The Bhutan Foundation supported the Soe Park Range Office under the Jigme Dorji National Park (JDNP) to train various members of the Soe and Yaksa community on snow leopard conservation. A key to the project was the formation of Snow Leopard Conservation groups, comprised solely of members from the communities of Soe Yutoe and Soe Yaksa, and the next step for the park was to conduct field trainings in data collection and camera trapping to get the members actively involved and interested in snow leopard conservation.
Involving the local people in these trainings and exercises will be crucial in the conservation of the Snow Leopard in the long term, enabling a future of the communities living in harmony with the snow leopard and other prey species. Through the project agreement, 10 camera traps were donated to the JDNP park for the training of Snow Leopard Conservation Groups for their use in the run up to the Jomolhari Mountain Festival (happening October 14-15). The aim is to set up the camera traps a month before the festival and have captured images of snow leopards and other species on display during the festivities.
