Snow leopards & Tajikistan

Mountains cover more than 90% of Tajikistan. The country’s mountain regions are home to the snow leopard, Marco Polo sheep, Tajik markhor, urial sheep and Asiatic ibex. Tajikistan is developing a climate-smart National Action Plan for the conservation of the snow leopard (Panthera uncia) and its ecosystems in Tajikistan for 2023-2025 supported by UNEPs Vanishing Treasures programme in Tajikistan. Join Ismoil Kholmatov from the Association of Nature Conservation Organizations of Tajikistan (ANCOT) who will share updates of this ongoing effort. 

Snow leopards & Nepal

Nepal has a long history in snow leopard conservation. Rinzin Phunjok Lama from the Third Pole Conservancy will share updates of the teams ongoing snow leopard population survey in Humla, west Nepal. He will share how community conservation provides the foundation for their monitoring efforts. Rinzin and his colleagues are actively working in partnership with local stakeholders to tackle threats to snow leopards including direct killings, forest fires, illegal logging through a number of livelihood programs (including gathering honey, making traditional clothes, and running ecotourism businesses). Their work includes large scale monitoring of snow leopards and other wildlife. Join us as Rinzin shares the opportunities and challenges of achieving this multi-pronged approach.

Snow leopards & China

Qilianshan National Park, extends along the magnificent Qilian Mountains in north-eastern corner of the Tibetan Plateau. The mountains of 52,000 sq.km provide home and future refuges for snow leopard and many other wildlife. When the national park was established in 2016, an ambitious plan was announced to assess snow leopard populations across the entire mountain range. Since 2014, Dr. Yanlin Liu has been working with different teams on the snow leopard assessment in Qilian Mountains. Yanlin is currently the Science Director of the Chinese Felid Conservation Alliance and previously served as director of the snow leopard project for the ShanShui Conservation Center and a Post-Doc in the Chinese Academy of Forest. During this session he will share some of the opportunities and challenges his team is facing. He would love to hear form other SLN members and discuss large scale monitoring strategies.

Snow leopards & Kyrgyzstan

In 2021, Panthera kick-started a project with a focus in building conservation capacity and partnerships with communities in Osh, Kyrgyzstan. Since June 2021, the project was co-led by two female conservationists, Sabin Snow Leopard grantee Fatima Mannapbekova and CEPF project lead Altynai Adabaeva. Together with the Ilbirs Foundation, they’ve made introductory visits to communities in the Osh Oblast of Kyrgyzstan to establish relationships with local stakeholders and communities. Later, they led a team of surveyors to conduct the preliminary survey work via household interviews. Over 23 days, 639 interviews were conducted in 37 villages. During this SLN session, Altynai and Fatima will share the results of their work, challenges faced, and lessons learned while working in a rarely studied snow leopard habitat.

SLN Winter Exchange 2022

Welcome to the Snow Leopard Network’s Winter Exchange. The aim of the SLN Winter Exchange is to bring snow leopard researchers and conservations practitioners together from across the world and share the latest developments in snow leopard conservation programming and research. Our resource persons will share updates from different High Asia settings: we will travel and meet teams working in Tajikistan, Nepal, China, Russia and Kyrgyzstan. Each brief and inspiring talk will be followed by a discussion period where we explore ideas in further depth, drawing on the group’s experience and knowledge. All sessions will be offered with simultaneous translation in English and Russian. 

Our Resource Team are individual and organisational members from the Snow Leopard Network, drawing on their extensive knowledge and experience. We are very appreciative of our Resource Team finding time to join us in this effort and we look forward to members taking advantage of this exceptional opportunity. Please do share the information with anyone interested as these sessions are FREE and open to all. We thank the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP) with their support in making this event possible. Sign up HERE.

Structure: 6090 min Sessions (30min guest speaker presentation followed by a 30 min discussion). During the talk feel free to write questions in the chat section that we can take forward during the discussion section. All sessions will be offered in English and Russian with simultaneous interpretation. 

 Week 1: Snow leopards & Tajikistan 

14:00 Bishkek time, Monday, 21st November, 2022

Mountains cover more than 90% of Tajikistan. The country’s mountain regions are home to the snow leopard, Marco Polo sheep, Tajik markhor, urial sheep and Asiatic ibex. Tajikistan is developing a climate-smart National Action Plan for the conservation of the snow leopard (Panthera uncia) and its ecosystems in Tajikistan for 2023-2025 supported by UNEPs Vanishing Treasures programme in Tajikistan. Join Ismoil Kholmatov from the Association of Nature Conservation Organizations of Tajikistan (ANCOT) who will share updates of this ongoing effort. 

 Week 2: Snow leopards & Nepal 

14:00 Bishkek time, Monday, 28th November, 2022

Nepal has a long history in snow leopard conservation. Rinzin Phunjok Lama from the Third Pole Conservancy will share updates of the teams ongoing snow leopard population survey in Humla, west Nepal. He will share how community conservation provides the foundation for their monitoring efforts. Rinzin and his colleagues are actively working in partnership with local stakeholders to tackle threats to snow leopards including direct killings, forest fires, illegal logging through a number of livelihood programs (including gathering honey, making traditional clothes, and running ecotourism businesses). Their work includes large scale monitoring of snow leopards and other wildlife. Join us as Rinzin shares the opportunities and challenges of achieving this multi-pronged approach.

 Week 3: Snow leopards & China 

14:00 Bishkek time, Monday, 5th December, 2022

Qilianshan National Park, extends along the magnificent Qilian Mountains in north-eastern corner of the Tibetan Plateau. The mountains of 52,000 sq.km provide home and future refuges for snow leopard and many other wildlife. When the national park was established in 2016, an ambitious plan was announced to assess snow leopard populations across the entire mountain range. Since 2014, Dr. Yanlin Liu has been working with different teams on the snow leopard assessment in Qilian Mountains. Yanlin is currently the Science Director of the Chinese Felid Conservation Alliance and previously served as director of the snow leopard project for the ShanShui Conservation Center and a Post-Doc in the Chinese Academy of Forest. During this session he will share some of the opportunities and challenges his team is facing. He would love to hear form other SLN members and discuss large scale monitoring strategies.

 Week 4: Snow leopards & Russia 

14:00 Bishkek time, Monday, 12th December, 2022

Snow leopard habitat in Russia is in the southern most part of the country. Join Alexander Karnaukhov from WWF-Russia as he shares updates on the transboundary monitoring efforts between Russia and Mongolia. He will also discuss approaches for automatising monitoring data collection- discussing the pros and cons of methods such as SMART and Next NextGIS. We encourage SLN members to join the discussion and share approaches that worked in other contexts.  

 Week 5: Snow leopards & Kyrgyzstan 

14:00 Bishkek time, Friday, 16th December, 2022

In 2021, Panthera kick-started a project with a focus in building conservation capacity and partnerships with communities in Osh, Kyrgyzstan. Since June 2021, the project was co-led by two female conservationists, Sabin Snow Leopard grantee Fatima Mannapbekova and CEPF project lead Altynai Adabaeva. Together with the Ilbirs Foundation, they’ve made introductory visits to communities in the Osh Oblast of Kyrgyzstan to establish relationships with local stakeholders and communities. Later, they led a team of surveyors to conduct the preliminary survey work via household interviews. Over 23 days, 639 interviews were conducted in 37 villages. During this SLN session, Altynai and Fatima will share the results of their work, challenges faced, and lessons learned while working in a rarely studied snow leopard habitat.

 How to sign up?

SLN Summer Exchange 2022

The Snow Leopard Network (SLN) is launching its first mini Summer online research and conservation training course. It will consist of a series of mini-modules, each for 2 hours, in which participants can build their skills and knowledge on a range of critical snow leopard related conservation tools.

SLN is delighted to announce the line-up for the 2022 SLN Summer Exchange! This year’s mini-module themes were chosen based on feedback from SLN members. Our Resource Team are individual and organizational members from the Snow Leopard Network, drawing on their extensive knowledge and experience. We are very appreciative of our Resource Team finding time to join us in this effort and we look forward to members taking advantage of this exceptional opportunity. 

Please do share the information with anyone interested as these sessions are open to ALL, new or current SLN members and free.

Week 1: Mountain Ungulates

June 23rd Thursday 16:00 Bishkek time

Asia’s mountain ungulates play an important role in maintaining ecosystems by influencing vegetation structure and nutrient cycling. There is a need for more information about the population status of these ungulates, which carries special significance in the protection of the snow leopard across its range. This session will explore a range of mountain ungulate monitoring and conservation approaches. Dr. Munib Khanyari will facilitate the session. He works with the Nature Conservation Foundation as a Program Manager. He works primarily across the Trans-Himalayan region of India, aiming to build positive human-nature relationships.

Week 2: Climate Change 

June 27th Monday 16:00 Bishkek time

Participatory climate risk assessment for integrating climate change considerations into development and conservation efforts. Climate risk assessments allow to understand climate risk and vulnerabilities, and can support in identifying and selecting adaptation strategies aligned with development goals and conservation efforts. The meaningful inclusion of the communities in the process is necessary in order to obtain valuable information, raise awareness and ensure adaptation actions that are relevant to the local contexts. In this module these issues and more will be discussed. Participants will be introduced to basic climate change related concepts, and exposed – through an interactive exercise – to a method for participatory climate risk assessment based on the ‘Climate impact Chains’ analytical approach. The module will draw on the example of participatory climate risk assessments in Kyrgyzstan showing how these integrated considerations on human-wildlife conflict with focus on snow leopards. Dr. Eirini Skrimizea, KU Leuven and Eurac Research will facilitate the session. Eirini Skrimizea is a postdoctoral researcher with a background in planning and sustainability research. She has expertise on governance of socio-ecological development and the social aspects of climate change in the Global North and South.

Week 3: Participatory methods/right-based approaches to research and conservation

June 30th Thursday 16:00 Bishkek time

Significant focus has been placed on community-based conservation in recent decades. However, much purported community-based conservation research and practice continues to be top-down, where local people are seen as beneficiaries and stakeholders, but not right-holders. In this workshop, using case studies, we will explore efforts to make conservation research and practice more equitable, ethical and horizontal. We will discuss the philosophy, practice and challenges of conducting rights-based and truly collaborative conservation. Dr. Sahil Nijhawan is an interdisciplinary conservation anthropologist who has worked on human-wildlife relations across Latin America, Southern Africa and India. For the past decade, he has worked alongside the indigenous Idu Mishmi people of Arunachal Pradesh (India) – a journey that began with his doctoral research on socio-cultural, ecological and political relations between the Idu Mishmi and tigers. He is now part of local teams in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland working on a range of locally-led initiatives towards rights-based bio-cultural conservation and research. 

Week 4: Community Conservation 

July 4th Monday 16:00 Bishkek time

Engaging and partnering with such local communities is critical to the success of conservation efforts. The PARTNERS principles offer a framework to consciously and effectively engage communities. This approach of eight broad principles can offer support to not only conservationists but anyone who is engaging with communities. In this session, we will explore these principles briefly and understand their working through case-studies. Ajay Bijoor and Deepshikha Sharma will facilitate the Session. Ajay has been working with local communities and government agencies to plan and implement conservation action in the high-elevation landscapes of India for the past 7 years. He has also been exploring the intersection of conservation with local knowledge systems, resource management, and local and global economy. Deepshikha has been facilitating community led conservation in snow leopard habitat in Himachal Pradesh & Ladakh. She is working towards raising awareness and reducing losses faced by local communities due to wildlife. She is also working towards bringing local women to the forefront of conservation in the landscape.

 Week 5: Identify Carnivore Signs 

July 11th Monday 16:00 Bishkek time

Carnivores leave behind signs- such as tracks, droppings, sprays and carcasses. They also can be heard- making unique sounds. The team will discuss how researchers can distinguish between the unique signs of felids (snow leopards, lynx etc.) and canids (wolves, feral dogs, red foxes). They will share strategies and potential pitfalls to look out for. Dr. Orjan Johansson & Kubanych Jumabay (Kuban) will lead the session. Orjan is a Senior Scientist for the Snow Leopard Trust and has supported the Long Term Ecological Program in Mongolia for over a decade. Kuban is the Director of the Snow Leopard Foundation Kyrgyzstan. 

Week 6: Camera traps in the field 

July 18th Monday 16:00 Bishkek time

Camera traps are an important tool for snow leopard research and conservation. In this session we will share tips on best practices for setting up camera traps in the mountains for specific purposes and optimal device settings. The team will discuss camera trap types, how to effectively choose locations, strategies to improve battery life, lighting and safety of the equipment. The team will also discuss how one can improve the quality of captures for the identification of snow leopard individuals. In this interactive workshop, participants will be welcome to share their ideas, experiences and ask specific questions. Dr. Koustubh Sharma & Purevjav Lkhagvajav (Pujii) will lead this session. Koustubh is the Assistant Director of Conservation Policy and Partnerships with the Snow Leopard Trust and the International Coordinator with the GSLEP Program. He is closely involved with the implementation of the Population Assessment of the World’s Snow Leopard (PAWS). Pujii is the Snow Leopard Conservation Foundation Mongolia’s Research and Monitoring Manager. She works closely with rangers across Mongolia, and has been supporting systematic camera trapping across thousands of square kilometers for more than a decade.

How to sign up?

Snow Leopard Training Grant – Call for Proposals

Since 2020 the Snow Leopard Network has made a special effort to build and share capacities related to snow leopard research and conservation. The 2020 – 2021 SLN Training Initiative covered 15 modules with 372 participants joining the online sessions. This was possible thanks to the support of our partners who provided resources and leadership on critical snow leopard related conservation themes and tools. 

2022 offers the opportunity to support teams working across the snow leopard range in leading additional training modules. We are pleased to announce the 2022 Call for Proposals for the Snow Leopard Training Grant which is designed to further strengthen snow leopard conservation and research, especially at the grassroots level. This is made possible through the generous support of the Pangje Foundation, an SLN member organization dedicated to protecting snow leopards and helping local communities.

The specific goal of the 2022 Training Grant centres around building capacities in snow leopard research and conservation among grassroot stakeholders. The scope of the capacity projects to be funded is broad and includes trainings/workshops in support of community conservation, protected area management (supporting local rangers and protected area staff etc.), conservation education, women conservation leadership training and wildlife population monitoring (snow leopard & prey). Other training and capacity building themes related to snow leopard conservation at the grassroots level will also be considered. Please note that the Training Grant available in 2022 is not designed for funding wider research or conservation projects in themselves but is specific to supporting Training or Workshop events.

Proposal Guidelines

Eligibility: The Training Grant is open to all SLN members and researchers/practitioners/organizations working to support snow leopard conservation. One proposal per applicant, team or organization will be considered. Unfortunately, current regulations do not allow this funding to be available for activities in the People’s Republic of China. 

Grant size: Awards will range from $1000 to $1500. All award funds should plan to be used in 2022. Project proposals should aim to use these relatively modest amounts as strategically as possible. Other funding sources can be included in the budget to increase the overall project funding size.

Selection criteria: Proposals will be judged on a competitive basis. Applications will be evaluated by SLN’s Grant Review Panel, and judged on:

                  • Relevance to snow leopard conservation at the grassroots level
                  • Training methodology/philosophy
                  • Scientific and/or conservation rigor of the proposal
                  • Collaboration with local partners

Proposal Submission: Proposals (written in English) must be submitted electronically as a single pdf file to Rakhee Karumbaya, SLN’s Program Coordinator (rakhee@snowleopardnetwork.org). Proposals will be considered if received before 25th February, 2022 (18:00 Bishkek time). Applications that do not use the forms attached below will not be considered. The pdf file should include: 

                  • an Application form completed (max. 3 pages, according to the attached form). Download the Application form here.
                  • a CV of the project team leader/principal applicant (max. 2 pages)

Reporting: A final report on the awarded projects (process and results) is due by December 15th, 2022. Please submit your final report as a Word document.  Download the report outline here.

Time Schedule

25 February 2022: All Proposals submitted by email. Kindly note that we will not be able to consider late proposals.

End of March 2022: Proposals selected for funding by the SLN Grant Review Panel will be announced.

Mid April 2022: Funds available for disbursement.

Mid April – 1 December 2022: Projects take place as agreed in proposals. 

15 December 2022: Grantees submit final report.

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 12: R语言简介 Recording

课程描述

R语言,一门强大的数据分析语言,一个极其人性化的编程环境,一种充满惊喜的工作方式。本课程面向零基础的学员,从最基本的安装开始,一步一步手把手带你进入 R 语言的精彩世界。

课程目标

通过学习本课程,学员将

  1. 在计算机上搭建 R 语言工作环境,
  2. 了解 R 语言的用途和扩展性,
  3. 熟悉 R 语言的基本用法,
  4. 初步掌握常见图形的绘制方法,

培训内容

  1. 了解用途
  • 知道R语言在科研中的用途和扩展性,
  • 了解常用扩展包,
  • 知道如何寻求帮助。
  1. 数据读写
  • 熟练掌握将常见格式的数据导入R语言环境的方法,
  • 知道如何将特殊格式的数据导入R语言环境,
  • 熟练掌握将计算结果的数据保存为常见格式。
  1. 图形绘制
  • 熟练掌握R基础包绘制常见图形(散点图、直方图、箱式图、折线图等)的方法,有能力根据研究意图任意订制图形的风格(大小、颜色、点的形状、线的类型)为图形任意添加各种元素(点、线、文字、多边形、图例、坐标轴),
  • 学习使用最流行的ggplot2包来绘制美观的常见图形,

参考书目

  • 赵鹏,李怡。学 R:零基础学习R 语言。研究出版社,北京,2018。
  • 赵鹏,谢益辉,黄湘云。现代统计图形。人民邮电出版社,北京,2021。

培训老师

赵鹏博士,西交利物浦大学助理教授,统计之都成员。毕业于北京大学(理学学士,环境科学硕士)、德国拜罗伊特大学(地理生态学博士)。曾就职于中国气象科学研究院,曾在奥地利因斯布鲁克大学和德国马克斯-普朗克研究所从事博士后研究工作。对于 R 语言应用于科学研究有10年使用经验,开发有十几个R 扩展包,CRAN 上的累计下载量超过 15 万。

 

Module 13: Conservation Education

Across the snow leopard range, people and snow leopards share space. A supportive constituency of communities and individuals is paramount for the conservation of the snow leopard. Environmental education is one means of building support and creating awareness amongst children, young people and adults for the long term. It is the process of creating knowledge of the environment; strengthening pro-environmental values among children; motivating young people to participate in environmental protection; and through a process of empowerment find solutions for environmental problems. It involves the continued strengthening of positive values among people towards snow leopards and the environment. Children’s environmental education is particularly important as children are the future environmental custodians and also have the capacity to influence present household pro-environmental behaviours.

While the importance of conservation education for coexistence is evident, conceptualising and implementing a conservation education module can be a lot more challenging. What are the goals of the conservation education programme? What are the most effective ways for children to learn? How can conservation education programmes be tailored to create impactful, long-term change? How can we incorporate place-based knowledge into our programmes?

In this module on conservation education these questions and more will be discussed, hosted by SLN-GSLEP and brought to you thanks to the support of other conservation education partners. Participants will be introduced to the theory and basics of conservation education, build skills so that conservation education can be made more effective, and exposed to conservation education programmes in the snow leopard landscape. Do join us for this exciting and interactive module!

This Module is offered thanks to the contributions and support of University of Vermont, Nature Classrooms, Land of the Snow Leopard Network, the Snow Leopard Conservancy , Snow Leopard Trust and GSLEP.

Photo by Nature Classrooms
Nomadic Nature Trunk Program in Mongolia. Photo by Land of the Snow Leopard Network.

About the course

  • Session 1: Introduction to Conservation Education

Wednesday September 8th, 18:00-20:00 Bishkek time

This session will be led by Dr. Rachelle Gould, an Assistant Professor at the University of Vermont. Rachelle will start us off by exploring how conservation education is more than creating awareness, and more than information delivery. The session will discuss how the core goal of conservation education is to develop informed, active citizens who feel empowered to create change. Throughout the session the group will discuss considerations, ideas, and sample learning activities that can help to develop informed, active members of society.

  • Session 2: Land of the Snow Leopard Network

Wednesday September 15th, 17:00-19:30 Bishkek time 

For this Session we have the pleasure to invite the Land of Snow Leopard (LOSL) Network. LOSL is part of a groundbreaking collaboration between western and indigenous science and has two overriding goals: reviving ancient conservation practices and creating pathways for Indigenous Cultural Practitioners to be coequal partners in research and planning for the conservation of snow leopards.

The network is striving to help the GSLEP governments understand and embrace the snow leopard’s spiritual nature and fundamental place in indigenous practices as well as to share knowledge of the spiritual and cultural importance of these cats and the imperative to embrace this knowledge in securing landscapes for their preservation. LOSL received the Disney Conservation Hero Award in 2020, recognizing local citizens for their commitment to save wildlife, protect habitats, and inspire their communities to take part in conservation efforts. The Snow Leopard Conservancy facilitates Land of Snow Leopard and provides technical and fiscal support. This Session will focus on introducing the indigenous ways of learning and teaching in snow leopard landscapes, with a special focus on two of LOSL’s programs: 1. learning from elders and 2. teaching in nomadic communities.

  • Session 3 & 4: Connecting Learning to the Natural World – A Nature Classrooms Approach

Wednesdays September 22nd, 29th, 18:00-20:00 Bishkek time
In this 2 part interactive workshop, led by Vena Kapoor and Roshini Ravi from the Nature Conservation Foundation, we will discuss how we can work closely with schools, teachers and educators to develop age-appropriate and locally-culturally relevant nature learning resources that enrich and support existing school curricula for Environmental Studies. The sessions will highlight how we can provide opportunities to develop empathy, love and wonder while exploring and building active connections with the natural world.

The workshop will include discussions on concepts like shifting baseline syndrome, nature deficit disorder, demonstrations on inquiry based learning and examples of modules we have designed and created that can be weaved into textbook topics. Through a short project participants will also brainstorm, create and pilot their own nature learning resources suited to their specific teaching-learning contexts. More details about the Nature Classrooms project can be accessed here

Photo by Nature Classrooms
Kids celebrating Snow Leopard Day in Tajikistan. Photo by Land of the Snow Leopard Network

Meet the Resource Team

Rachelle Gould is an interdisciplinary scholar whose work involves primarily social science and the humanities, and some ecology. She is an Assistant Professor of Sustainability and Global Equity at the University of Vermont. Her research explores the relationship between people and ecosystems and focuses on: (1) lifelong and life-wide environmental education and learning; (2) environmental values, including Cultural Ecosystem Services and relational values; (3) how issues of equity, inclusion, and justice permeate environmental issues. She has taught Environmental Education at the University Vermont for over five years.

Tungalagtuya Khuukhenduu (Tunga) is a founder, director at the Nomadic Nature Conservation, Mongolia, NGO. She serves as the country coordinator of the Land of Snow Leopard (LOSL), an International Network Organization. Tunga has an extensive professional background in science and conservation awareness. She played a major role in creating Nomadic Nature Trunk Program, for different-ecosystem conservation program. This program has produced and distributed mobile classrooms for  rural schools, communities throughout Mongolia. In particular, she has developed environmental conservation curriculum based on participatory and game-based lessons, which are for specific ecosystems and endangered species. Since 2019, the  Trunk Program has also been implemented to the stakeholders in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Buryatia and Altai Republic and Mongolia for the purpose of conserving snow leopard, a sacred cat species.

Kuluipa Akmatova is one of the most qualified and foremost researchers of traditional knowledge in Kyrgyzstan.  With an educational background in history and sociology obtained from the Kazan University in the Russian Federation, Ms. Kuluipa has managed to become one of the pioneers in studying and documenting traditional ecological knowledge in Kyrgyzstan and has contributed significantly to its revitalization. She has immense experience in community mobilization and engagement, training, and rural development. Since 2017, she has been leading the PF “Rural Development Fund” and actively participating in civil society development. Say, she is a member of the Governing Council of the World Union of Spiritual Practices, a member of the international network of snow leopard defenders LOSL, a member of the Supervisory Board of the Agency for Community Development and Investment of the Kyrgyz Republic. Currently, Mr.Kuluipa promotes the ILC Asia CBI-6 Platform on Locally-Managed Ecosystems with its 16 member NGOs. She serves as a country coordinator of the Land of Snow Leopard (LOSL).

Almagul Osmonova is a Director of Taalim-Forum pubic foundation in Kyrgyzstan. She has experience in teaching at schools and lecturing at universities. For the last 10 years, her NGO is actively promoting ethno-environment education; developing educational materials, teachers’ methodologies, organizing workshops for teachers, and publishing books for children with the focus on local environment, biodiversity and cultural heritage. With the support of SLC, the informal network of teachers called Eco-Bilim (Eco-Knowledge) was established to support teachers from mountain regions to learn and discuss the issues of protecting mountain ecosystems, how to use new methodologies and approaches in environment education at schools. Rural Development Fund and Taalim-Forum are working with school children in the mountain regions, which includes organizing summer camps, festivals, theatrical performances, and different school activities and projects together with trained teachers. Teachers’ training includes learning innovative methodologies and approaches engaging children in conservation. Almagul serves as a country coordinator of the Land of Snow Leopard (LOSL).

Lyubov Ivashkina lives in Gorno-Altaysk (Russia, south of Western Siberia). Environmental journalist. For many years she worked in the editorial office of the republican radio and in the editorial office of the republican newspaper “Star of Altai”. As a journalist, he closely cooperates with nature conservation organizations of the Altai Republic: these are the Altai Nature Reserve, the Katunsky Nature Reserve, the Saylyugemsky National Park and the natural parks of Gorny Altai. As a journalist and photographer, he has been collaborating with WWF (World Wildlife Fund) for many years. Together with the Foundation for Sustainable Development of Altai (FSDA), she took part in organizing the first children’s festival in the Altai Republic “Day of the Snow Leopard”. Lyubov continues to provide informational support for festivals and other events to preserve the snow leopard in the Altai Republic and the LOSL network countries on the pages of the site http://www.pero-altay.ru/. She serves as a country coordinator of the Land of Snow Leopard (LOSL). Today, as a member of the international network, LOSL, together with local spiritual leaders and employees of specially protected natural areas, continues to work among the local population to preserve the snow leopard in the Altai mountains.

In the Pamir Mountains, the main threat to snow leopards is conflict with herders. Qurbon Alamshoev has more then ten stories about snow leopards being released back into the wild after being captured by villagers. These snow leopards had killed the herders’ livestock. With Qurbon providing information on the importance of snow leopards in the ecosystem and their cultural significance through the popular Snow Leopard Day Festivals, villagers chose to release these snow leopards rather than retaliate and kill them.  Qurbon serves as a country coordinator of the Land of Snow Leopard (LOSL).

Vena Kapoor is an Ecologist and Nature Educator. She heads the Nature Classrooms project that is currently developing a well-researched, trialled, tested nature learning activities, modules and curriculum for primary schools in India using education theory and pedagogical practices. She also conducts workshops, talks, walks for adults and children to introduce them to the fascinating world of insects, spiders and nature around them.  Vena holds an MPhil in Conservation Leadership from the University of Cambridge, UK and a Masters in Ecology from Pondicherry University.

 

Roshni Ravi is an educator with a Masters in Counselling Psychology from TISS, Mumbai. She spent several years teaching in an alternative school in Bangalore, India where she taught Language, Environmental Studies and Social Science. She has a keen interest in teaching-learning that is curiosity-driven, child-centred, experiential and wellbeing focussed. As part of Nature Conservation Foundation’s Nature Classrooms project she works with primary school teachers and educators to co-develop nature learning resources and experiences across diverse learning spaces. 

Date/Time

  • Wednesdays September 8th, 22nd, 29th 2021: 18:00-20:00 Bishkek time
  • Wednesday September 15th, 17:00- 19:30 Bishkek time

Criteria for participation

  • Snow Leopard Network Member and non-SLN members can participate! 
  • Confirmed availability to attend all the four online seminars of a given module
  • Number of participants is limited to 25

Planned Schedule

  • 2-2.5 hour online Zoom Seminars take place Wednesday of the month, September 2021
  • Additional group work, assignments or readings are likely to be organized 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