Horizon scan of transboundary concerns impacting snow leopard landscapes in Asia

Hameeda SULTAN, Wajid RASHID, Jianbin SHI, Inam ur RAHIM, Mohammad NAFEES, Eve BOHNETT, Sajid RASHID, Muhammad Tariq KHAN, Izaz Ali SHAH, Heesup HAN, Antonio ARIZA-MONTES

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlespeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The high-altitude region of Asia is prone to natural resource degradation caused by a variety of natural and anthropogenic factors that also threaten the habitat of critical top predator species, the snow leopard (Panthera uncia). The snow leopard’s landscape encompasses parts of the twelve Asian countries and is dominated by pastoral societies within arid mountainous terrain. However, no investigation has assessed the vulnerability and pathways towards long-term sustainability on the global snow leopard landscape scale. Thus, the current study reviewed 123 peer-reviewed scientific publications on the existing knowledge, identified gaps, and proposed sustainable mitigation options for the longer term and on larger landscape levels in the range countries. The natural resource degradation in this region is caused by various social, economic, and ecological threats that negatively affect its biodiversity. The factors that make the snow leopard landscapes vulnerable include habitat fragmentation through border fencing, trade corridor infrastructure, non-uniform conservation policies, human–snow leopard conflict, the increasing human population, climatic change, land use and cover changes, and unsustainable tourism. Thus, conservation of the integrated Socio-Ecological System (SES) prevailing in this region requires a multi-pronged approach. This paper proposes solutions and identifies the pathways through which to implement these solutions. The prerequisite to implementing such solutions is the adoption of cross-border collaboration (regional cooperation), the creation of peace parks, readiness to integrate transnational and cross-sectoral conservation policies, a focus on improving livestock management practices, a preparedness to control human population growth, a readiness to mitigate climate change, initiating transboundary landscape-level habitat conservation, adopting environment-friendly trade corridors, and promoting sustainable tourism. Sustainable development in this region encompasses the political, social, economic, and ecological landscapes across the borders. Copyright © 2022 by the authors.
Original languageEnglish
Article number248
JournalLand
Volume11
Issue number2
Early online date07 Feb 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2022

Citation

Sultan, H., Rashid, W., Shi, J., Rahim, I. U., Nafees, M., Bohnett, E., . . . Ariza-Montes, A. (2022). Horizon scan of transboundary concerns impacting snow leopard landscapes in Asia. Land, 11(2). Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.3390/land11020248

Keywords

  • Collaboration
  • Habitat
  • Innovative solutions
  • Integrated landscape approach
  • Socioecological system
  • Trade corridor
  • Tourism
  • PG student publication

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