Wildlife Conservation in a Warzone: Perils and Triumphs in Afghanistan

A new book, “The Snow Leopard Project and Other Adventures in Warzone Conservation” has been recently authored by Dr. Alex Dehgan. Dehgan is an entrepreneur, expedition leader, diplomat and development official who specializes in creative science, technology and leadership. The book is about his efforts as the Country Director for the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Afghanistan Biodiversity Conservation Program. In the middle of a warzone, Dr. Dehgan helped created the first national part, established biodiversity laws and curtailed the illegal trade in wildlife. Currently, there are four national parks as a result of the efforts of his team. Dr. Dehgan uses specialized innovative approaches using entrepreneurship and technology to solve global conservation issues. He also talks about how he incorporated the people of Afghanistan into the projects and the cooperation he received from various indigenous groups. He has had experience working in 90 countries and six continents. He is the founder of a relatively new company, Conservation X Labs which uses high tech approaches to solving long-standing problems. Earlier in his career, Dr. Dehgan was the Chief Scientist for the US Agency for International Development (USAID). There he grew the Office of Science and Technology into a $100 million research program in just four years.