Module 15: Grant and report writing

The SLN training initiative is offering a final 2021 module entitle “Grant and Report Writing”. This December module was specifically requested by SLN members and we are delighted to welcome The Pallas’s cat International Conservation Alliance (PICA) to lead the session.

Please note that this module will be a one off intensive session taking place in December- so if interested do not miss it!

Appy here

About the course

Securing funding for conservation and research projects is never an easy process. It is highly competitive, bound by strict deadlines and often needs to follow specific requirements set by the funders. It can also be made more difficult when the focal species is lesser known, has a low threat status or when there is little reference data for the species as is often the case with Pallas’s cat (Manul). Even when projects are able to overcome the challenging application process and are successful in securing funding the work does not stop as the applicants must provide detailed reports, manage the project budget and deliver the projects objectives in line with specific timelines. When all of the above are carried out to a high standard it can lead to effective delivery of the project whilst evidencing a scientific and professional approach back to the funder, which could lead to continuation of funding and support.

The Pallas’s cat International Conservation Alliance (PICA) has experience of securing funding, report writing, managing budgets and long term delivery of grants for Pallas’s cat conservation and research. In addition to this PICA has also developed a small grant programme that provides funding and support to targeted conservation projects across the species range. Individually the PICA projects partners (Norden’s Ark, Snow Leopard Trust and RZSS) also possess a wide range of skills and experiences in the field of grant writing and reporting from decades of conservation project management across the globe.

This workshop has been developed as a tool to support conservation practitioners, researchers or students that are looking to develop their skills in grant writing and reporting. The workshop will provide tips, techniques, experiences and an open platform for targeted discussions

Meet the Resource Team

David Barclay

is the Ex-situ Conservation Manager for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. He specializes in felid population management, animal management and conservation.

Emma Nygren

is Head of Conservation Programs at Nordens Ark Sweden and is managing conservation programs both nationally and internationally. She is also the project manager for the Pallas’s Cat International Conservation Alliance (PICA).

Dr. Gustaf samelius

is Assistant Director of Science for the Snow Leopard Trust and is working with applied ecology and conservation of mountain ecosystems.

Dr Helen Senn

is the Head of Conservation and Science Programmes for Royal Zoological Society of Scotland where she is responsible for managing conservations work on 23 species in Scotland and around the world.

Katarzyna Ruta

is a Conservation Project Officer at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, where she supports the delivery of a variety of field-based conservation programmes

Criteria for participation

- - Confirmed availability to attend the online seminar
  - Number of participants is limited to 25
  - Priority will be given to participants from snow leopard range countries

Planned Schedule

- 2 hour online Zoom Seminar on Wednesday, 15th December at 15:00 Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan time.

Applications

- Friday, December 10th, 2021. Please note places are limited so please do not delay in applying.
- Applications Closed

Module 14: Snow Leopard Encounters

October 6th, 13th & 20th, 2021
18:00-20:00 Bishkek time

Encounters with snow leopards can take many forms. They can range from rare sightings of one or more snow leopards, coming across injured snow leopards or instances or coming across cubs that may appear abandoned. It can also involve snow leopards killing livestocks in pastures and corrals. Although snow leopards are mostly elusive, these encounters do occur across the snow leopard range and at times can be very stressful for both the people and snow leopards involved. Responses can result in the loss of life or freedom for the snow leopard. Appropriate responses that minimize harm and promote the long term coexistence of people and snow leopards still need to be more widely known, shared and put into practice.

The aim of this course is to provide hands-on guidance to help plan ahead for such situations and help resolve potential conflict situations without posing avoidable risk to humans or animals. This module brings together recent experiences from across the range and from multiple organisations to share good practices and discuss pros and cons of different ways of responding to such encounters, including approaches to minimising livestock depredation.

The Bishkek Declaration 2017, endorsed by the 12 snow leopard range countries, recognises that threats to snow leopards are on the rise and that there is a need to develop policies and build capacity at multiple levels. This initiative, focussing on sharing experiences and building capacity for managing snow leopards in unusual or conflict situations, hopes to contribute toward this goal. This module is being organised in coordination with thanks to the support of the GSLEP Program Secretariat. We also thank the Snow Leopard Conservancy, Snow Leopard Trust, Snow Leopard Foundation Pakistan, Nature Conservation Foundation for contributing to this module.

About the course

Session 1: Recommendations on how to manage unusual snow leopard encounters

In 2020 the Global Snow Leopard Ecosystem Program (GSLEP) developed a policy brief on managing snow leopards in unusual or conflict situations. The guidelines in the policy brief are based on the most up-to-date information and scientific evidence. During this session the authors will outline the recommendations for how to manage snow leopards killing livestock in the pastures, killing livestock in corrals and when an injured snow leopard or cubs are encountered. The authors will also share information on how to handle situations where snow leopards have been caught by villagers after attacking livestock as well as possible means to handle snow leopards that repeatedly attack the same corral.

Session 2: Strategies for minimising snow leopard depredation

The Snow Leopard Conservancy and Snow Leopard Trust, in collaboration with other organisations and governments have developed a number of livestock depredation mitigation tools. During this session the team will share experiences in applying these tools and working with communities, with the goal of addressing root causes leading to depredation and measures that maximise community acceptance. We will also discuss approaches for cost-sharing and ongoing adaptive monitoring and management. The Session will be an opportunity to discuss a range of different techniques and engagement mechanisms and to learn from participants on what tools are being used in their areas and can be improved.

Session 3: Shared practices from across the snow leopard range

A series of case studies from India, Mongolia, Tajikistan and Pakistan gives unique insights on how encounters take place and vary. While the principles of responding to encounters are set out, understanding local context is vital for tailoring any effective responses. This includes looking at the different stakeholders involved, their interests and histories as well as local beliefs and policies in place. This session will showcase how responses have often had to deal with very sensitive issues within an often highly political setting. The session emphasises exchange of experiences and views with the intention of calibrating and grounding the previous session discussions.

Meet the Resource Team

Ali Nawaz

Ali Nawaz PhD has 20 years of field research experience, spanning over diverse geographical regions in Pakistan, and has 50 scientific articles and over 30 management reports to his credit. His primary focus is on understanding ecology, co-existence, and conservation issues of the carnivore community in northern Pakistan. Dr Nawaz has worked intensively with the mountainous communities in alleviating human-carnivore conflicts and promoting acceptance of large carnivores.

AJAY BIJOOR

Ajay Bijoor supports conservation efforts in the regions of Ladakh and Spiti valley in India. Over the last eight years, he has worked on setting up, running and monitoring community-conservation efforts in these regions. This effort aims at trying to create conditions conducive for conservation. More recently he has also been facilitating the process of building capacity for community-based conservation in snow leopard range countries.

orjan johansson

Orjan Johansson PhD is a member of SLN’s Steering Committee. He is a senior conservation scientist at the Snow Leopard Trust and has worked with snow leopards since 2008. He is based at Grimso wildlife research station in Sweden and has previously worked with several other large carnivores including mountain lions, wolves, lynx and wolverines. His research evolves mainly around snow leopard ecology and behaviour. Orjan devotes a lot of his time to a snow leopard study in Tost Mountains, Mongolia.

ranjini murali

Ranjini Murali PhD has over ten years of experience working in snow leopard landscapes. Her PhD focused on understanding how local communities use and value ecosystem services from these landscapes. She is currently a conservation scientist at the Snow Leopard Trust and is an international staff on the GSLEP secretariat. As a part of her role she helps coordinate the effort and manage the database on unusual encounters for GSLEP.

shafqat hussain

Shafqat Hussain, PhD Founder of Project Snow Leopard, now part of the Baltistan Wildlife Conservation Development Organization (BWCDO) of which he is the Board Chair. Shafqat is a professor of anthropology at Trinity College, Hartford, CT. He is a Rolex Award for Enterprise laureate, a recipient of the United Nations Equator Prize and was named a National Geographic Emerging Explorer. In December of 2019 he published the book The Snow Leopard and the Goat: Politics of Conservation in the Western Himalayas.

DEEPSHIKHA SHARMA

Deepshikha Sharma is a conservation practitioner with the Nature Conservation Foundation, India. For the past 2 years, she has been working alongside local communities to conserve snow leopard habitat. She is building volunteer networks in the landscape to create awareness and strengthen conservation action.

rodney jackson

Rodney Jackson PhD is a renowned snow leopard researcher and conservationist who led the first radio-collaring study of snow leopards in western Nepal in 1981-1985 that made it to the cover story of the June 1986 National Geographic Magazine. He has published widely, with his accomplishments including leading / co-authoring all IUCN Red Data List evaluations completed to date. Rodney’s special interests rest with engaging and empowering local communities to address conservation issues, notably livestock depredation and related human-wildlife conflict. He pioneered initiatives at corral predator-proofing, community-based tourism (Himalayan Homestays), camera trapping, non-invasive scat genetics (with Dr. Jan Janecka and associates) and use of drones for censusing prey species. A Founding Member and first Conservation Director of the International Snow Leopard Trust, in 2000, Rodney co-founded the Snow Leopard Conservancy (SLC), followed by the SLC-India Trust (now an independent NGO). He received a Masters degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1970, and his PhD from the University of London in 1996. A Rolex Award for Enterprise Laureate, Rodney is widely recognized internationally and within snow leopard range countries for his 40 year + commitment to furthering conservation of this iconic species. (www.SnowLeopardConservancy.org).

KOUSTUBH SHARMA

Koustubh Sharma PhD has been involved in active research and conservation since 2001. He has been working with the Snow Leopard Trust since 2007, and currently serves as the Assistant Director of Conservation Policy and Partnerships. Since 2014, he is deputed as the International Coordinator of the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystems Protection Program (GSLEP) at its secretariat in Bishkek. At the GSLEP Program, Koustubh works with a small team with support from international organizations to coordinate this unique alliance that brings together governments of the 12 snow leopard range countries, Non-Government Organizations and Conservationists. At the Snow Leopard Trust, he assists in implementing research, conservation, training and building collaborations across several countries.

Date/Time

- Wednesdays October 6th, 13th, 20th 2021: 18:00-20:00 Bishkek time

Planned Schedule

- 2 hour online Zoom Seminars take place Wednesday of the month, October 2021
- Additional group work, assignments or readings are likely to be organised by the trainers
- Please note we expect all participants to attend the complete set of Wednesday Seminars as they are interconnected and build on each other
- Details of each specific Seminar topic will be shared approximately 5 days beforehand; including any expected preparations by participants.
- Please note that all sessions are recorded and then made available online through the SLN youtube channel. By participating in these online sessions you automatically agree to authorise recording of audio and visual content presented during the live event and consent to subsequent use of the recording in the public domain by SLN. If you have any concerns please contact us.

Deadline for Applications

September 29th, 2021. Please note places are limited so please do
not delay in applying.
Applications closed- Contact Rakhee if you are interested to attend.

Announcing ‘Snow Leopard NEWS’!

The Snow Leopard Network (SLN) is a worldwide network dedicated to facilitating the exchange of information and insights around snow leopards. It strives to “link up to scale up” efforts and thereby enhance the impact of snow leopard conservation investments.

Very much in this ethos, SLN is excited to announce an annual ‘open-access’ newsletter entitled ‘Snow Leopard NEWS’. Through a series of short notes and research contributions, the aim of the newsletter is to collate and make available the latest information on snow leopard ecology and conservation. Its ambit includes not only the snow leopard, but also its prey and carnivores that share the landscape with this majestic cat. Snow Leopard NEWS is also committed to featuring innovative conservation practices and policies which address threats impacting snow leopard habitats. Snow Leopard NEWS is especially committed to showcasing work that is undertaken by conservation practitioners at different levels across the snow leopard landscapes.

Three types of contributions are welcome: Field Notes, Short Notes and Notes from the Conservation Frontline. You can find more about each of these categories and the submission process here. Contributions will be finalized by an editorial team using a peer-review process. Snow Leopard NEWS will be published once a year, but ‘early view articles’ will be published online at an earlier date.

The call for Snow Leopard NEWS is now open: for the period June 1^st 2021 – December 1^st 2021. The first issue is expected to be out in the first half of 2022.

We are thrilled with this endeavor and we sincerely hope this will allow for greater collaboration, communication and sharing of knowledge feeding into stronger and more effective conservation efforts in the field. Do feel that Snow Leopard NEWS is where you can share latest ideas and developments from your and colleagues work. We are excited to see your contributions!

Visit our website for more information: www.snowleopardnetwork.org/snow-leopard-news/

Snow Leopard Individual Identification- Increasing precision in camera-trap abundance estimates?

SLN welcomes its Steering Committee member Orjan Johansson who introduces a recent publication on the scope of potential mis-identifications errors in camera trap data processing. He also shares the latest thinking on investigating this challenge further.

Orjan is joined by Abinand Reddy, David Borchers, Justine Shanti Alexander, Koustubh Sharma, Manvi Sharma and Paul van Dam-Bates as Panelists. Each panelist share their experiences and insights on snow leopard camera trapping and the tools that are being developed to address concerns with individual identification. We hope that this workshop will help share good practices and recommendations for improving individual identification.

This Webinar is offered thanks to GSLEP‘s support. Find out more about the Workshop and the Speakers HERE.

Module 12: Fundamental Statistical Tools

About the course

A good working knowledge of statistics can help you achieve better study designs, choose the correct analytical framework, and present your results in a meaningful way. In conservation, statistics is crucial for making decisions and predictions based on data. Module 12 aims to provide an understanding of fundamental statistical tools, and how to implement them in the widely used R software. All sessions include practical exercises that will help you become familiar with the R language.

- Session 1

All statistical endeavours start with data. In this session, you will learn how to import your data into the R environment. This will be the perfect opportunity for you to become familiar with the R language, as well as with its basic commands. You will learn about data types most commonly used by ecologists, and the basics of descriptive statistics.

- Session 2

In this session, we explore in more details the fundamentals of statistical theory. Using built-in datasets in R, you will learn how to identify methods that are most appropriate depending on the data you are working with, as well as essential principles of hypothesis testing.

- Session 3

Using what we learned in the previous two sessions, we will work through all essential steps involved in data analysis, with a focus on linear regression. This includes the formulation of a hypothesis, data preparation and visualisation, statistical testing, and finally, results interpretation. We will complete two full practical exercises in R using built-in datasets. At the end of this session, you will be split into different groups in order to carry out one final analysis, which will be presented the week after.

- Session 4

This session will start with presentation of results from the last analysis (see Session 3). The rest of the session will be dedicated to identifying and avoiding common mistakes in data analysis. This will allow us to also discuss issues related to results interpretation, which is essential in the field of conservation science when results may directly inform conservation planning.

Skills you will gain

- How to organise your data
- Hypothesis testing
- Linear regression
- Interpretation of results
- How to avoid common mistakes

Meet the Resource Team

Anne Heloise Theo is a marine ecologist working on community ecology and behaviour of reef fish. She is currently a PhD student in the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science.

Guillaume Demare is a PhD candidate at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Germany. His research currently focuses on the community ecology of West African amphibians.