teachers was highlighted. Dr. Yash Veer Bhatnagar, Senior Scientist NCF and Associate Director ISLT India Programme, summarized the outcomes of all state-level consultations held in the five range states during the preparatory process for the national workshop. He outlined the process as consisting of identification of regions in the respective states for PSL implementation (i.e. areas of known and potential occurrence of snow leopard), listing of threats and constraints and suggestions for a conservation strategy for snow leopard. A list of threats identified by the Forest and Wildlife Departments of the respective states and major constraints under the heads of manpower, funds, capacity, jurisdictions, etc. were also outlined. The expectations of the states from PSL, and the strategy elements they would like to see in PSL, were also reported. Dr. Devendra Pandey, Director, Forest Survey of India, presented the scenario of forest cover in all the five snow leopard range states of India. He indicated that the percent forest cover was the highest in Arunachal Pradesh and the lowest in Jammu & Kashmir with the other three range states having intermediate forest cover. However, the areas above 3,000 m were to be considered a unique habitat due to their physical, climatic and other features and unsuitable for developing tree
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