Snow Leopard tracking in the Himalayas
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
It is important to be aware of the fragility of the Himalayan ecosystem, by travelling with a zoologist as well as local guides, the impact on the environment is a minimum. As many things are recycled as possible and we make sure that all signs of our camp are taken back with us to the town and disposed of responsibly. All the entrance fees paid to the Hemis National Park authorities and the camera trap permits go into direct conservation efforts throughout Ladakh and help to fund rangers and wardens to protect the wildlife against poachers. Since the park has reopened to tourists the decline in poaching has been dramatic and we hope to help maintain this decline until poaching here is a thing of the distant past.
Every person booking on this tour will receive a comprehensive pre-departure pack which will outline the do’s and don’ts when on the tour, these guidelines help to increase your chances of seeing wildlife as well as protecting the environment and conserving the area for future generations. All these points are common sense and by following them will increase the enjoyment of the entire tour. At the end of each tour we offset our carbon footprint (based on the number of tours we have completed and the number of passengers we have taken with us), with the Carbon Trust.
Wildlife
The wildlife is of course of the utmost importance to us on this tour and all other tours run by us. All pictures and videos which we take of wild snow leopards are handed over to the Snow Leopard Conservancy for their on going studies. This helps to keep tabs on the individuals in the area and further understand the behaviour of the species; as the snow leopard is still far from understood completely, every sighting is invaluable to conservation and research efforts. We also actively campaign against poaching and the illegal fur trade worldwide; we are also keen to report any abuse of the environment or wildlife that we see to the local authorities.
Community
The local community benefits directly from this tour in many ways. The most obvious being that the porters, pony-men, snow leopard trackers, cooks and camp assistants are all local people who are handsomely paid for their tireless work. This has made guiding a genuine career prospect which has helped to keep the current generation of men in the villages (as opposed to the migration out of the mountains and into the towns and cities).
The other major impact is that when staying at the homestays in Rumbak, this is run by the Snow Leopard Conservancy; the money from the homestay is split to fund many projects in the village as well as some being given direct the host families. Some of the more important projects which are funded are solar powered water heaters, better corrals for their livestock at night (to avoid snow leopard and Tibetan wolf predation) and training of snow leopard guides and trackers.
All our guests are encouraged to embrace and understand Buddhism and the daily lives of the local people, we find that this is the best way for the local ethos and culture to embed itself into foreigners and as a result the awareness of the area and its people becomes more ingrained in the mindset of tourists.
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