Fundraiser Setup to Buy Skis For Mongolia’s Park Rangers

SnowBrains |
mongolia, fundraiser
Credit: GoFundMe

Help us raise money to purchase skis for the park rangers who protect northwest Mongolia’s National Parks and wildlife! We need to raise $7,000 to provide skis for the 34 park rangers responsible for protecting the mountains and wildlife of the Ulaan Taiga Protected Areas.

Tengis Shishged National Park and Ulaan Taiga Strictly Protected Area were established in 2012 to protect Mongolia’s Darhad Valley from gold mining. Combined with the existing Horidol Saridag Strictly Protected Area, the total amount of protected land in the Darhad totals over 3.7 million acres, all of which fall under the jurisdiction of the Ulaan Taiga Protected Areas’ Administration. The land is managed by a staff of just five professionals and 34 rangers. These parks are home many rare and majestic wildlife species, including brown bears, snow leopard, wolves, lynx, elk, wolverine, argali sheep, and ibex

In March and April of 2019, we journeyed to the Darhad for a month-long expedition on behalf of the Wolverine Foundation to survey for wildlife and assist the Protected Areas’ Administration in developing a baseline understanding of wildlife species presence and distribution across the region.

You can learn more about our expedition here.

We used skis to travel through the snow-covered mountains surrounding the Darhad in our quest to find wolverines and other wildlife. Skiing has a long history in the Darhad, but it is a dying tradition.  Horse and motorcycle travel – the usual modes of transport for the Protected Areas’ Administration rangers –  are limited by deep snow. After observing how skis allowed us to travel deep into the mountains and trying them out for themselves, all the rangers we met during our time in Mongolia excitedly talked about how skis would help them in their work patrolling the backcountry.

mongolia, fundraiser
Mongolia

We returned home with a desire to outfit the Ulaan Taiga Protected Areas’ Administration rangers with skis so that they can travel into the mountains in the winter. This will allow them to patrol for poachers, study wildlife, and more thoroughly protect the parks. Altai Skis has offered to provide skis at a deeply discounted cost so we need to raise just $7,000 in order to provide skis for all 34 rangers.

By donating today you can help us reach our goal, and help to protect one of the wildest places on earth. 

The Wolverine Foundation has a close partnership with the Ulaan Taiga Protected Areas’ Administration and is the supporting entity for this fundraiser. Your donation to The Wolverine Foundation is 100% tax-deductible.


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