THE SNOW LEOPARD GUARDIAN

Since 2000, Snow Leopard ConservancyIndia Trust has protected the endangered big cat in Ladakh while also taking the local community under its wing. Its director, Tsewang Namgail, has been spearheading its groundbreaking work for the past eight years.

It’s true: no one knows a place better than the locals. The Snow Leopard Conservancy-India Trust or SLC-IT (snowleopardindia.org) understands this all too well.

Co-founded in 2000 by the late Rinchen Wangchuk, a Ladakhi mountaineer and naturalist, SLC-IT is a not-forprofit organisation that embodies a grassroots approach, implementing nature conservation programmes and transforming locals into informed guardians of the enigmatic snow leopard. At the forefront of its efforts is Tsewang Namgail, the organisation’s director since 2013.

“We believe that conservation goals cannot be achieved without involving local communities in decision-making, planning, and implementation of programmes,” explains Namgail. The team focusses on building local stewardship through community-based tourism, education, and research, while also helping in the conservation of the snow leopard.

But each step taken towards promoting ecotourism encounters hurdles. A rugged terrain such as Ladakh is known for its high altitude, low temperatures, aridity, and resource limitations. While the SLCIT team has developed snow-leopard tourism in the region to extend the tourist season beyond the summer months, making ecological sensitivity mainstream remains a challenge. “The fault lies with our education system. Textbooks fail to apprise students of India’s ecological diversity, and how citizens need to behave differently in different ecosystems,” says Namgail, who holds a doctorate in community ecology. To combat this, SLC-IT has contextualised educational materials and conducted trainings for the youth. Thanks to these, many young locals have now donned the roles of snow-leopard spotters.

While its base is in Ladakh, SLC-IT has extended its green initiatives to other regions. “We have collaborated with Ecosphere in Spiti (spitiecosphere. com) and Ecotourism and Conservation Society of Sikkim (scstsenvis.nic.in), while also expanding the Himalayan Homestay Program,” explains Namgail.

The organisation also conducts collaborative research on snow leopards outside Ladakh. “SLC-IT and Panthera conducted the first-ever camera-trap survey in Myanmar in 2017 to determine the presence of snow leopards in that country,” he elucidates.

Namgail sees ecotourism as the way forward for sustainable growth. But he’s all too aware of greenwashing trends. “Many travel companies lure customers into buying products that look benign but are inimical to the environment. Responsible tourists should carefully examine goods and services,” he cautions.

“Conservation goals cannot be achieved without involving local communities in decision-making, planning, and implementation of programmes.”