Leopard Enterprise Program

Very rare in the world in the protection of the snow leopard The Leopard Enterprise Program has been implemented since 1997 to engage local communities. The program aims to increase the household income of leopard-affected herders living far from markets, help them find markets for small handicrafts made from their livestock, and thereby provide herders with an opportunity to indirectly compensate for the losses of livestock killed by leopards.

Under this program, herders undertake to protect nature and receive incentives if they sign a contract with the IHS through their community and fulfill the terms of the contract. The conservation agreement stipulates that if leopards, argali, or ibex are illegally hunted in the protected areas of the community, the rewards received by the community will be withdrawn and the herders involved in illegal hunting will be excluded from the program. Cash incentives equivalent to 20% of the total value of products supplied to the program go to herders, and funding equivalent to 10% of the products supplied to the community's program is used to finance small conservation projects to support leopard conservation.

Currently, 24 herder groups from 13 soums in Umnugovi, Uvurkhangai, Gobi-Altai, Khovd, Uvs, and Bayan-Ulgii aimags are participating in the program.

In order to sustainably increase the income of herders' households and expand the market, training courses are regularly organized for herders participating in the program to improve the color, appearance, and quality of their handicraft products.

The products made by the herders are sold in foreign and domestic markets. If you would like to learn more about the products and purchase them, click here . click