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Project title

Developing a habitat restoration framework with respect to the optimum reference condition for efficient enhancement of the conservation measures focusing on the Asiatic cheetah and the Persian leopard in Iran

Primary Funding Agency

Irish Research Council

Co-Funding Organisation(s)

Lead Organisation

University College Cork

Lead Applicant

Not listed

Project Abstract

The last remaining population of the Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) existed in Iran with a range across vast areas including harsh deserts and inaccessible habitats. Even though plenty of studies are implemented during the past years, much of the cheetah range remains unsurveyed. Low chances for conducting detailed studies, timing and budget constraints, and emergency conditions underlying the critically endangered status of this vanishing animal with very few individuals detected in the wild, urges a novelty in research strategy to provide reliable information for efficient enhancements in conservation efforts. The emergency of this study will be clear if we realize that multiple unknown corridors and key habitats for this species with large distance movements are probably located in developing areas where we do not know those areas should be critically preserved. The novelty that could help as one of the last chances to save this cheetah subspecies comes in when the Persian leopard with its vast distribution across almost all provinces of Iran and efficient nationwide researches, also co-occurs in the same region. The density-based formulas demonstrating the suitability status of the areas to maintain a persistent population of leopard plus an identified landscape corridor could lead us in the identification of the key sites in a configuration of available habitats and anthropogenic areas. The current proposal intends an interdisciplinary approach to develop a framework that guides the decision-makers, NGOs and local communities to get involved in objective-oriented restoration programs in key habitats headed to an optimum reference condition.

Grant Approved

�105,604.00

Research Hub

Climate Change

Research Theme

3. Climate Solutions, Transition Management and Opportunities

Start Date

01/09/2023

Initial Projected Completion Date

31/08/2025