Posted on July, 07 2015

WWF-Mongolia supports the eco-clubs established in 11 soums located in the habitat of Mongolian saiga and snow leopard. This year, children of the eco-clubs celebrated “Day of Mongolian Saiga” and “Day of Snow Leopard” on 24 April, and organized many different activities in their respective soums. The activities reminded people that protecting wildlife is a duty of local people and all of us. For instance, they have organized theatrical contest among middle and high school pupils on “Let’s get to know snow leopard and saiga” and have performed to youth and adults in the soum cultural centers. They also exhibited a scale model of the snow leopards habitat and organized poetry and painting competitions which were displayed during the event.
Moreover, in collaboration with soum rangers and teachers of the eco-clubs kids have organized an eco-travel to the land of saiga and snow leopard. During this trip, children were introduced with the habitat of saiga, which is the pride of their land, and became aware about the work of rangers, methods of monitoring over the animal and how to do researches, what kind of obstacles they face with and how to solve them. They have also been introduced with the way to cooperate with local people, methods of collecting information and how to implement public awareness activities. Along the way, eco-club members have met with local herders, organized quizzes involving locals, played sand volleyball and many other interesting contests. The children filled a diary and took photos of their trip and organized exhibitions which were highly appreciated by local people.  
During the trip, children have seen saiga, fox and many other animals and admired the beauty of the nature. They said they experienced both positive and challenging aspects of nature conservation that made them understand the needs and importance of protecting wildlife.