Rigzen Dorjay and Sherab Lobzang

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Rigzen Dorjay is from a small village in Ladakh called Saspochey. Driven  to explore an alternative career, he joined the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) in 2014 as a six-month volunteer helping Ph.D. students with their field work. During this time, he learnt about wildlife conservation and the expanse of Ladakh’s biodiversity. He has been with NCF for over eight years and has learnt how to have meaningful engagements with communities and conduct field surveys across the terrain.

Sherab Lobzang is from Kumdok village in Leh, situated in the eastern part of Ladakh, near China's border. She did her post-graduation from Jammu University in political science, but was attached to wildlife since her childhood since her family is engaged in farming. She now works with NCF and is interested in community-based conservation, and she thinks wildlife conservation is essential to regulate wildlife populations, help balance the ecosystem, and maintain the natural beauty for future generations. Her role at NCF involves working with different communities, school children and conducting field surveys. She enjoys sharing conversations with elder people of villages and collecting stories about their day-to-day life, wildlife and historical places. 

Pasture degradation due to climate change has resulted in increased competition between livestock and wildlife. Dorjay and Lobzang are now working on a project to facilitate herder and wildlife coexistence by reviving a traditional practice.