{"id":8373,"date":"2024-12-02T15:11:43","date_gmt":"2024-12-02T23:11:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.livingdesert.org\/?post_type=tld_desert_digest&p=8373"},"modified":"2024-12-02T16:08:47","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T00:08:47","slug":"united-for-the-desert-a-time-to-give-thanks","status":"publish","type":"tld_desert_digest","link":"https:\/\/www.livingdesert.org\/zoo-news\/conservation-news\/united-for-the-desert-a-time-to-give-thanks\/","title":{"rendered":"United for the Desert: A Time to Give Thanks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
As this season of gratitude approaches each year, we all pause to reflect on what we are most grateful for. At The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens, we are incredibly grateful to our community of supporters like you and our global collaborators, all year long. This season, we would like to take the opportunity to highlight a few of those partners who help us drive our conservation efforts forward to ensure a bright future for deserts around the world \u2014 because conservation is not an individual mission but must be a collaborative effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Protecting Ikh Nart Nature Reserve<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Our innovative collaboration with the Mongolian Conservation Initiative (MCI), is headed by long-time leader Gana Wingard. Gana spends half of the year with us at The Living Desert and the other half in Mongolia, coordinating an exchanging of teams throughout the year. This partnership with the MCI allows us\u00a0to implement a holistic approach to conservation in the Gobi Desert steppe ecosystem of southeastern Mongolia to ensure both nature and humans thrive. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The vital role of desert steppe grassland ecosystems cannot be overstated. These ecosystems help to protect globally important biodiversity, play a critical role in mitigation and adaptation to climate change, and directly support the livelihoods of many human communities. Unfortunately, they are also one of the most threatened ecosystems on Earth due to the ease of conversion for human agricultural use. This is especially true in Mongolia, where nearly 70% of grasslands have been degraded due to increased drought, expansion of mining, and overgrazing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The Ikh Nart Nature Reserve encompasses 160,000 acres of critical grassland steppe and desert ecosystems on the northern edge of the Mongolian Gobi Desert. Within this space, the Reserve protects an essential pasture for 150 nomadic herding families as well as many native animals, including 40 mammal species, 200 bird species, and 7 reptile species. The combined holistic approach to conservation that our partnership with the MCI provides will amplify and extend our combined efforts to implement public outreach and community- based conservation work in Ikh Nart Nature Reserve, Mongolia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Saving Rhinos<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Black Mambas Anti-Poaching Unit (BMAPU) is a group of unarmed, female-only rangers based in south Africa that address the issue of wildlife poaching, particularly with rhinos, through a unique two-pronged approach. Balule is where the BMAPU works to prevent illegal hunting. In the Game Reserve, they have dramatically reduced poaching since they began working there by deterring poaching and removing snares.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
These women are hired from local communities, which provides economic opportunities in areas with high unemployment and allows the women to serve as role models to promote behavior change in their communities. In conjunction, their sister program, The Bush Babies Environmental Education Program works with schools in these communities, teaching children about the importance of conservation and the ways in which poaching affects them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This model moves away from fortress conservation and focuses on attitude and behavior change through community engagement. The Living Desert partners with Transfrontier Africa to support these programs through workshops, funding, and by conducting research on the social impacts of the programs’ outreach. Based on The Living Desert’s 2018 study that indicated pro-conservation social impacts from the Bush Babies program, the program was expanded to three additional communities and new Black Mambas women were hired from those communities. Researchers at The Living Desert completed a follow-up study in 2022 which indicated that Transfrontier Africa would benefit from expanding outreach efforts even further and identified areas of concern within the communities that can be targeted moving forward. The Living Desert is honored to continue our support of this transformative project into the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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