The International Snow Leopard Trust

THE CONSERVATION OF THE SNOW LEOPARD AND ITS MOUNTAIN HABITAT.

SNOW LEOPARD RESEARCH, MONITORING & CONSERVATION CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT: OUR FIELD TEAMS CONDUCTED 16 SURVEYS INSTALLING 360 CAMERA TRAPS IN THE YEAR 2023. THESE SURVEYS REPRESENTED NEARLY 20,000 SQ KM OF POTENTIAL SNOW LEOPARD HABITAT AND INCLUDED NEW SITES AS WELL AS SITES UNDER LONG-TERM MONITORING PROGRAMS ACROSS INDIA, KYRGYZSTAN AND MONGOLIA.FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE HISTORY OF SNOW LEOPARD CONSERVATION, A TEAM COMPRISED OF ALL WOMEN FROM AN INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY IN INDIA CONDUCTED A CAMERA TRAPPING SURVEY FOR SNOW LEOPARDS AFTER BEING TRAINED. IN OUR LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL STUDY IN MONGOLIA, THREE SNOW LEOPARDS WERE FITTED WITH A GPS COLLAR, AND OUR CAMERAS CAPTURED 25 INDIVIDUAL ADULT SNOW LEOPARDS. OUR TEAM PUBLISHED 32 PEER REVIEWED PAPERS IN INTERNATIONAL JOURNALS IN 2023. IN 2023, 20 RANGERS WERE AWARDED IN THE KYRGYZ REPUBLIC AS PART OF THE RANGERS AWARD PROGRAM. FOR THE YEAR 2024, AN AWARDS PROGRAM ALONG WITH TRAINING AND CAPACITY BUILDING INITIATIVES FOR RANGERS IS BEING INITIATED IN PAKISTAN AND MONGOLIA.

EDUCATION & OUTREACH:WE WERE ABLE TO WORK WITH MORE THAN 950 CHILDREN IN SNOW LEOPARD HABITATS THROUGH OUR EDUCATION AND AWARENESS PROGRAM, INCLUDING PARTICIPATION IN MULTI-DAY ECO-CAMPS. 28 SCHOOL NATURE CLUBS THAT WE HELPED ESTABLISH WERE ACTIVE THROUGH 2023, AND 27 SCHOOLTEACHERS RECEIVED TRAINING IN BIODIVERSITY AND NATURE CONSERVATION. A TOTAL OF 1,300 PEOPLE RECEIVED OUR CONSERVATION NEWSLETTERS IN INDIA AND MONGOLIA, PRODUCED BY AND FOR LOCAL PEOPLE. INTERNATIONAL SNOW LEOPARD DAY WAS CELEBRATED IN MULTIPLE COUNTRIES ON 23RD OCTOBER. OUR ANNUAL STRIDES FOR SNOW LEOPARDS AWARENESS EVENT ATTRACTED AN UNPRECEDENTED 1,100 PARTICIPANTS FROM 60 COUNTRIES.

SNOW LEOPARD CONSERVATION, POLICY & COOPERATION: OUR TEAMS WORKED WITH 151 COMMUNITIES TO IMPLEMENT CONSERVATION PROGRAMS THAT SUPPORT RURAL LIVELIHOODS AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT INITIATIVES. THEY ALSO SECURED THE SUPPORT OF THE LOCAL AND INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO PROTECT SNOW LEOPARDS, THEIR HABITATS AND PREY SPECIES. A TOTAL OF 20,432 FAMILIES LIVING IN SNOW LEOPARD HABITATS BENEFITED FROM OUR LIVELIHOOD INITIATIVES INCLUDING BEEKEEPING, SUSTAINABLE CASHMERE PRODUCTION, SUSTAINABLE TOURISM, DAIRY PROCESSING AND MARKETING, FRUIT ORCHARD PLANTING, AND PRODUCTION AND SALE OF CONSERVATION-LINKED HANDICRAFTS. OUR CONFLICT MANAGEMENT EFFORTS ALSO INVOLVED HELPING RUN COMMUNITY-MANAGED LIVESTOCK INSURANCE PROGRAMS, LIVESTOCK VACCINATION, AND COLLABORATIVE PREDATOR-PROOFING OF LIVESTOCK CORRALS.OUR INTERGOVERNMENTAL COOPERATION EFFORT FOR SNOW LEOPARD CONSERVATION, CALLED THE GLOBAL SNOW LEOPARD AND ECOSYSTEM PROTECTION PROGRAM, CONTINUED TO FLOURISH. WE WERE ABLE TO MAINTAIN THE INVOLVEMENT OF THE SNOW LEOPARD RANGE-COUNTRY GOVERNMENTS AT A HIGH LEVEL. AT THE UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE MEETING IN DUBAI, WE USED THE GSLEP PLATFORM TO RAISE AWARENESS AND SENSITIVITY TOWARDS THE NEED FOR ETHICAL SNOW LEOPARD CONSERVATION AND CLIMATE ADAPTATION EFFORTS.

PROMOTING ETHICAL NATURE CONSERVATION (BY ENABLING PRACTITIONERS TO ENGAGE EFFECTIVELY WITH LOCAL AND INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES):WE LAUNCHED A NEW INITIATIVE CALLED THE ETHICAL CONSERVATION ALLIANCE WHICH BRINGS TOGETHER CONSERVATION AND INDIGENOUS LEADERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD TO HELP IMPROVE THE PRACTICE OF GLOBAL NATURE CONSERVATION. THIS EFFORT AIMS TO BUILD SYNERGY, DEVELOP TOOLKITS AND TRAINING, AND SHARE ETHICAL BEST PRACTICES IN NATURE CONSERVATION. IT IS LEADING TO IMPROVEMENTS IN SNOW LEOPARD CONSERVATION AND ALLOWING US TO SHARE LESSONS IN SNOW LEOPARD CONSERVATION WITH PRACTITIONERS WORKING IN OTHER ECOSYSTEMS. IN 2023, THE ALLIANCE COMPRISED OF CONSERVATION LEADERS FROM 31 COUNTRIES. AT OUR TRAINING WORKSHOPS HELD IN COLLABORATION WITH THE ALLIANCE, A TOTAL OF 131 PARTICIPANTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD, INCLUDING 85 WOMEN PRACTITIONERS, RECEIVED TRAINING IN ETHICAL NATURE CONSERVATION OR ETHICAL COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PRACTICES.