Every fall, participants in Snow Leopard Enterprises sign an agreement committing to specific conservation actions, including a pledge to stop the poaching of all snow leopards and their prey (ibex, argali, red deer) in the local region.  Snow leopards are sometimes poached for their pelts and bones, but most often in these areas, they are killed in retaliation for preying on domestic livestock (which can cause great hardship for herding families).  Snow Leopard Enterprises helps save snow leopards because the economic benefits of the program make it so local herding families no longer have to engage in poaching or retaliatory killing in order to survive.

Program participants work to develop sustainable herding practices, such as decreasing herd sizes, in order to allow more wild sheep and goats to graze in the mountain habitats.  When populations of their natural prey species are healthy, snow leopards are less likely to attack domestic livestock. 

A cash bonus is available at the end of each year if a participating community has complied with its Snow Leopard Enterprises agreement.  But if just one person violates the contract, the entire community loses the bonus.  This creates peer pressure and encourages the community to work together to prevent poaching by outsiders.

In an effort to deepen our mutual understanding and ensure long-term partnerships, the Snow Leopard Trust includes a local educational component, with ecological workshops, eco-camps, newsletters, posters and other resources about snow leopards for participating villages.  These activities increase awareness among the local people of the value and benefits of snow leopards and other wildlife species – and hopefully build our future conservation leaders!

More than 350 families, and over 400 individuals, now participate in Snow Leopard Enterprises. 

Learn more about how Snow Leopard Enterprises:

• Helps impoverished families
  
• Develops handmade products