Snow Leopard Conservancy

CONSERVATION/LIVELIHOODS: The Snow Leopard Conservancy works with local partners to provide technical assistance, grants, and incentives for community-based activities which are environmentally sound and socially responsible, linked to specific stewardship and biodiversity conservation commitments, and designed to maximize community "ownership", long-term self-reliance, and ecosystem health. In addition, we facilitate the Land of the Snow Leopard (LOSL) Network, a group of Indigenous Cultural Practitioners (ICPs) - i.e. shamans, healers, sacred site guardians and revered elders - primarily in Central Asia, where snow leopards are considered sacred totem animals. We work to mainstream Traditional Ecological Knowledge into planning for snow leopard conservation, and to create pathways for ICPs to materially contribute to decision-making and conservation planning.

APPLIED RESEARCH: The Snow Leopard Conservancy conducts applied research and works in close partnership with scientists from national and international universities, scientific institutions, and NGOs. We support non-invasive baseline surveys of snow leopards, their prey and habitat, seeking to blend hard scientific information with local "traditional" knowledge by involving local people and communities in monitoring of wildlife and its habitats.

EDUCATION & OUTREACH: The Snow Leopard Conservancy's range-country activities center around teaching tools appropriate for remote rural areas. We work through a network of local teachers, teacher-trainers and nonprofit organizations, to develop and conduct classroom and after-school activities focused on bio-diversity, ecology, and conservation of the mountain ecosystem. Through our website we offer conservation education materials and information to children and teachers everywhere. In addition, we work with our LOSL Network partners to integrate the snow leopard into conservation education curricula throughout Central Asia.