Category: Webinar

SLN Webinar: Snow Leopards and Tibetan Herders: Coexistence from a Cultural Perspective

 

You are invited to a webinar that delves into the concept of ‘coexistence’. This term is intertwined with various strategies and conservation goals, but what does it truly encompass? Moreover, how does it resonate with different groups of people from diverse cultural perspectives? Join us in the company of our guest speaker, Gao Yufang, an interdisciplinary scholar, as he shares his recent research centered around the concept of ‘coexistence’ on the Tibetan plateau. His exploration is interwoven with the threads of traditional knowledge and culture, shedding light on the interconnections.

Our webinar will also feature the insights of Saloni Bhatia, a conservation anthropologist based at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment. Her prior research was conducted in Ladakh, where she explored the biocultural interplay between large carnivores and human populations, a journey she continues to explore. Finally, Arash Ghoddousi, joining us from Humboldt-University Berlin, as our facilitator, will weave together these diverse perspectives. We extend an invitation to you to partake in the discussion as we collectively explore the dimensions and implications of the concept of ‘coexistence’ across the snow leopard range and beyond.

About the Talk:

Credit: Nyanpo Yutse Conservation Association

 

Conservationists worldwide are making efforts to minimize human-wildlife conflicts for coexistence. Despite its varying definitions, coexistence generally requires humans to sustainably share landscapes and resources with wildlife. This is a grand objective that presents significant challenges. It requires more than scientific evidence, technological innovation, market efficiency, and policy adjustment, but also transformation in our mental map of reality, ways of knowing, and values. Yufang Gao’s interdisciplinary scholarship aims to develop a holistic understanding of the ecological, sociopolitical, and cultural dimensions of human-wildlife coexistence across multiple spatiotemporal scales and institutional contexts in China and worldwide. In this talk, he will use Tibetan traditional knowledge about snow leopards and other large carnivores to discuss the role of culture in shaping local imagination as to the ends, means, and contexts of coexistence and its implication for conservation.

Meet our Guests:

Yufang Gao is a Chinese conservationist passionate about integrating knowledge and practice for human-wildlife coexistence. He holds a B.S. in Biology from Peking University, a M.S. in Environmental Science, and a combined Ph.D. in conservation science and environmental anthropology from Yale University. For the past 15 years, Gao has worked with international, national, and local organizations on a wide range of projects related to large carnivore conservation on the Tibetan Plateau. His work has been recognized by the National Geographic Emerging Explorers Award, Marsh Award for Terrestrial Conservation Leadership, and Roy A. Rappaport Prize in Environmental Anthropology, among others. Currently, he is leading an initiative that aims to engage and empower early-career Chinese conservationists for the development of conservation edgewalkership.

 

Dr. Saloni Bhatia is a conservation anthropologist based at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Bangalore India. She studies the relationship between people and their environment including human-wildlife interactions, largely in the high altitude Himalayan landscape. Her past work has examined the biocultural relationships between large carnivores and people in Ladakh where she continues to work to the present day.

 

Arash Ghoddousi is a Research Fellow at Humboldt-University Berlin. The focus of my research is on understanding and improving the effectiveness of protected areas and law enforcement mechanisms, offering insight into human-wildlife conflict and poaching, as well as, improving methods in monitoring large mammals. He is particularly interested in the conservation of big cats and mountain ungulates with a special focus on southwest Asia, the Caucasus and Central Asia. He has close collaborations with conservation organizations (e.g., IUCN, WWF) around the world and consult on several projects.

Date/Time

Tuesday, 05th September, 2023 at 14:00pm Bishkek 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.
  • Please note that the session will be recorded and later featured on the SLN website. If you have concerns about this please let us know before the session.

 

SLN Webinar: Cluster studies – What are they and what can we learn from them?

Join us for a webinar that delves into the fascinating world of cluster studies in snow leopard research. We will explore the realm of spatial ecology and its broader implications for understanding the species. Our guest, Gustaf Samelius, Assistant Director of Science for the Snow Leopard Trust, will join us to share a recent update on the collation of detailed cluster studies of snow leopards in the South Gobi, Mongolia. These studies, conducted in collaboration with the Snow Leopard Conservation Foundation, are part of the Long-Term Ecological Study, which has been active for over 13 years. Gustaf will discuss how his time in the Gobi during spring 2023 has provided a more detailed understanding of the species.

We will also be joined by Yanlin Liu from Qinghai Normal University, China, who will participate as a discussant. Yanlin will share how the collaring work in the Qilianshan mountains of China (which is approx. less than 500km from the Mongolia South Gobi study) addresses similar or different questions related to prey predation. Koustubh Sharma will facilitate this discussion and we hope that participants will engage with our guests, with questions, as we delve into a broader conversation about snow leopard behavior and predation. 

About the talk

GPS-collars are a common way to study spatial ecology but GPS-collars can also teach us about other aspects of ecology such as foraging patterns and reproductive biology. During this seminar, Gustaf will show us how they use what is called cluster studies (which is visiting of the places where collared animals stop for extended periods) to study predation patterns of collared snow leopards in southern Mongolia. Gustaf will also show us how they are also starting to use cluster studies to learn more about where the collared cats are resting and how this will help us understand how the cats are using the mountains and why they are limited to mountains.

About our Guests

Gustaf Samelius, Assistant Director of Science for the Snow Leopard Trust, specializes in applied ecology and the conservation of snow leopards and mountain ecosystems. With nearly a decade of experience, Gustaf has been actively involved in the Long-term Ecological Study, providing him with a detailed understanding of snow leopard ecology in this region.

 

 


Yanlin Liu has been working with different teams on the snow leopard assessment in Qilian Mountains. Yanlin is currently a Lecturer in the College of Life Sciences at Qinghai Normal University and consultant for the Chinese Felid Conservation Alliance. He previously served as the director of the snow leopard project for the ShanShui Conservation Center and a Post-Doc in the Chinese Academy of Forest. 

 

 

Koustubh Sharma is the Science and Conservation Director at Snow Leopard Trust (SLT) and International Coordinator at The Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP). With nearly 20 years of experience in ecological research, wildlife conservation and training, he helps build collaborations and coordinate alliances and at multiple levels for snow leopard research and conservation.

Date/Time

Thursday, August 31st, 2023 at 14:00pm Bishkek time

Location

ZOOM, to join this talk, REGISTER HERE

Tost Mountains in Southern Mongolia in Feb 2020

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.
  • Please note that the session will be recorded and later featured on the SLN website. If you have concerns about this please let us know before the session.
Bedsite where Anu and her cub spent the day and the evening
male ibex killed by collared snow leopard

 

SLN Webinar: Using ranger-based monitoring data for predicting poaching pressure

We are pleased to invite you to our upcoming webinar on the topic of illegal hunting and wildlife conservation. The webinar will focus on the pressing issue of illegal hunting and its impact on large herbivores, specifically mountain ungulates. Despite increased conservation efforts, many species are still at risk of extinction, and more effective interventions are needed. Our speaker, Arash Ghoddousi, will share his research on analysing ranger-based monitoring data to inform adaptive management. He will present a case study from Golestan National Park, where they identified the main determinants of illegal hunting, such as accessibility, law enforcement, and prey availability. Our discussant, Munib Khanyari, will also share his insights on human-nature relationships in the Trans-Himalayan region of India.

The webinar is open to all and will take place on Tuesday, 11th April 2023 at 14:00 pm Bishkek time. We will discuss the important role of park rangers in wildlife conservation and how data collection can be used to make more effective decisions for conservation management.  We hope to see you there!

About the talk

Poaching is driving many species toward extinction and large herbivores such as mountain ungulates are particularly at risk. Despite ever-increasing conservation efforts worldwide to combat poaching, the status of many target species is alarming and more effective interventions are needed. One of the main requirements for effective conservation measures against poaching is robust predictions of its prevalence and distribution. However, this information is often lacking due to inconsistent or complex data collection approaches. One of the often-untapped sources of data is ranger-based monitoring. In many protected areas, rangers are tasked with patrolling areas and noting their sightings either in analogue (e.g., logbooks) or digital (e.g., GPS) formats. However, in most cases these data are left not analyzed, failing to support adaptive management and decision-making processes.

1401:032016:13C:2566:CAMERA1:3 Illegal hunting in Golestan NP

In this study, we aimed to address this issue and developed a workflow for analyzing data on poaching and wildlife detections from analogue logbooks in an occupancy modelling framework to inform adaptive management. We used Golestan National Park as the case study. We obtained logbook data from nine ranger stations from 2014-2016, and digitized and geolocated 4800 daily patrols. We tested three hypotheses of (1) accessibility, (2) law enforcement, and (3) prey availability as the main determinants of poaching. Our results revealed a low probability (12%) of poacher detection during patrols. Poaching distribution was best explained by prey availability (especially urial), indicating that poachers target areas with high concentrations of ungulates. Poaching pressure was estimated to be high in 39% of our study area. To alleviate poaching pressure, we recommend ramping up patrolling intensity in 12% of the national park. Our approach illustrates the value of analogue ranger logbooks for evidence-based and adaptive planning of protected area management.

DCIM101GOPRO Ranger Patrols in Golestan NP

About our Guests

Arash Ghoddousi is a research fellow at Humboldt-University Berlin, Germany.​ His research interests lie in understanding the interaction of ecological and social factors in natural systems and how they impact the effectiveness of conservation interventions. The focus of his research is on understanding and improving the effectiveness of protected areas and law enforcement mechanisms, offering insight into human-wildlife conflict and poaching, as well as, improving methods of monitoring large mammals. Arash is particularly interested in the conservation of big cats and mountain ungulates with a special focus on southwest Asia, the Caucasus and Central Asia. He has close collaborations with conservation organizations around the world including various specialist groups of IUCN (e.g., Cat, Bear and Caprinae SGs), the Snow Leopard Network, and the Society for Conservation Biology – Europe Section.

Meet our discussant – Munib Khanyari – I recently completed my PhD that looked at investigating the impact of environmental and social factors on GIN transmission dynamics between interacting domestic and wild ungulates, exhibiting spatio-temporal dynamics, in temperate Asian rangelands. I now work with the Nature Conservation Foundation as a Program Manager. I work primarily across the Trans-Himalayan region of India, aiming to build positive human-nature relationships.

Date/Time

Tuesday, 11th April, 2023 at 14:00pm Bishkek 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.
  • Please note that the session will be recorded and later featured on the SLN website. If you have concerns about this please let us know before the session.

Ranger patrols in Golestan NP

Understanding geographies of threat

 

The world’s biodiversity face persistent and changing threats, resulting in degradation of habitats and declines in species populations. Threats are dynamic factors that cause decline or destruction of habitat, population size, or biodiversity in any site of interest. Conducting a comprehensive analysis of threats can be more challenging than it may first appears. Threats can be direct, indirect, local or globally driven and they often vary over time with new threats emerging. The Snow Leopard Network is delighted to invite you to the webinar entitled “Understanding the geographies of Threat”. Our guest Alfredo Romero-Muñoz, from the Humboldt University, Berlin, will share how his team is analysing the impact of threats to wildlife and habitats across the Gran Chaco region in South America. The talk will be facilitated by Dr. Gustaf Samelius, followed by a discussion, with our discussant Dr. Ranjini Murali, on the geography of threats across snow leopard landscapes and exchange on approaches to assess them. 

 

Building and exchanging capacities in snow leopard research and conservation

 

In 2022 two projects in India and Kyrgyzstan were supported by the Snow Leopard Network Training Grants Program:

“Volunteers for Nature: Developing and training local volunteers for nature education” led by Deepshikha Sharma and team from the Nature Conservation Foundation.

“Enhancing conservation awareness among youth through school visits by local rangers in Osh Oblast, Kyrgyzstan” led by Fatima Mannapbekova and colleagues from Panthera.

SLN invites you to a discussion with our 2022 Grantees to learn more about their projects and the lessons learned. We will ask our guests to share more about- What was achieved? What were the challenges and opportunities encountered in the implementation of the project? What did the teams learn that could help others wishing to do similar projects? How do teams see the results being applied to conservation? We will then open up the discussion with the audience to discuss effective and respectful strategies for building and exchanging capacities in snow leopard research and conservation among key stakeholders. 

 

 

 

SLN Webinar: Understanding geographies of threat

The world’s biodiversity face persistent and changing threats, resulting in degradation of habitats and declines in species populations. Threats are dynamic factors that cause decline or destruction of habitat, population size, or biodiversity in any site of interest. Conducting a comprehensive analysis of threats can be more challenging than it may first appears. Threats can be direct, indirect, local or globally driven and they often vary over time with new threats emerging. The Snow Leopard Network is delighted to invite you to the webinar entitled “Understanding the geographies of Threat”. Our guest Alfredo Romero-Muñoz, from the Humboldt University, Berlin, will share how his team is analysing the impact of threats to wildlife and habitats across the Gran Chaco region in South America. The talk will be followed by a discussion, with our discussant Dr. Ranjini Murali, on the geography of threats across snow leopard landscapes and exchange on approaches to assess them. 

About the Talk

This fascinating presentation describes research on the impacts of habitat destruction and hunting pressure across the 1.1 million km2 Gran Chaco region in South America – the world’s largest dry forests that has become a global deforestation hotspot. By analysing the impact of these threats in the habitats and populations of different species, we aimed to understand what is the relative impact of these threats, and how those impacts have changed over time. In addition, we explore how the two threats interact in space and what may be the implications of these interactions. The talk will be followed by a discussion and exchange on the geography of threats across snow leopard landscapes. 

About our Guest – Alfredo Romero-Muñoz

Alfredo Romero-Muñoz is a researcher at Humboldt University Berlin focused on understanding the impacts that land use change brings to biodiversity, including through habitat destruction and hunting, and identifying opportunities for conserving biodiversity in changing regions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Discussant – Ranjini Murali

Dr. Ranjini Murali has over ten years experience working in snow leopard landscapes. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Biography Lab in Humboldt Universität zu Berlin. She works on understanding the impacts sudden of institutional changes on large carnivore populations. She’s also a conservation scientist with the Snow Leopard Trust and affiliated with the Global Snow Leopard Ecosystem Programme (GSLEP).

 

 

Date/Time

Monday, March 6th, 2023 at 16:00 pm Bishkek 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.
  • Please note that the session will be recorded and later featured on the SLN website. If you have concerns about this please let us know before the session.

SLN Webinar: Building and exchanging capacities in snow leopard research and conservation

In 2022 two projects in India and Kyrgyzstan were supported by the Snow Leopard Network Training Grants Program:

“Volunteers for Nature: Developing and training local volunteers for nature education” led by Deepshikha Sharma and team from the Nature Conservation Foundation.

“Enhancing conservation awareness among youth through school visits by local rangers in Osh Oblast, Kyrgyzstan” led by Fatima Mannapbekova and colleagues from Panthera.

SLN invites you to a discussion with our 2022 Grantees to learn more about their projects and the lessons learned. We will ask our guests to share more about- What was achieved? What were the challenges and opportunities encountered in the implementation of the project? What did the teams learn that could help others wishing to do similar projects? How do teams see the results being applied to conservation? We will then open up the discussion with the audience to discuss effective and respectful strategies for building and exchanging capacities in snow leopard research and conservation among key stakeholders. 

SLN has just announced the 2023 call for applications. Come ask our 2022 Grantees questions about their projects and help potential 2023 applicants address any queries. The SLN Training Grant is made possible through the support of the Pangje Foundation, an SLN member organisation dedicated to protecting snow leopards and helping local communities. The specific goal of the grant centres around building capacities in snow leopard research and conservation among grassroot stakeholders. 

Date/Time

Thursday, 09 February, 2023 at 14:00pm Bishkek 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.
  • Please note that the session will be recorded and later featured on the SLN website. If you have concerns about this please let us know before the session.

Perceptions of carnivore management interventions in Sweden and wildlife conflicts from the perspective of the individual.

Large carnivores are known to evoke strong emotions. These can influence consensus or social interactions between people promoting wildlife conservation and people who suffer from its negative consequences. Conservation interventions that aim to prevent or mitigate carnivore attacks on domestic animals are intended to promote coexistence between people and carnivores. These however risk failing if they do not also address fear and social conflicts and emotions/perspectives of intervention end users.

SLN is pleased to invite Ann Eklund, a researcher in Environmental Psychology, to lead this webinar. Anne shares examples of conservation interventions in Sweden, present how these interventions may be perceived by the intended end users, and discusses the potential that interventions may or may not have to promote co-existence. Orjan Johansson, SLN’s Steering Committee member facilitates the discussion around this exchange of learnings. 

 

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.