ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Climate Change Mushahidullah Khan has been elected chairman of the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection (GSLEP) programme after representatives of 12 countries voted in his favour.

The representatives hailed from countries where the large white cats are found.

Kyrgyzstan was elected co-chairman of the programme.

The voting was held during the concluding session of the two-day first international steering committee meeting of the GSLEP programme at Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan on Friday. Ministers, bureaucrats, and conservation organisations from Nepal, Bhutan, India, China, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Russian Federation, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia attended the meeting, said a press release issued here on Sunday.

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Mr Khan thanked the delegates for entrusting him with the chairmanship of the steering committee and vowed to commit his time to come up to their expectations.

He said Pakistan was committed to the global efforts for protection and conservation of endangered snow leopard. There are only approximately 3,000 snow leopards left in the world and found only in the 12 countries.

Published in Dawn March 23rd , 2015

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