KATHMANDU: Minister for Forests and Environment, Shakti Bahadur Basnet has asserted Nepal’s high priority to protect snow leopard.
Addressing the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection (GSLP)’s fourth standing committee meeting in New Delhi, Minister Basnet said that protection of the snow leopard is one of the major tasks for the ecosystem conservation.
He also said that habitat loss and lack of food, as well as the human-wildlife conflict, have been the biggest challenge when it comes to protecting the snow leopard.
He, however, said that the government’s lone efforts would not be sufficient to that end.
Minister Basnet also informed that the government is preparing to establish a Himalayan Research Centre to carry out research works for the conservation of the snow leopard and its species.
According to him, 12 protected areas have been declared for the protection of wildlife and the environment in Nepal.
On the occasion, he proposed for the establishment of a regional mechanism for stopping the illegal trade in the body parts of the snow leopard.
The snow leopard is found from the Kanchanjunga Conservation Area in the east to Apinampa in the west in Nepal. The snow leopard population in Nepal is estimated to be more than 500.
Meanwhile, Minister Basnet also invited the participants of the meet to visit Nepal during the Visit Nepal 2020.
Representatives of countries that provide habitat for snow leopard including Nepal, India, China, Bhutan, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, and Russia attended the meeting.
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