This Session explores participatory approaches to Monitoring! We use a case study from Spiti, India to illustrate how programs evolve and can monitor key outputs and outcomes.
Checkout what key principles stuck with participants.
Session 3: Participatory Approaches to Evaluation
James shares two case studies related to evaluating conflict and climate change adaptation strategies. Through these case studies we explore relevant indicators/approaches to assess progress towards the harder to measure longer outcomes (such as resilience, adaptation, etc.) through stakeholder participatory approaches.
As preparation for the session please feel free to check out this video related to Climate Adaptation Strategies for Rural Livelihoods in Indonesia. James will be sharing insights on how the team evaluated progress in their programs. Please also read the following three publications that share more details on these case studies and the approaches.
- Butler et al. (2016) Priming adaptation pathways through adaptive
co-management: Design and evaluation for developing
countries - Butler et al. (2015) Evaluating adaptive co-management as conservation conflict resolution: Learning from seals and salmon
- Cox et al. (2020) The ebb and flow of adaptive co-management: A longitudinal evaluation of a conservation conflict
Session 3.1: Background to conservation conflict MEL
Session 3.2: Discussion on indicators
Session 3.3: Feedback and final discussion
New Note to Bibliography
Please find details of a new note reporting a SL predation on an adult yak, which has been added to our bibliography:
Title: Snow leopard (Panthera uncia) predation and consumption of an adult yak in the Mongolian Altai.
Authors: ???? ?????Krofel, M., Groff, C., Oberosler, V., Augugliaro, C., Rovero, F.
Introduction: The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) is an apex predator of mountainous ecosystems in Central Asia, characterised by relatively long feeding times and low kill rates (Johansson et al. 2015; Mallon et al. 2016). Predation is mainly focused on wild ungulates and the vast majority of animals killed by snow leopards are smaller than 100 kg (Lovari et al. 2013). Throughout most of their range, Siberian ibex (Capra sibirica), blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur), and argali (Ovis ammon) represent the most important prey (Hunter 2015). These species weigh up to 180 kg, which was suggested to be near the maximum limit of the prey size that snow leopard can handle (i.e. about 3 times its size) (e.g. Schaller 1977; Hunter 2015). Accordingly, researchers generally assume that prey like adult yaks (Bos grunniens) with an average body weight of 250 kg (Bagchi & Mishra 2006), are too large to be killed by snow leopards (e.g. Devkota et al. 2013; Chetri et al. 2017). In contrast, local livestock herders report that snow leopard can also kill larger prey, including adult yaks (e.g. Li et al. 2013; Suryawanshi et al. 2013), but confirmed records of snow leopard killing prey of this size appear to be lacking in the literature. We also have very limited knowledge about the consumption of snow leopard kills, and the scavengers, including conspecifics, that are using them (Fox & Chundawat 2016; Schaller 2016). Here we report on a predation event and the following consumption process of a snow leopard kill, a free-roaming adult female yak, which we studied in 2019 using snow tracking, direct observation and camera trapping in the Mongolian Altai.
URL: https://snowleopardnetwork.org/bibliography/Krofel_et_al_2021.pdf
Session 3: Using SMART tools to collect field data
Module 9: Session 3
Using SMART tools to collect field data
This Session will introduce SMART Mobile and Collect- the exciting new additions to the SMART conservation toolkit– and how they can be used to protect wildlife and improve protected area management in the range of the snow leopard.
Session 3.1: Field data recording with SMART conservation tools
Session 3.2: Demonstration of how to install SMART mobile on a handheld device
Session 3.3: Case study – Field patrolling with multiagency anti-poaching unit (MAPU)
Session 2: Community Conservation & Tourism
Module 8: Session 2
In this 2nd session of Module 8 we move forward and specifically look at the ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ of engaging communities for conservation led tourism. We capture the positions of different stakeholders and how they can, or might not always, be aligned with benefits reaching the community as a whole.
Session 2.1: Why should local communities be central to conservation?
Session 2.2: Principles for community led conservation tourism in China
Session 2.3: A large scale context approach
Highlights
- Why should local communities be central to the conservation of snow leopards?
- What are the benefits and risks of involving local communities for conservation of snow leopard landscapes?
- There maybe a tension between tourist experiences and community cohesion. For example tourists will want to stay at the best place for the best chance. They will also want to choose where they stay. Versus the community being empowered to regulate, and promote the equitable distribution of benefits.
- How can effective community structures deal with tourism and manage the program?
- There is a need for support of the local governments and other enforcement agencies
- An integrated approach is crucial when looking at snow leopard tourism. While one community may be better suited to host guests, other nearby communities can be part of the wider service ecosystem. One can consider the distribution of benefits at the landscape level
Download the full highlight summary HERE.
Panthera Sabin snow leopard grants program announcement
Hello All,
I am happy to announce that with the continued generous support of the Andrew Sabin Family Foundation, Panthera will be accepting letters of interest from February 15th through March 15th, for our Sabin Snow Leopard grants program.
This will be our 7th year of the grant program and the accomplishments of grantees from the past 6 years have been tremendous and inspiring. I can offer that the common thread among successful applicants has been their innovative approach to creating new tools, addressing old questions from new perspectives, and/or filling significant knowledge gaps.
Please see the attached, or follow the link below, for details.
https://www.panthera.org/cms/sites/default/files/Panthera_SabinSnowLeopardGrantProgram.pdf
All the best,
-Byron Weckworth
Byron Weckworth | Director, Snow Leopard Program; Director, Conservation Genetics
Visit us online at www.panthera.org
Session 4: Shaping Relevant Framework(s)
Module 8: Session 4
The Module 8 journey so far has taken us to introducing Conservation Tourism concepts and the need to engage communities as a central pillar to the approach. In the last session we focussed on ecological, social and economic “risks” and ways to mitigate these.
This final session will take us towards broadening our discussions to learn from examples that are underway in Pakistan, Tajikistan and Mongolia. We hope these experiences help us see the above principles in action and perhaps bring up new themes and ideas. We will then conclude the session by synthesising key principles which we feel will be useful as teams start new programs or refine on-going approaches.
Session 4.1: Introduction
Session 4.2: Example from Tajikistan
Session 4.3: Example from Mongolia
Session 4.4: Example from Pakistan
Session 4.5: Bringing the principles together
Session 4.6: Conservation Tourism Principles Recap
Session 4.7: Conservation Tourism Framework Approach
Session 4.8: Concluding thoughts
Highlights
- “Tourism is like a fire. You can cook your food with it, but if it’s not managed, it can burn your house down.”
- In areas without formal wildlife protection- tourism can be used to support local communities to set-up community based conservation programs. This can create ownership of land and increase investments in building capacity for conservation (i.e. Tajikistan)
- Conservation led tourism may be challenged in areas of low human density and where communities structures are not in place (i.e. Mongolia). How can benefits be equitably distributed? How to address this challenge?
- Local risk assessments is an essential part of the process and explore mitigation measures (i.e. Pakistan)
- Key components of Conservation Tourism include: Inclusive conservation beyond the protected area; Community involvement; Economic benefits for the community; Equitable distribution, and the community has to making the decisions.
- Why is conservation tourism important?
- Creates conservation opportunities
- Helps pay for ecosystem services
- Can help preserve cultural heritage
- Build community support for conservation
- Way of empowering community and giving them ownership
- Livelihoods linked to the well-being of snow leopard and it’s habitats
- There are however enormous risks from tourism
- Increase vulnerability
- No equitable benefits can lead to conflicts
- Malpractices if not managed
- Visitors can have an ecologically heavy footprint
- Destruction of natural and cultural environment
- The Fundamentals include:
- Destination led and not market driven
- Benefits at a landscape level
- Low-volume – high revenue
- Local involvement and ethical practices
- Unity of control
- Integrated approach
Snow leopard, a smart felid – A blog post from Sarai Stories
Joanna Van Gruisen & Raghu Chundawat
Wildlife & Conservation | Dec 16, 2020
SLN Webinar: How the Tost mountains, Mongolia became a protected haven for snow leopards
Welcome to SLN’s final webinar for 2020! During this year we have travelled across many countries of the snow leopard range- hearing updates and latest accounts of snow leopard research and conservation. We began in China and travelled to Nepal, Mongolia, India and the Russian Federation. We look forward to another set of country updates planned for 2021.
SLN would like to end the year on a positive and optimistic note. Today we take a detour to look back at one of snow leopard conservation remarkable achievements in the South Gobi of Mongolia- the process of establishing the Tost Nature Reserve. We will be hearing from one of Tost’s key conservation leaders- Bayara Agvantsaaren – who has been advocating for Tost’s snow leopards for over a decade. Bayara is also a global conservation figure having won the Goldman Environmental Prizein 2019. Dr. Charudutt Mishra, the Executive Director of the Snow Leopard Trust, will be joining us as discussant. He brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and thinking about how snow leopard conservation and development can go hand in hand while addressing emerging threats to snow leopards such as mining.
We hope to see you for this final webinar of 2020- and in doing so help highlight what is a growing number of snow leopard conservation success stories across the range.
About the talk: This is a story of protecting the Tost Mountains from being given away under mining licenses. The story had a number of chapters and it’s share of hopes and disappointments. After a long campaign of over 7 years that included research, advocacy and political mobilization a set of mining licenses were finally revoked and Tost was designated as a Nature Reserve for snow leopards in 2018. Bayara will start by talking about the setting. She will share a first hand account of how snow leopards face a number of emerging threats in Mongolia- in a context of economic needs that continue to pressurize the modern world. Bayara will give us an inside view of her team’s experience in accomplishing this extraordinary achievement in a very challenging setting, drawing on the support and involvement of local people and media.
About our Guest: Bayara is the Executive Director of Snow Leopard Conservation Foundation and Mongolia Program Director, at the Snow Leopard Trust.
“I have been working as a snow leopard conservationist since 1998 when I co-found Snow Leopard Enterprises Program which offers income generation to rural herders who share mountain with these elusive cats. It has been amazing 20+ years career journey to work with different aspects of conservation. I am privileged to be able to help both snow leopards and local people.” shares Bayara.
Date/Time: Monday; December 21st, 2020; 16:00 Ulaanbaatar Mongolia time.
Location: ZOOM, to join this talk, REGISTER HERE
Please note:
- If you have never used Zoom before, we recommend that you try the link 10 minutes before the start of the lecture.
- Please feel free to write questions in the comment area and there will be time for questions/discussion at the end of the talk.
