Dr. Charu Mishra shares how saving the snow leopard has united rival nations in the Himalayas—showing that protecting nature also protects people.

One of the most amazing animals on the planet is the snow leopard. The smallest of the big cats is indigenous to the twelve countries sharing the High Himalayas including China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nepal. Those countries disagree on most things: borders, values, economics, religion—but amazingly agree that the survival of the snow leopard is in their national and collective interests.

The High Himalayas are a microcosm of the problems confronting the planet. Because it is cold, high, and glaciated, even small increases in temperature cascade into large ecological and societal impacts. Border conflicts are always bubbling—and often boiling over—while internal conflicts are rife in much of the region. And economic development, in many parts of the Himalayas is aspirational at best.

How can such a complicated group of countries, peoples, and leaders ignore their differences when it comes to protecting the snow leopard? Even more, how to agree that protecting the snow leopard should be done in ways that are in concert with, not at the expense of, the needs of the people who live in the High Himalayas?

Dr. Charu Mishra is Executive Director of the Snow Leopard Trust and one of the prime movers in an ongoing, but increasingly successful conservation campaign that defies geopolitical gravity. Listen as he describes how he and his colleagues have persuaded countries that are sometimes literally at war with each other to act together for a common purpose.

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ABOUT OUR GUESTS

Charu Mishra works to protect nature, focusing on snow leopards and Asia’s high mountain ecosystems. He partners with Indigenous peoples and local communities, and is involved in community-centric nature conservation, research, administration, policy, and international cooperation.

Charu serves as Executive Director of the International Snow Leopard Trust, which is headquartered in Seattle, USA, and as Secretary General of the worldwide Ethical Conservation Alliance. He lives in India, where he co-founded the Nature Conservation Foundation.