Kyrgyz president Sadyr Zhaparov signed decree on December 30, asking his Cabinet to safeguard the species and promote it
A snow leopard. Photo: iStock The snow leopard, the mysterious and enigmatic symbol of High Asia with its host of mountain ranges stretching from the Altai to the Himalayas, is now the national symbol of Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet Republic in Central Asia.
Sadyr Zhaparov, the president of Kyrgyzstan (which won its independence after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991), signed a decree on December 30, 2023 to this effect.
The decree stated:
The snow leopard is not only a symbol of natural wealth and cultural prosperity, but also an indicator of the stability and health of the mountain ecosystem, which occupies 1/3 of the global territory. The loss of snow leopards in the wild will lead to the risk of disturbing the fragile ecological balance, which will have a detrimental impact on various animal species and on humans.
“The President has directed the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic to acknowledge the snow leopard as a national symbol, safeguard its population and ecosystem, devise a logo and options for symbol usage at various levels, and define its ideological content,” the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Programme (GSLEP), an alliance of 12 snow leopard range countries, multi-lateral institutions, NGOs, scientists and local communities, working to save the species, said in a note on its website.
Ministries and agencies of the Kyrgyz Republic will henceforth collaborate to promote the snow leopard, organise protective measures, attract green investments, and utilise the symbol in promoting responsible tourism, the note added.
It observed that the snow leopard was an important symbol of Kyrgyz culture. It features in the story of Manas, the Kyrgyz folk hero, as related in the Epic of Manas.
“In the ancient Kyrgyz culture, the snow leopard was revered as a symbol of greatness, nobility, courage, bravery, and resilience. Legend has it that the leopard was the totem animal of the great Manas. The harmony between man and nature, embodied by the snow leopard, was vividly portrayed in the recent novel “When Mountains Fall” by the globally acclaimed Kyrgyz writer, Chyngyz Aitmatov,” the GSLEP said.
On World Snow Leopard Day 2023, Down To Earth had highlighted the critical need to make the snow leopard the mascot of climate adaptation in the ‘Third Pole’.
Inner Asia comprises of mountain ranges such as the Altai, Tian Shan, Nan Shan, Kunlun Shan, Pamir, Karakorum, Hindu Kush, and of course, the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas.
This region is home to most of the snow and ice on Earth outside the poles. From this region, at least 15 rivers fan out in every direction across the Asian continent.
This ‘Water Tower of Asia’ provides essential ecosystem services — it provides clean water for a third of the world’s population. It is estimated to be warming at nearly two times the average rate of warming in the Northern Hemisphere.
“The polar bear symbolises the alarming decline of ice cover at Earth’s poles, and these images must persistently urge action to combat climate change. However, the Third Pole is a vital source of sustenance for one of the world’s most densely populated regions, and we require a mascot to champion climate adaptation in this crucial area,” Koustubh Sharma, Director-Science and Conservation at the Snow Leopard Trust, a Seattle-based organisation, had told DTE then.
Snow leopard conservation received a boost a decade ago with the Bishkek Declaration on Snow Leopard Protection being unanimously adopted at the World Snow Leopard Conservation Forum in 2013.
The GSLEP was subsequently initiated with the support of representatives from 12 snow leopard range countries (which includes India) and the international environmental community, the note on its website read.
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