Science Projects

• Conserving Snow Leopards, Securing Water Resources, and Benefiting Communities

  In October 2012, WWF began a four-year project to conserve snow leopard habitat, promote water security, and help communities prepare for climate change impacts in Central Asia. The USAID-funded, $7.3 million Conservation and Adaptation in Asia’s High Mountain Landscapes and Communities project will conduct field activities in and build alliances among six of the snow leopard’s 12 range countries: Bhutan, India, Nepal, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, and Pakistan. The project will run through September 30, 2016.

  

• Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation Measures in Nepal

  The most basic needs—for both humans and animals—are food, water and shelter. When basic needs are threatened, conflicts arise. In the high mountains of Asia, WWF seeks to reduce human-wildlife conflict through projects like the USAID-funded Conservation and Adaptation in Asia’s High Mountain Landscapes and Communities.

  

• Greening Myanmar

  Myanmar is brimming with opportunity. This Southeast Asia country is coming out of 50 years of isolation. Foreign investment is pouring in at a staggering pace and laws are being rewritten across the board. A key question for the country now is how to balance growth with conservation.

  

• Evaluating Conservation Impacts of FSC Certification

  Established as a market-based instrument to drive responsible forest management, Forest Stewardship Council’s (FSC) certification plays an important role in guiding responsible forest management in production forests worldwide, particularly in the tropical forests where more than half of the world’s known species reside.
  
  

  

• Monitoring Tigers in Nepal

  A July 2012 camera trap study in Nepal identified 37 individual tigers—a marked increase from 18 tigers counted in 2009. The tigers were monitored over a three-month period inside Bardia National Park in Nepal and the Khata wildlife corridor in the Terai Arc Landscape.