Help protect this snow leopard sanctuary

Bulldozers are about to destroy a sacred wildlife corridor, high in the peaks of Nepal. It’s home to red pandas, rare medicinal plants, and some of the last snow leopards left on Earth.In just a few weeks, hydropower companies want to start building three new dams, right in the middle of their habitat – creating an endless lake that would drown the valley and all the life it holds.Local Indigenous communities are fighting back in court -- but there's no guarantee they'll win.So they have an emergency plan: with our help, they could purchase specific chunks of land -- permanently protecting them from roads and dams being built. This would secure a much bigger area of 400,000 acres from destruction. Avaaz members have protected land like this in Nepal before -- so we know this tactic works.But time is running out.This place is one of the last undisturbed sanctuaries for snow leopards and other threatened species precisely because local Lhomi Singsa and Bhote people have guarded it for centuries.But if these dams go ahead, their villages, monasteries, and way of life could all be washed away.So let’s stand with them, and help protect their priceless mountain wilderness. Your donation will also help to power other Avaaz campaigns to protect the natural world. Give what you can now: [Take Action Now!] Dear friends, Bulldozers are about to destroy a sacred wildlife corridor, high in the peaks of Nepal. It’s home to red pandas, rare medicinal plants, and some of the last snow leopards left on Earth. In just a few weeks, hydropower companies want to start building three new dams, right in the middle of their habitat – creating an endless lake that would drown the valley and all the life it holds. Local Indigenous communities are fighting back in court -- but there's no guarantee they'll win. So they have an emergency plan: with our help, they could purchase specific chunks of land -- permanently protecting them from roads and dams being built. This would secure a much bigger area of 400,000 acres from destruction. Avaaz members have protected land like this in Nepal before -- so we know this tactic works. But time is running out. This place is one of the last undisturbed sanctuaries for snow leopards and other threatened species precisely because local Lhomi Singsa and Bhote people have guarded it for centuries. But if these dams go ahead, their villages, monasteries, and way of life could all be washed away. So let’s stand with them, and help protect their priceless mountain wilderness. Your donation will also help to power other Avaaz campaigns to protect the natural world. Give what you can now: [I'LL DONATE $2]( [I'LL DONATE $4]( [I'LL DONATE $8]( [I'LL DONATE $16]( [I'LL DONATE $32]( [OTHER AMOUNT]( Snow leopards face life-and-death threats at every turn: mega infrastructure projects, poaching, and the climate crisis… their world is melting away, shrinking year by year. There may only be 3,500 left in the wild. These new hydropower projects would be another nail in the coffin -- damming the magnificent Chhujung, Chhunjam, and Bakhang rivers, and flooding the giant Lungba Samba valley. But by partnering with local Indigenous communities, we can help stop these dams. It's their plan to buy this land -- a fight for biodiversity, and their own survival. It's already worked in other parts of Nepal, but it requires funding that local communities simply don't have. If we raise enough, we could: - Buy strategic parcels of land in Nepal -- registering them as officially protected, blocking bulldozers from their intended construction sites, and supporting the legal and media work to ensure protections are upheld; - Partner with Indigenous communities who are fighting to protect their lands around the world -- supporting them to resist megaprojects, and protecting our world’s remaining biodiversity; - Fund crucial Indigenous lawsuits that challenge land grabs and the decimation of ecosystems and watersheds; and - Push for radical action on biodiversity and climate, and get Indigenous leaders to the nature summits that matter in the coming months. Our movement supported the Bhote community to lay down protections for this region in 2019 -- helping to create a huge 'biocultural heritage zone'. But Nepal’s hunger for hydropower has only grown. Now, we need to help finish the job, and protect this place for good. Together, we can help Indigenous communities preserve their culture, and protect a vast snow leopard habitat in a rapidly changing world. Donate what you can now: [I'LL DONATE $2]( [I'LL DONATE $4]( [I'LL DONATE $8]( [I'LL DONATE $16]( [I'LL DONATE $32]( [OTHER AMOUNT]( Avaaz is proud to have stood with Indigenous Peoples in their fight for justice -- blocking megaprojects and land grabs from Tanzania to the Amazon. We’re a movement from every country on Earth: lawyers, activists, teachers, journalists, grandparents. And when millions of us act as one, across the planet, we can make an outsize difference to the world we leave our future ancestors. With fierce hope and endless determination, Jon, Kaitlin, Mike, Bert, Antonia, Ana Sofia and the whole team at Avaaz PS. This might be your first donation to our movement ever. But what a first donation! Did you know that Avaaz relies entirely on small donations from members like you? That's why we're fully independent, nimble and effective. Join the over 1 million people who've donated to make Avaaz a real force for good in the world. More information: - [Nepal’s hydropower plans spark Leonardo DiCaprio-backed backlash: ‘attack on our ancestral lands']( (South China Morning Post) - [The Race to Dam the Himalayas]( (The New York Times) - [As Projects Decline, the Era of Building Big Dams Draws to a Close]( (Yale Environment 360) - [Animals Are Running Out of Places to Live]( (The New York Times) Avaaz is a 70-million-person global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people shape global decision-making. 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