Til villagers hold a planning session
Humla Villagers Agree to Protect Snow Leopards
In September 2003, the SLC and the Nepal Trust achieved a major victory. Three villages in
Humla, one of the most important leopard habitats in Nepal, participated in SLC-sponsored village planning to discuss
conflict between village livestock and snow leopards and then agreed to protect the endangered cats. Key to the
accomplishment was the participatory dialog that SLC partners Jigme Lama and Wendy Lama used with villagers. The villagers
concluded that if they improved livestock guarding practices and covered unprotected open windows in the winter stables with
wire mesh, then the snow leopards could not threaten their livestock. SLC agreed to provide the wire mesh to protect the
stables, and the villagers agreed to install and maintain it.
The villages signed a contract further agreeing to:
- stop community members from killing or attempting to kill snow leopards
- oversee the dismantling of all snow leopard traps and prevent any from being built
- record all reported sightings of snow leopards
- record all livestock losses and attacks by snow leopard
- practice the best possible livestock guarding techniques.
Snow leopards have been killed in retaliation for livestock predation as recently as last winter in Humla, so these new contracts are an important victory for the cats. The victory also highlights the importance of trusted local partners, such as the Nepal Trust, and the value of an approach that fully involves the community from the beginning in conservation planning and problem-solving.
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