Both scientific and traditional knowledge are indispensable to effective, ethical, and community-centered conservation, the director of Snow Leopard Trust argues in a new op-ed.“When communities, scientists, and conservation practitioners become co-producers of knowledge, science and stewardship become stronger, and so does the future of nature,” he writes.This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
A group of women often climbs steep cliffs to set up camera traps for snow leopards around Kibber in Spiti Valley, India. The senior women know the landscape intimately, like what areas the animals use and where cameras are likely to capture movement. They have walked these mountains all their lives and know how to navigate the most rugged and inaccessible terrain safely, even in snow and ice. This is a kind of access that visiting researchers simply cannot replicate.
Back at the village, they gather around two computer screens. The younger women, who are typically more adept at handling technology, organize and sort the photographic data. Together, they identify individual snow leopards from their coat patterns, building scientific monitoring skills over time. Their work contributes directly to regional and global assessment and monitoring of snow leopard populations.
