BHADERWAH: The eagerly anticipated four days National Workshop on ‘Techniques for Wildlife Monitoring in Snow Leopard Landscapes' commenced today at Bhaderwah Campus, bringing together wildlife enthusiasts, conservationists, researchers, and managers from different parts of the nation.

This workshop being organized by Institute of Mountain Environment in collaboration with Department of Wildlife Protection, Govt. of Jammu and Kashmir, is poised to be a focal event for the advancement of wildlife conservation in snow leopard habitats in the region.

It represents a critical milestone in the ongoing effort to bolster conservation initiatives and wildlife monitoring strategies, particularly focusing on the elusive and vulnerable snow leopard and its prey base, said Dr. M.K. Kumar Regional Warden, Jammu and Chief Guest of the occasion.

He urged the researchers and students to be the brand ambassadors of conservation as the conservation of one species contributes to the protection of many.

ADC Bhaderwah, Dil Mir Choudhary lauded the efforts of Institute of Mountain Environment in highlighting the issues of conservation concern of the region. Concerned about the escalating number of human-wildlife conflicts in the area, he expressed his optimism that this workshop will provide the ideal forum for deliberation and the pursuit of resolutions.

Dr. Neeraj Sharma, Organizing Secretary of the workshop introduced the theme and objectives of the workshop. Later he made a detailed presentation on the Snow leopard population assessment across J&K. In addition to summarizing the key findings regarding the snow leopard and its prey base in JK, he detailed the approach adopted for field monitoring, data collection, and analysis.

Dr. Pankaj Chandan, Director ND Fopined that conservation gold needs to be community oriented as the snow leopard landscape include diverse peoples and cultures that share and shape its habitat. The involvement of local communities is paramount to harness the conservation goals to meet the set targets.

‘An Illustrated field guide to the mammals of snow leopard habitats' in Jammu and Kashmir, jointly published by IME, Bhaderwah Campus, Department of Wildlife Protection, J&K, and Nature Conservation Foundation, was released to provide useful information about the snow leopard and its allied species. This was followed by the release of a book on ‘Black Neck Crane, general biology, habitat, migration, and conservation another important species battling for its survival in snow leopard. The book is authored by Dr. Pankaj Chandan and Dr. Asad Rehmani.

Dr. Munib Khanyari, Pragramme Officer, High Altitudes, Nature Conservation Foundation Mysore, and key resource person of the workshop shared his experiences about the ongoing sampling, challenges being faced and the suggested the way forward to achieve promising results.

Dr. Vinita Sharma, Assistant Professor from Department of Zoology, Central university of Jammu and Resource person of the workshop shared relevance of wildlife forensic science in tackling the growing threat of wildlife poaching.

Majid Bashir, Wildlife Warden, Chenab Circle, Kishtwar, expressed his delight at the encouraging results of the current snow leopard surveys conducted by all partners. He ensured all partner teams involved in snow leopard assessment in Jammu and Kashmir his full support and assistance.

Other resource persons included Dr. Vipin Sharma from Central University of Jammu, Dr. Sidharth Srinivasan and Dr. Deepti Bajaj from Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore, Dr. Tahir Gaznaffar and Dr. Mehreen Khaleel from Wildlife Resaerch and Conservation Foundation and Dr. Shakha Sharma from Cluster University of Jammu.

The workshop is being attended by 35 participants including protected area managers (DFOs), range officers, foresters, researchers, scholars, students and field researchers engaged in primary field surveys in the snow leopard landscapes of Himalayas.

The vote of thanks was presented by Dr. Shayan Javeed, Assistant Professor, faculty of Economics, Institute of Mountain Environment, Bhaderwah Campus.