THE SNOW LEOPARD CONSERVATION EDUCATION PROGRAMME
Team at Pune: Sujatha Padmanabhan, Sharmila Deo from Kalpavriksh
Contact: kvedu@vsnl.net
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Introduction: The Snow Leopard Conservation Education Programme is a collaborative effort between the Snow Leopard Conservancy – India Trust (SLC-IT) and Kalpavriksh (KV) to facilitate the development and implementation of an environment education programme in Ladakh, focused on the conservation of Snow leopards and other wildlife of the local trans-Himalayan region. |
Background to the Programme:
While the SLC-IT has worked closely with local agro-pastoralist communities in villages of Leh district (including the Hemis National Park) and in villages of the Zanskar region in Kargil district, a need was felt for more focused efforts to raise awareness amongst children about the environment with specific focus on Ladakh’s biodiversity and the conservation of Snow leopards.
The Ladakh region is part of the Trans-Himalayan region, and is a cold desert characterized by severe winters lasting over six months, with temperatures dropping as low as -50°C in some places. Ladakh has 310 species of birds (including 30 species not seen since 1960); 33 species of larger mammals (little information available on smaller mammals); 3 species of amphibians; 11 species of reptiles and about 611 species of flowering plants.
Much of Ladakh’s wildlife remained intact over centuries, probably because Buddhist teachings encouraged people to live peacefully with wildlife. However, a lot has changed in Ladakh over the last half century, and some fauna species like the wild yak, Tibetan gazelle and the Tibetan antelope have become endangered. Other species like the Snow leopard and the Tibetan wolf are also threatened due to people-wildlife conflicts.
The Snow leopard and the Tibetan wolf are sometimes the target of local people’s ire, as the two predators prey on domestic livestock. Although the wolf actually kills more domestic animals than the Snow leopard, it is the latter that has earned the anger of the local people. This maybe because while the wolf largely preys only on small livestock (like sheep and goats), the Snow leopard kills even large-bodied ones like horses and yaks. Losing these animals is a big economic loss for a rural family. Retaliatory killings of the Snow leopard and wolf do happen when local communities suffer livestock losses to these predators.
The reasons for the attacks are many: poorly constructed livestock enclosures that enable predators to gain entry; lax guarding practices; less number of herders available given the fact that many adults are absent from their villages due to job opportunities available with the army, government and in tourism; and increase in domestic livestock owned by local people.
SLC-IT invited Kalpavriksh personnel to help develop and implement an environment education programme that targets school children of upper primary and middle school levels. The programme was conceptualized in 2005, and work on the programme started in December 2005. Funding for the programme was received from SLC-USA and AID-Columbus (a total of 4.75 lakh rupees was received for the first year of work; and a total of 11.84 lakh rupees received/committed for the following two years).
Objectives of the programme:
- To instill in children the knowledge and appreciation of their rich natural biodiversity.
- To encourage children to understand the importance of harmonious co-existence between humans and wildlife.
- To help children understand issues of wildlife conservation in the hope that they become future stewards of their natural environment.
Area of operations:
In the year 2006, the Snow Leopard Conservation Education Programme was implemented in 5 villages in and on the periphery of the Hemis High Altitude National Park. The programme involved about 70 children in the Government schools in Matho, Markha, Shang, Shang Chokdo, and Nakdin.
Based on the feedback received, SLC-IT decided to extend the programme in 2007 to two more schools in Leh district (at Hemis-shukpachan and the Central Institute of Buddhist Studies (CIBS) at Choglamsar) and to three schools in the Zanskar region in Kargil district. About 300 children are involved in the programme in these schools. The decision to include the school at CIBS in the programme was taken because Buddhist monks and nuns join this school after finishing primary level education from their monastery schools. If a monk or a nun spreads a message, there is usually a large following, so the decision to include this school was taken in the hope that the programme influences them to become ambassadors for conservation.
Content and design of the Programme:
The programme focuses mainly on Ladakh’s wild biodiversity (flora and fauna), threats that it faces and conservation actions taken to tackle them. Concepts related to species and ecosystem levels of biodiversity are explored with Ladakh based examples. The content for the programme was put together from many sources: articles, research studies, interviews with local persons, information gathered from local NGOs, etc.
The programme is aimed at children of grades 4 to 8. It is implemented by local persons who have an aptitude for such work. It was decided not to hand over implementation of the programme to the teachers as we realized during the reconnaissance trip that we undertook in 2005, that teacher absenteeism was a real issue in many of the villages within Hemis National Park.. This was partly due to the fact that the villages are not accessible by road, and hence a teacher who has to travel to Leh or outside the National Park takes a week to return back to the village. SLC-IT had earlier conducted two nature guides training programmes, and two youth who had done this training were chosen for this programme.
The first year of the programme is aimed at increasing children’s knowledge about the local biodiversity, while getting them excited about it. The programme is conducted through a series of special workshops at the schools. The second and third years of the programme will see the children working on local issues while still learning more about threats and conservation actions.
Tools used:
Many tools were used during the interactions with the children: discussion, role-play, worksheets, outdoor and indoor games, creative writing, nature study, art and craft, bird-watching trips, films, etc.
Material developed:
| Kalpavriksh developed educational material to support the programme. This included a handbook for educators (currently in draft form), which has chapters on Biodiversity, Ecosystems, Ladakh’s fauna, Ladakh’s flora, Threats to Ladakh’s biodiversity, and Conservation Initiatives. Accompanying each chapter of the Handbook is an activity section that describes in detail activities that could be conducted with the children. |
The activities suggested or developed were diverse: for example, as part of the threats chapter an outdoor activity helped to bring home the need to predator proof one’s livestock enclosures; a variation of a local game that children play (called tulo) helped to highlight pressures on natural resources; Tailing the Snow Leopard was played with much gusto after the session on the Snow leopard’s characteristics, habitat, and behaviour.
Watch a video of some of the games being played here...
Local level action, community involvement
| After conducting five workshops, the children choose a local issue to work on. After an initial brainstorming exercise which lists all environmental issues in the village, the children vote to choose what they would work on. So far three schools have initiated action in their villages: garbage management projects in Markha and Hemis-shukpachan projects, and whitewashing of stupas in Matho. |
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| The projects are initiated with the involvement of family, community as well as Village Education Committee (VECs) members. |
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| A special function is held in each village with the help of the VEC, where the children share what they have learnt in this programme. Children also conduct some of the activities and games that were used in the programme; quiz, fauna bingo and web of life . |
Testimonies:
At the end of the year, we asked children to write out what they felt about the overall programme and to tell us in what ways it has helped them. Children wrote their responses in Ladakhi which were translated into English. Some sample responses are given below:
“There have been many changes in me. If you are asking what are the changes, then I got a lot of knowledge about plants, animals and birds. I don’t know anything before and through these games I learnt many things.” (Ishey Dolma, class 7)
“……………………I have never seen these animals which live in the mountains because I live far from the mountains. I can imagine how the animals are and from him (Rigzin) I got information about Black-necked cranes. Actually, I have not been to Changthang, and I have never seen that bird. I now feel that I have seen that bird. I have learnt not only in the world but I know how many animals are endemic in Ladakh. I know all this in one year. Before I don’t know anything. I want to say that we are proud of you for giving information about these animals and teaching us. I hope you are keeping this continuous. I am feeling in my heart.” (Tsering Chorol, class 7)
“I never heard these things before which you tell today……..” (Stanzin Jigmet, class 7)
“Jullay. I learnt what I never learnt before. Like different animal names, films which I have never seen before I have seen today. I know now which I don’t know before. And today I enjoyed very much. Last year I don’t know anything. Suddenly there are changes in me.” (No name and class given)
To quote Mr. Namgyal, The Headmaster of Markha School: “The students have improved much more than before. So much so that the students seem to know much more than us teachers about the biodiversity of Ladakh. Even during the games period they prefer to play the environmental games instead of cricket or other games.”
For more information contact Sujatha Padmanabhan at kvedu@vsnl.net
