RAS question
The Snow Leopard conservation project SECURE Himalaya is funded by:
Correct answer: (C) UNDP-GEF.
The SECURE Himalaya snow leopard conservation project is funded through the UNDP-GEF framework, with the Global Environment Facility listing the GEF Trust Fund as the funding source and UNDP as the implementing agency.
Explanation
SECURE Himalaya stands for Securing livelihoods, Conservation, sustainable Use, Restoration, Ecology. The question asks who funds the snow leopard conservation project, and the official GEF project page identifies the project as “Securing Livelihoods, Conservation, Sustainable Use and Restoration of High Range Himalayan Ecosystems (SECURE)Himalayas”. The project is for India, lists the United Nations Development Programme as the implementing agency, and gives the funding source as the GEF Trust Fund. That matches the standard exam shorthand UNDP-GEF. The project’s stated objective is to secure conservation of globally significant wildlife, including the endangered snow leopard and its habitat, while supporting sustainable livelihoods. The project is also placed in Himachal, Uttarakhand, J&K, and Sikkim.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Asian Development Bank is not supported by the Global Environment Facility project page, which lists the funding source as the GEF Trust Fund and UNDP as the implementing agency.
- (B) World Bank is not the funding answer for this project; the official project entry points to the GEF Trust Fund, not a World Bank-funded conservation project.
- (D) IMF does not fit the conservation-finance trail here, because the official entry links SECURE Himalaya to GEF funding and UNDP implementation, not IMF support.
Concept
This tests international environmental funding and institutional roles in Himalayan biodiversity conservation. RAS often asks such projects because names like UNDP, GEF, World Bank, ADB, and IMF are easy to confuse in environment questions.