In order to understand the effectiveness of an endangered species conservation program, it is essential to have an accurate baseline number of the species population. In the case of the red panda, this is absent.

To date, we have conducted baseline research of red panda within the Panchthar, Ilam and Taplejung districts of Eastern Nepal. Based on the results of several years of monitoring we can see the effectiveness of our conservation programs. To date we do not have enough data to make strong conclusions but we have seen the awareness of the importance of red panda increase by our presence in the field.

Our objective is to conduct non-invasive, cost-effective status surveys in all five range countries by the end of 2015. Our flagship community-based monitoring program is called Project Punde Kundo. In this program, we train village stewards in our “forest guardian” survey and monitoring methodology and provide technical assistance after the program is operational. Our goal is to train a minimum of 12 forest guardians a year and something we have achieved the last 3 years. This program is crucial to our success because it creates real ownership by local villagers and is the base from which we conduct the rest of our activities.