Arash Ghoddousi

Persian leopard Conservation in Bamu National Park-Iran

Local game-warden

Persian leopard

The Persian leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor) is the largest of leopard subspecies which is listed in the 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as "Endangered". Over the past 25 years in many areas of its vast range the leopard was exterminated and in the others its numbers were significantly reduced. The drastic decline of population size has been a result of poaching, prey reduction and habitat loss.

The number of leopards living in Bamu National Park was guesstimated earlier as 15-20 animals which is among the highest leopard numbers for any studied protected area in Iran. Today, this national park has been surrounded by ever increasing urban areas and other settlements which are encroaching additional lands and converting them to human landscapes. Proximity of Bamu to Shiraz city, roads and villages makes it quite easily accessible to poachers, shepherds with sheep flocks, and holiday makers. Indeed the human-leopard conflicts are among the highest in Bamu which urges a sustainable management guideline in near future.

In this project, we will focus on increasing public awareness in the neighbouring communities to reduce leopard and prey poaching and building capacities to promote ecotourism-based sustainable development of local communities, having chosen the Persian leopard as a symbol of environmental conservation.

Educational workshops, school presentations, festivals and dissemination of published materials among local communities will be the most important actions for leopard conservation in Bamu National Park. Establishment and training of the volunteer group of game wardens and locals to conserve the Persian leopard ("leopard conservation trust") will ensure the long-term sustainability of conservation of the leopard and all other biodiversity in Bamu National Park.

For more information contact ghoddousi@plan4land.org or go to www.plan4land.org

Project Update: December 2008

Group of the visitors to Bamu National Park (Photo: Pouyan Mohseninia).

environmental education, training courses and awareness-raising programmes for local communities continue to take place as an integral part of the project. The following activities were carried out so far:

-Arrival of the first group of ecotourists with the main focus on visiting Bamu as a Persian leopard site and participation of game wardens of the Persian Leopard Trust (PLT) in programme management and capacity building strategy related to ecotourism as a sustainable income for conservation.

-Designing the brochure, poster and other awareness-raising materials to be distributed among the inhabitants of Shiraz city, visitors to Bamu National Park and local communities to make them familiar with this natural heritage. These materials will be published in January 2009 and training courses for local authorities and enthusiasts will take place afterwards.

-Agreements with Fars Province's Department of Environment on establishing the local game-wardens' PLT in Bamu National Park and schedules and curricula of the training courses for the PLT members. The training workshops for PLT will be held in the mid-February 2009.