The Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP).
Kyrgyz Republic president, Mr Almazbek Atambayev, launching GSLEP and Bishkek Declaration in October 2013. The program will support snow leopard conservation and hign mountain communitities in all 12 range countries. (Photo Sibylle Noras.)
The GSLEP is a world first joint initiative that aims to conserve the endangered snow leopard within the broader context of also conserving valuable high mountain ecosystems.
GSLEP unites all 12 range country governments, nongovernmental and inter-governmental organisations, local communities, and the private sector around this aim.
In 2013 the 12 snow leopard range countries and partners signed the Bishkek Declaration (in the Kyrgyz Republic capital city) and agreed to the goal of the GSLEP for the 7 years through 2020. The snow leopard range countries agree, with support from stakeholder and interested organisations, to work together to identify and secure at least 20 snow leopard landscapes across the cat’s range by 2020 or, in short – “Secure 20 by 2020.”
Secure snow leopard landscapes are defined as those that contain at least 100 breeding age snow leopards conserved with the involvement of local communities, support adequate and secure prey populations, and have functional connectivity to other snow leopard landscapes, some of which cross international boundaries.
The foundation of the GSLEP is 12 individual National Snow Leopard and Ecosystems Priorities (NSLEPs). These NSLEPs were developed by each country to incorporate a set project activities to be implemented to meet their national snow leopard and ecospsyem protection goals.
The NSLEPs are supported by five Global Support Components (GSCs) prepared by international organizations to address issues which transcend national boundaries and go beyond the capacity of any one country to address alone. The GSCs aim to support and assist the range countries, as needed, is the areas of wildlife law enforcement; knowledge sharing; transboundary cooperation; engaging with industry; and research and monitoring.
Key partners in this initiative include – The State Agency for Environmental Protection and Forestry under the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic, along with the GSLEP Secretariat , USAID, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Global Tiger Initiative (GTI), Union for Conservation of Nature and Biodiversity (NABU), Snow Leopard Trust (SLT), Snow Leopard Conservancy, Snow Leopard Network, United Nations Development Program (UNDP), World Bank (WB) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
In 2015 the Hon. Minister for Climate Change from Pakistan Mr. Mushahid Ullah Khan, was elected chairman of international steering committee of the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection (GSLEP) Program.
Read more on GSLEP Secretariat.
