Bhavita Bhatia

The High Himalaya presents many challenges for explorers. Many regions in upper Nepal are highly inaccessible and restricted. The areas where I work have no roads: one either walks for days or rides a horse. In the media, the people of this region are often portrayed as an exotic “dwindling breed of pastoral nomads from another time,” with little context provided on the multiple challenges these mountain pastoralists currently face. Moreover, conservation efforts are overwhelmingly focused on the region’s “charismatic” animals, such as snow leopards. A recent multimillion, five-year snow leopard conservation plan funded research, conferences, and reviews, yet provided little for herders whose lives are impacted by the cats. In a small hamlet, Charkha in Dolpo, for instance, nearly 100 of their horses were killed by snow leopards in a single year. Understandably, then, many of the leopard killings are in retaliation for livestock losses. Unfortunately, the dominant narrative in the snow leopard/human conflict story continued to ignore the intense suffering and loss to livelihood for goat, yak, and horse herders. Without addressing these issues, long-term solutions will remain elusive. If we are to find sustainable solutions to wildlife conservation in this region, we must listen to, and work with, its Indigenous communities. This includes addressing the complex problems of herder communities—domestic violence, alcoholism, gender inequality, and access to education and economic opportunity—which play into preserving the larger ecosystem.