More than 100 experts from around the world attended the International Snow Leopard Conference in Beijing this March and had the opportunity to share ideas and learn from their peers. Significantly, the governments of 11 of the 12 snow leopard range states sent delegations to the meeting and each developed key conservation initiatives that, when implemented, will benefit snow leopards in the wild.

The conference was hosted in Beijing by the Chinese Institute of Zoology, Snow Leopard Network, Panthera Foundation, Wildlife Conservation Society, and Snow Leopard Trust.  George Schaller opened the meeting with a call for renewed efforts on behalf of these endangered cats.

Demonstrating the important and growing role of the Trust in snow leopard conservation efforts worldwide, 21 of the conference participants were Snow Leopard Trust staff.

The first two days of the conference were spent developing an improved range map for the elusive cats. Working together on a big map spread over several tables, experts drew the boundaries of the snow leopard’s historic and current range, and identified priority conservation areas. The much improved range map that emerged from this intensive process then facilitated the development of conservation priorities.

That was the topic of the next three days of the conference, as participants broke into country-specific planning sessions and developed their own snow leopard conservation priorities.

Conference participants agreed on a shared vision for snow leopards:

A world where snow leopards and their wild prey thrive in healthy mountain ecosystems across all major ecological settings of their range, and where snow leopards are revered as unique ecological, economic, aesthetic and spiritual assets.

They also unanimously adopted three major resolutions focused on developing conservation action plans for each country, naming coordinators or focal points to facilitate the work, and developing specific plans to facilitate trans-boundary conservation projects.

The conference organizers were very pleased with all of these results. New relationships were developed between governments, nonprofits, and donors, and countries have set aggressive new plans that will provide increased protection for snow leopards. Follow-up will be key, but we now have a much stronger foundation from which to build a successful future for snow leopards and their mountain ecosystem.