Secure Himalaya project meet discusses future challenges

Our Correspondent

Kullu, October 28

The annual meeting of the Landscape Level Project Management Committee of Secure Himalaya Project was held at Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district. Pankaj Rai, Deputy Commissioner, Lahaul and Spiti, presided over the meeting in which all department heads of the district participated.

The DC said 34 villages of Lahaul and Spiti, Pangi and Kinnaur region were included under the project, which was launched in 2017 and would continue till 2024. The aim of the project was to conserve biodiversity, diversify livelihoods, as well as reduce the contradictions and conflicts between wildlife and community.

He said plans for the next year would be prepared and people at the grassroots level would be made aware of this project. Rai called upon the stakeholders of the project to prepare a plan keeping in mind the challenges ahead. A detailed discussion was held on the previous year activities and the plans for the next year. A documentary based on wildlife and birds of the project area, prepared by Forest Guard Shiv Kumar, was also shown.

Lahaul DFO Dinesh Sharma said the Secure Himalaya project was being run by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Department of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, for the conservation of natural habitat of Himalayan snow leopard and conservation, sustainable use and restoration of higher range Himalayan ecosystems. The main objective of the project was to ensure conservation of locally and globally significant biodiversity, land and forest resources in the upper Himalayan region, while enhancing the lives and livelihoods of local communities.

State project director Amit Mehta and UNDP volunteer Abhishek made presentations on conservation and community livelihood issues of the project. Efforts were being made to ensure a role of the community in the project and to strengthen the available livelihood resources and explore possibilities of new livelihoods. Also, emphasis would be on managing GI tagging for traditional products, providing marketing facilities and linking tourism with livelihoods, Mehta added.