Snow leopard activist and herder from Gobi wins prestigious Conservation Award

Surenkhuu Luvsan, a herder and gardener from the Southern Gobi Desert, who has worked with the Snow Leopard Trust in Mongolia for 18 years, was officially announced as the recipient of the David Shepherd Conservation Award and as the Conservation Champion of 2018.

Surenkhuu is a passionate activist and leader for her community’s snow leopard conservation program, and was nominated for the award earlier in the year. She was especially recognized for her efforts in fighting mining companies in court to protect precious snow leopard habitat.

Hailing from the South Gobi Desert, on the edge of the Tost Nature Reserve, the country’s first protected area set aside specifically for snow leopards, she was one of the key community activists in the grassroots campaign to protect Tost.

Fellow nominees for the award included, Eric Enyel (a vet with the Uganda Conservation Foundation), Lesley Karutjaiva (the director of field operations for Save the Rhino Trust), Mamadi Camara (the release site manager of the Chimpanzee Conservation Center in Guinea), and Valeria Nazarova (who founded the Naba eco center working with Amur tigers and leopards in Russia).

Helen Clifford, who sponsored this year’s David Shepherd Conservation Award in memory of her father, collected the award on Surenkhuu’s behalf on November 9, 2018 at the David Sheperd Wildlife Fund’s Winter Wildlife Ball held in London at the Dorchester Hotel.

The Snow Leopard Trust, which nominated Surenkhuu, issued the statement, “She is also a brave woman who has been willing to stand out and speak publicly for her lands and people” and “We can’t wait to share her reaction with you!”

The purpose of the David Shepherd Conservation Award is to commend remarkable contributions to conservation made by unsung conservation champions working at David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF) funded projects.

After being shortlisted by a panel of independent judges, Surenkhuu was supported by thousands of voters and is set to receive a specially designed award trophy plus an iconic David Shepherd print along with 1,000 GBP for her project.

Convinced that “mining activities around the oasis are illegal”, Surenkhuu argued her case in Mongolia’s court system for more than a year. However, a decisive decision remained delayed on which she has remarked her belief that “the mining companies are simply trying to stall and wait for her patience and resources to run out”. The David Shepherd Conservation Hero Award will give Surenkhuu the resources, the motivation and the public attention she needs to keep up her fight for Tost’s oasis!