By traveling with Cheesemans’ to India to see snow leopards, you directly support the local community as well as the people who work in ecotourism. Our local operator has long-lasting personal relationships with the owners of the camp where you will stay on our snow leopard itineraries. The camp, built by the local community, is incredibly environmentally friendly and a model for sustainable conservation tourism. The camp employs locals and trains others to become adept at snow leopard tracking which, in turn, contributes to conservation.
The snow leopard ecotourism industry offers people sustainable job alternatives and helps locals protect their livelihoods, which positively impacts conservation efforts. For example, our operator works directly with locals around the camp to build economically feasible, humane, and long-lasting pens to keep livestock safe from snow leopard attacks and to prevent the cats from being subject to shepherd retaliation for killing livestock. The construction of these pens offers work opportunities for local people and helps to maintain a healthy relationship between the people and the cats. Furthermore, our operator contributes to dog-sterilization programs in wildlife areas to reduce dog-wildlife conflicts. A portion of the trip cost is donated toward dog-sterilization programs and building these predator-proof corrals in the community.
High Asia Habitat Fund – This organization’s mission is to protect High Asia’s critical ecosystems through conserving wildlife, restoring wild habitat, and empowering dependent communities toward conservation.
Snow Leopard Trust – This organization aims to protect this endangered cat through community-based conservation projects that are based on an improved scientific understanding of snow leopard behavior, needs, habitats, and threats.