The project coordinator, Akmatova Kuluipa, and a local expert from Talas oblast, Kurmanbaev Akylbek, for our project on “Kyrgyz traditional ecological knowledge at the base of the snow leopard protection and their habitat at the local community level”, with a support from the Institute for Sustainable Development Strategy, participated at workshops in Khustain Nuruu National Park in Mongolia , on 1-9 April, 2016.
This workshop aimed at preparing members for the next Global Alliance meeting on the protection of the snow leopard population which is planned in the second quarter of 2016 by considering all the recommendations and offers made at the first meeting.
The main objectives of this workshop were focused on:
– Introduction of indigenous cultural values and views to ecological education through the programmes supported by the Global Alliance for conservation of snow leopard populations and other programs in Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Russia.
– Development of pilot projects and work plans while acqiring skills to monitor wild species using tablets, smartphones and other visualization technologies.
– Understanding the successful indicators of conservation and knowing what they are, why traditional indicators are important and what was done by others until now.
– Development of a concrete model which can serve as point of departure for the development of specific indicators in protection of snow leopards.
The main section of the workshop was dedicated to the practical use of a specially developed application on tablets and smartphones which enabled users to monitor, collect and send data on snow leopards. Collection and transfer of information can be done directly from the communities where people’s lives are more connected with snow leopards and their habitats. Alliance and this application intend to gather an unified data base from many snow leopard habitats.
During the seminar, all participants had a chance to express their ideas and suggestions to improve the application, and to share some new ideas, which were taken by the Alliance and will be considered and refined before the next Global Alliance meeting.
Among the seminar participants were researchers, spiritual practitioners, experts and representatives of the mountain communities from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Mongolia, USA, and Russian Federation. All together they shared ideas and innovative proposals which would contribute to positive shifts in the development and promotion of snow leopard conservation in cooperation with the local communities.