‘Vanishing Treasures’ – protecting endangered mountain species
- Geographical scope: Virunga mountains (Uganda, Rwanda), Central Asian mountains (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan), Hindu-Kush Himalayas (Bhutan), New: Andes (Ecuador, Colombia)
- Time frame: 2018-2027.
- Priority area:Nature Action, Climate Change.
- Partners: In Bhutan, we partner with the Bhutan Tiger Center, and the Honorable Dasho Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests of the Royal Government of Bhutan. In Central Asia, we work with the Tajikistan Nature Foundation in Tajikistan and partner with the Ilbirs Foundation in the Kyrgyz Republic, in collaboration with the Snow Leopard Trust and the Global Snow Leopard & Ecosystem Protection Programme Secretariat. In the Virungas, we partner with the Great Apes Survival Partnership, in collaboration with the range state governments, the Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration Secretariat and technical partners, including the International Gorilla Conservation Programme, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, and the Liverpool Moores University. In the Andes we aim to inter alia partner with El Consorcio para el Desarrollo Sostenible de la Ecorregión Andina (CONDESAN) and Society for the Protection of Endangered Carnivores and their International Ecological Study (SPECIES).
- Donors: Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
- Contribution to SDGs: : Goal 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) Goal 13 (Climate Action) and Goal 15 (Life on Land).
Environmental challenge
In the Himalayas, global warming is happening 75% faster than the global average. This is expected to reduce snow leopard habitats globally by two thirds by 2070, and by more than 80% specifically in Bhutan, Myanmar and Nepal.
Royal Bengal tigers found in the Himalayas are threatened by shrinking and fragmented habitats. Local communities are increasingly faced with climate-related impacts, such as dried water ponds. This is likely to lead to an intensification of human-wildlife conflict.
Meanwhile, just over 1,000 mountain gorillas remain in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The gorilla has a small population, highly restricted geographic range and low reproductive rate. It will struggle to change habitat, leading to an increased risk of conflict and spread of disease between the great ape and people. Although jaguars have historically been most threatened by rapid land use conversion and habitat fragmentation coupled with retaliation arising as a consequence of livestock depredation, the latter often an inevitable result of these changes, illegal trafficking in their parts, and the pressure that global climate change is increasingly placing on suitable habitat, are increasingly putting pressure on local populations.
Programme
The UN Environment Programme is working with partners to ensure that climate adaptation and biodiversity conservation work hand-in-hand. The work is coordinated by a project management team located in the Vienna Office for Ecosystems Division and addresses threats to key mountain species across the globe. The overall aim is to better understand the species’ vulnerability to climate change and the ecosystem services being affected.
For example, countries are developing national plans to take ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change into account. Actions being considered include movement corridors for species, the rehabilitation of swamps and water catchment areas and the restoration of fauna. An inquiry has also been launched to better understand the links between climate change and mountain species, and how to address this.
In the long-term, by working with local communities, the programme aims to promote alternative land-use practices that can contribute to climate mitigation and reduce pressure on species living close to the communities.
News
- Run for their lives: Free app challenges users to outrun a pangolin, tiger and elephant in clarion call for conservation
- First-ever monitoring of snow leopard population close to Kyrgyzstan's capital
- UNEP and adidas Runtastic launch free running challenge that enables users to compete with a wild snow leopard
- Luxembourg pledges €9 million to help save mountain species
Publications
- Vanishing Treasures: protecting endangered mountain species project brochure
- Vanishing Treasures: protecting endangered mountain species project leaflet
- Getting climate-smart with the Snow Leopard in Central Asia
- Getting climate-smart with the Mountain Gorilla in the Greater Virunga Landscape
- Getting climate-smart with the Royal Bengal Tiger in Bhutan
- Discover more local stories on how humans and wildlife can co-exist in peace here
Multimedia
- Wild for Life mountain journey
- Teaser video for the project
- Vanishing treasures project impact film
- ENGAGI (trailer) - a Gorilla VR360 experience like no other
Vanishing Treasures – Protecting Endangered Mountain Species
Tackling the twin crisis of biodiversity loss and climate change is one of the most important challenges mankind is facing in the 21st century.
Since 2019, UNEP’s Vanishing Treasures programme, funded by the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, has been working to conserve three iconic and Endangered mountain species threatened by climate change, while supporting local mountain communities who live alongside them – the snow leopard in Central Asia (Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan), the Royal Bengal tiger in the Hindu-Kush Himalayas (Bhutan), and the mountain gorilla in the Greater Virunga Landscape (Uganda, Rwanda).
UNEP is excited to launch this impact film highlighting the key achievements from 2019-2024. To learn more about the project, visit our website at www.vanishingtreasures.org
Any questions?
For more information, please contact matthias.jurek@un.org
To find out about more about the United Nations Environment Programme’s work on mountains, visit the Carpathian Convention website: www.carpathianconvention.org
