Clouded Leopard Conservation Action Plan (CAP)

About Clouded Leopard Conservation Action Plan (CAP)

• India has launched Clouded Leopard Conservation Action Plan (CAP) on the occasion of International Clouded Leopard Day,
• Objective: It has been launched outlining measures to protect habitats, improve scientific monitoring and strengthen community participation for the conservation of the elusive wild cat across Northeast India.
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is nodal ministry for this action plan.
• Preparation: It is prepared under the India–GEF–UNDP initiative.
• Features:
  • Priority Conservation Landscapes: The plan identifies 14 priority conservation landscapes across the Northeast and proposes landscape-level habitat restoration and corridor conservation to improve connectivity between forest patches.
  • It also places the clouded leopard under the Species Recovery Programme of the Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats (IDWH) scheme, providing an institutional framework for long-term conservation.
  • Scientific Monitoring: The action plan proposes standardised monitoring through camera traps, occupancy surveys, genetic analysis and environmental DNA (eDNA) studies to strengthen scientific assessment of the species.
  • Anti-Poaching and Capacity Building: It also calls for stronger anti-poaching measures and wildlife crime prevention, alongside capacity building of frontline forest staff through training and the use of the M-STrIPES smart application for field monitoring.
  • Community Participation: The action plan promotes community-led conservation and sustainable livelihood initiatives.
    • It also advocates greater cooperation with neighbouring range countries to facilitate coordinated conservation efforts across the species’ transboundary habitats.
  • Transboundary Cooperation: The strategy incorporates climate resilience and adaptive management into conservation planning to address the long-term impacts of climate change on clouded leopard habitats.

About Clouded Leopard The clouded leopard is a medium-sized wild cat. Species classification: Two distinct species are recognized: The Mainland Clouded Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), found throughout Southeast Asia, and The Sunda Clouded Leopard (Neofelis diardi), which is native to the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. Habitat: The preferred habitat of the species is dense evergreen forest, however they are also inhibit other habitats, like, scrub, grassland, dry tropical forests, mangrove swamps, hill evergreen forest and mixed deciduous forests. Distribution: Southeast Asia is their main habitat. They are commonly found tropical rain forests of Nepal, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, China. It is the state animal of Meghalaya. Appearance: They got their name from the clouds like pattern on their whole body. They have a darker coat color which has smaller and darker cloud markings on them. The fur color includes yellow to brown, which makes them darker. They can hang upside down from branches of trees by making use of their short limbs, broader paws, and sharp nails. They have the longest tail among the cats. Diet: They are predatory carnivores with a diverse prey base. Threat: It faces several threats such as wildfires, habitat fragmentation, deforestation, illegal poaching, and climate change.  Conservation status: IUCN Status: Vulnerable CITES: Appendix I Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: Schedule I