Protecting Snow Leopards

Despite a surge in poaching across the world as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, members from a village who work with our ground-based conservation partner Snow Leopard Trust (SLT) in Mongolia, actively protected wildlife on their own lands. They foiled a poaching attempt, apprehended thee suspects, and handed them over to law enforcement. Local communities also implemented conservation programs even when SLT couldn’t visit them for months.

Local people living in snow leopard habitats can be the strongest allies for snow leopard conservation. Their critical role in species conservation has been underlined during the current pandemic. Household members, rangers, citizen scientists and field staff from communities living contiguous to wildlife remained on the frontline of snow leopard conservation this past year and through the lockdowns.

The resilience of these partnerships with communities, founded on years of trust and relationship-building, proved critical at this time of crisis.

In 2021 DSWF are providing funding for a SLT managed conservation education programme for children in Kyrgyzstan who share habitat with snow leopards. Childhood experiences are instrumental in creating appreciation and positive values for nature, and environmental ethics. Conservation education is one way to help build this interest in children, and, through them, build a constituency of citizens concerned about nature and wildlife. Children are the future environmental custodians and have the capacity to influence present pro-environmental behaviours within their households.

DSWF funding is also being used for a multi-pronged approach to snow leopard conservation in Mongolia that reduces threats to the snow leopard and its prey species. Programmes include community-based income-generating schemes designed to support both wildlife and local communities who share a common habitat, education to raise conservation awareness and rigorous research towards gaining a better understanding of snow leopard ecology.

To learn more about our work with Snow Leopards please visit our website.

Thank you for your support in helping us turn the tide on extinction.