New project launched to protect snow leopards
The World Wide Fund For Nature, formerly known as World Wildlife Fund, is planning to launch a five-year project to protect snow leopards in Mongolia.
Mongolia is home to the second largest population of snow leopards in the world, second only to China. The project is viewed a “critical” for conserving the population of snow leopards, estimated at 500 to 1,000 in Mongolia, as there is no comprehensive, coherent and coordinated policy to protect them in the country.
The Land of Snow Leopard project hopes to tackle threats facing snow leopards and their habitat through rural development, education for sustainable development, and control of illegal wildlife trade and mining in Govi-Altai Province’s Darviin mountain ranges and Khasagt Khairkhan, Uvs Province’s Turgen and Tsagaan Shuvuut mountains, and BayanUlgii Province’s Sair Khairkhan and Khatuugiin mountain range. The vision for this project is the long-term survival and conservation of the globally endangered snow leopards.
The success of the project will be measured in terms of conservation measures and initiatives linking conservation with livelihood introduced at the project site.
Indicators include:
» The number of community members actively engaged in the conservation work and volunteer ranger activities.
» The locally adapted school curriculum and educational activities developed around the important issues of saving snow leopards and the ESD concept.
» Production of training programs and teacher aid materials and the extent to which issues such as pasture management and business development skills are integrated into the school curriculum and adult education programs.
» The numbers of herder groups linked to markets.
» The frequency and quality of capacity improvement training and training programs on simple accounting, book keeping and profit projection, marketing and fundraising skills.
The snow leopard is legally protected in Mongolia, but the population is believed to be in decline because of poaching for fur and bones to be sold on the black market; loss of prey species as a result of illegal hunting of ibex, argali and marmots, and habitat competition with livestock; loss of habitat as a consequence of degradation (over-grazing) and fragmentation of habitat; retaliation killing for livestock raids; and lack of awareness and support of local people for the conservation of the snow leopard, its prey and habitat.