Guardians of the Headwaters II

The report analyzes six snow leopard landscapes in Bhutan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, and Pakistan, finding that while many habitats are protected, critical gaps in connectivity and significant vulnerabilities to climate change persist. Key risks include treeline shifts reducing alpine grasslands, permafrost melt, and increased flood risks from glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs). The study emphasizes the necessity of transboundary management and adaptive planning to maintain metapopulation connectivity as warming temperatures shift ecological zones and human land-use patterns.

• Snow leopard habitats across the six studied landscapes vary significantly in size, with five ranging from 3,000 km2 to 8,000 km2 (averaging just under 6,000 km2), while the South Gobi landscape is substantially larger at over 68,000 km2.
• Effective conservation requires transboundary collaboration because all six landscapes interface with international boundaries, and two specifically (Bhutan and the Eastern Himalaya) depend on habitats in China to maintain internal connectivity.
• Protected area coverage for snow leopard habitats ranges from 33% to 92%, with a median of approximately 50%, yet every landscape contains critical gaps that threaten habitat connectivity.
• Climate change is projected to cause significant ecosystem shifts, with 60% to 80% of existing snow leopard habitats in the Eastern Himalayas potentially transitioning from alpine grasslands to forest ecosystems.
• All six landscapes are expected to experience warming by mid-century, with temperature increases ranging from +1.7°C to +2.5°C in the Eastern Himalayas and up to 3.5°C in northern and western landscapes.
• Warming temperatures are expected to reduce winter duration by one to three months across all landscapes, disrupting ecological phenology and potentially altering prey availability and community composition.
• Climate change increases the risk of natural disasters in these regions, specifically glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) and landslides, driven by melting glaciers, ice, and permafrost coupled with heavier rains.
• Human-wildlife conflict and habitat fragmentation are primary threats, with the Eastern Himalayas exhibiting the highest number of connectivity pinch points (5 to 9) caused by roads, population centers, and land use.
• While most landscapes do not provide significant water tower functions via direct precipitation runoff, the Central Tien Shan is an exception; however, most landscapes (except South Gobi) provide critical snowmelt services to surrounding basins during dry periods.
• In the South Gobi, nomadic lifestyles currently support habitat connectivity due to low human population density, but the region faces risks from livestock overgrazing and potential future permanent settlements.

APA

Forrest, J., Sindorf, N., & Bartlett, R. (2017). Guardians of the Headwaters II. WWF International. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/665/ej62dbow0_Guardians_Mapbook_Volume_2___FINAL_Technical.pdf

Chicago

Forrest, Jessica, Nikolai Sindorf, and Ryan Bartlett. Guardians of the Headwaters II. WWF International, 2017. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/665/ej62dbow0_Guardians_Mapbook_Volume_2___FINAL_Technical.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Forrest |first1=Jessica |last2=Sindorf |first2=Nikolai |last3=Bartlett |first3=Ryan |title=Guardians of the Headwaters II |publisher=WWF International |date=2017 |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/665/ej62dbow0_Guardians_Mapbook_Volume_2___FINAL_Technical.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{forrest2017guardians, author = {Forrest, Jessica and Sindorf, Nikolai and Bartlett, Ryan}, title = {{Guardians of the Headwaters II}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2017}, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/665/ej62dbow0_Guardians_Mapbook_Volume_2___FINAL_Technical.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }