INTERNATIONAL SNOW LEOPARD TRUST

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.

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.