(1/6) #DICECON20 #HumWild2
I traveled to Ladakh, with @DICE_Kent to research the effect that locally-owned ecotourism programs ( #HimalayanHomestays (HHP)) have on local perceptions and perceived value of #snowleopards (which sometimes prey on and ) https://twitter.com/PantheraCats/status/1039229392902348803

(2/6) I used semi-structured interviews for data collection in villages that had:
1) No ecotourism
2) 3-7 years HHP (short-term)
3) 10+ years HHP (long-term)
asking about feelings around #snowleopards, their value, benefits of tourism, and sources of

#DICECON20 #HumWild2

(3/6) "Before HHP, I didn’t like the snow leopard because it harmed the livestock. Since I’ve run the homestay, everyone comes here to see the snow leopard and from that we get benefits from them.. nowadays when we see it we feel very happy.” Respondent #43
#DICECON20 #HumWild2

(4/6) In HHP villages three types of value associated with wildlife emerged; economic instrumental & intrinsic . In long-term HHPs, the majority of came from ecotourism = value highest. In short-term HHPs, sources were mixed = value highest. #DICECON20
#HumWild2

(5/6) Results indicated that as people become more exclusively dependent on wildlife tourism-based income, wildlife decreases in instrumental and intrinsic values, becoming increasingly
commodified. “If there was no tourism, wildlife would not be valuable” #DICECON20
#HumWild2

(6/6) Conservation interventions like HHP are all about human behaviour, which makes social science and qualitative research vital in conserving species. Thanks to SLC-India Trust, and @DICE_Kent's Mark Hampton and Simon Black

#DICECON20 #HumWild2
https://lnkd.in/eqszjz6