Chinese initiatives in Central Asia: claim for regional leadership?

Soboleva, Elena; Krivokhizh, Svetlana

doi:10.1080/15387216.2021.1929369

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Moreover, emissions from the transport vehicles of tourists are responsible for degrading the air quality [146]. Thus, mass tourism is associated with considerable cost in the form of ecosystem damages and threatens local biodiversity, ultimately degrading the ecosystem [147,148] Transnational environmental problems lack regional cooperation, specifically in Central and South Asia's snow leopard landscape [149], with similar challenges arising for SES for other transboundary countries across the snow leopard global habitat. Regional cooperation is further limited in the snow leopard landscape due to territorial disputes and other historical conflicts [150].…”

Section: Unsustainable Tourism In the Snow Leopard Landscapementioning

confidence: 99%

Horizon Scan of Transboundary Concerns Impacting Snow Leopard Landscapes in Asia

Sultan

Rashid

Shi

et al. 2022

Land

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The high-altitude region of Asia is prone to natural resource degradation caused by a variety of natural and anthropogenic factors that also threaten the habitat of critical top predator species, the snow leopard (Panthera uncia). The snow leopard’s landscape encompasses parts of the twelve Asian countries and is dominated by pastoral societies within arid mountainous terrain. However, no investigation has assessed the vulnerability and pathways towards long-term sustainability on the global snow leopard landscape scale. Thus, the current study reviewed 123 peer-reviewed scientific publications on the existing knowledge, identified gaps, and proposed sustainable mitigation options for the longer term and on larger landscape levels in the range countries. The natural resource degradation in this region is caused by various social, economic, and ecological threats that negatively affect its biodiversity. The factors that make the snow leopard landscapes vulnerable include habitat fragmentation through border fencing, trade corridor infrastructure, non-uniform conservation policies, human–snow leopard conflict, the increasing human population, climatic change, land use and cover changes, and unsustainable tourism. Thus, conservation of the integrated Socio-Ecological System (SES) prevailing in this region requires a multi-pronged approach. This paper proposes solutions and identifies the pathways through which to implement these solutions. The prerequisite to implementing such solutions is the adoption of cross-border collaboration (regional cooperation), the creation of peace parks, readiness to integrate transnational and cross-sectoral conservation policies, a focus on improving livestock management practices, a preparedness to control human population growth, a readiness to mitigate climate change, initiating transboundary landscape-level habitat conservation, adopting environment-friendly trade corridors, and promoting sustainable tourism. Sustainable development in this region encompasses the political, social, economic, and ecological landscapes across the borders.

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