Celebrating 25 Years of Action for Biodiversity

The country’s protected areas have consistently been increased and, from 194 sites in 2010, there were 274 sites in 2014, with 29 national parks, 44 wildlife refuges, 35 natural monuments, 166 protected areas and 10 biosphere reserves [ ] 125 Encouraging systematic capacity development The CACP is a long standing initi- ative between Iran’s Department of Environment, UNDP and a number of committed international partners, namely the Wildlife Conservation Society, Panther, Cheetah Conserva- tion Fund and IUCN’s Cat Specialist Group. Phase I of the project was co-funded by the Global Environ- ment Facility and was implemented from 2001 to 2008. Phase II was implemented in 2010. An opportunity has now arisen to collaborate with Iran’s DoE to achieve two parallel goals. Adden- dum to Phase II will be aimed at assisting the DoE to fulfil its commit- ments to UNCBD under Iran’s Pro- gramme of Work on Protected Areas. The extended phase II will aim to remove a number of barriers current- ly hampering sustainable Protected Area (PA) management. The single most important barrier pertains to PA financial sustainability and the addressing of PA financing gaps. As pilots will be selected in cheetah habitats, the ultimate goal of this Addendum would be to achieve the sustainability of PAs as well as augment the sustainability of CACP results. Thus, the Addendum will build on the substantial achievements of CACP through strengthening the current PA management regime in selected cheetah habitats. The adden- dum will aspire to generate represent- ative local enterprises with access to capital and markets and empowered local communities as local partners of DoE in conservation activities. In this respect, systematic capacity de- velopment will target DoE provincial staffers as well as the main beneficiar- ies of wildlife and ecosystem conser- vation — the local communities. The presence of private sector will also be assessed as an enabler with re- gard to access to capital and markets. The crux of project’s philosophy is therefore to design and implement sustainable and biodiversity-friendly livelihood options for local com- munities, where possible bringing to bear the resources of the private sector. The project will try to strike a balance between the conservation needs of the pilot PAs and sustainable poverty alleviation within PAs. This new approach is vital to secure the long term survival of endangered wildlife in pilot areas and the emer- gence of a modern conservation para- digm, based on which the interests of all stakeholders are fully considered and secured through the design of appropriate incentive mechanisms as well as commensurate conservation obligations. The Addendum will also aspire to implement a climate resil- ient rangeland management model. Asiatic Cheetah in Iran Iran I ran is located in West Asia and borders the Caspian Sea, Persian Gulf, and Gulf of Oman. The mountains enclose several broad basins, or plateaus, on which major agricultural and urban settlements are located. With an area of 1,648,000 km 2 , Iran ranks eighteenth in size among the countries of the world. Although much of the country is dry, the wetlands are globally significant, with large populations of migratory birds wintering there. The complex and varied climates, topography, geological formations and anthropological management of natural resources have led to a varied and unique biological diversity. In the Iranian ecosystems approximately 8,000 species of plant, 197 of mammal, 535 of bird, 227 of reptile, 21 of amphibians, 160 of freshwater fish and 710 of marine fish have been recorded. Iran’s 5th National Report to the CBD