Environment Special: Secure Himalaya Project

This is a 6 year project launched by the Union Environment Ministry in collaboration with United Nations Development Program (UNDP), which will cover 4 states, viz., Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Sikkim.

• Objective is to protect Snow leopards by saving their habitats and to improve the ecology of life of the Himalayan ranges and hill communities (which are victims of climate change). Also this project aims to prevent snow leopard smuggling and hunting.

The SECURE – securing livelihoods, conservation, sustainable use and restoration of high range Himalayan ecosystems –includes

1. Changthang (Jammu and Kasmir),
2. Lahaul – Pangi and Kinnaur (Himachal Pradesh),
3. Gangotri – Govind and Darma – Byans Valley in Pithoragarh (Uttarakhand) and
4. Kanchenjunga – Upper Teesta Valley (Sikkim).