Photo: Tashi R. Ghale
You, our valued donor-partners, are saving wild snow leopards through your gifts to the Snow Leopard Conservancy. Thank you! Our cost-effective use of your donor dollars, combined with our hands-on, community-based approach, has resulted in the solid conservation gains outlined in our 2022 Impact Report.
Below are some recent examples of how your partnership enables the Conservancy to continue leading the way in community-based conservation action to save snow leopards.
Best Wishes,
Ashleigh Lutz Nelson
Executive Director
Rodney Jackson, PhD
Founder & President
Our partners have been working with communities in Mongolia, Nepal, India, and Bhutan as well as Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and China to employ Foxlights® in the deterrence of snow leopards from livestock depredation.
These solar-powered units are placed at nighttime corrals where the random light patterns simulate human activity that discourages carnivores from approaching.
You can read more about a Foxlight project conducted with local herding communities in Mongolia from 2017 to 2022 and their future plans to improve daytime livestock protection in this News Post.
Our partners, working in Tajikistan, Pakistan, Mongolia, and Nepal, have been instrumental in establishing annual Snow Leopard Day festivals in collaboration with governmental, commercial, and international organizations.
These eco-cultural gatherings provide schoolchildren, their parents, and other members of the community with unique educational opportunities to learn about the importance of snow leopards and biodiversity of the ecosystem as well as traditional knowledge and how its application relates to the preservation of the environment.
You can read more about ongoing snow leopard conservation initiatives in Tajikistan in this News Post.
Elders and Youth for Conservation of the Snow Leopard is a Land of Snow Leopard (LOSL) Network educational program centered around indigenous understanding of the sacredness and cultural and environmental significance of the snow leopard across central Asia. The program, located in Kyrgyzstan, is the vision of Zhaparkul Raimbekov, a founding member of LOSL, spiritual guide, and Giver of Blessings.
The aim of this project is the strengthening of mutual understanding by the local population of the spiritual practices for the preservation of sacred animals such as the snow leopard and sacred places and the involvement of youth.
You can read more about the Elders & Youth for Conservation of the Snow Leopard in this News Post .
A popular educational initiative of the Land of Snow Leopard Network is the Nomadic Nature Trunk program. These “classrooms-in-a-box” include unique interactive games that convey traditional stories and lessons about the sacredness of the snow leopard and its relationship with the biodiversity of the ecosystem.
The program initially served rural areas but has now expanded to encompass the urban center of Ulaanbaatar where one-half of Mongolia’s population resides. With this recent expansion into an urban area, we are hoping to be able to reach a greater number of children and their respective families, which in turn should have a larger impact on snow leopard conservation through both individual and community action.
