Iranian Cheetah Society

MISSION

The mission of Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS) is to conserve Iran’s large carnivores in the wild and to research their ecology and status; to raise public awareness of Iran’s large carnivores and their associated biota through community based education programmes; and to reduce conflict between humans and large carnivores by encouraging enterprises that balance social and economic needs with conservation.

 

History

ICS is a non-governmental, not-for-private-profit organisation with headquarters in Tehran. Founded in 2001, ICS is the oldest Iranian NGO still active in wildlife conservation.

The ICS team is made up of more than 20 people – including staff and volunteers – who have a common aim to conserve Iran’s biodiversity and to ensure the survival of the cheetah and leopard in particular. The Asiatic Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) is ICS’s flagship species and the national symbol of Iran.

The Asiatic Cheetah is also called the Iranian Cheetah. Listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the Asiatic Cheetah now survives only in Iran where its population is estimated at fewer than 40.

ICS is dedicated to saving the Iranian ‘Big Five’ carnivores – Asiatic Cheetah, Persian Leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor), also known as Caucasian Leopard, Brown Bear (Ursus arctos), Grey Wolf (Canis lupus) and Striped Hyena (Hyaena hyaena) – which are normally in conflict with local communities.

 

 
An Iranian Cheetah side on, looking at the camera
 

Partnership with WLT

World Land Trust (WLT) was first introduced to ICS by our Armenian partner, FPWC at their 2011 conference called The Role of Civil Society and Private Actors in Wildlife Protection in the South Caucasus.

In 2013, John Burton (the former CEO of WLT) visited Iran alongside Marc Hoogeslag of IUCN National Committee of the Netherlands (IUCN NL) in order to assess a land protection project submitted by ICS to IUCN NL. While in Iran, John met ICS staff and discussed possible partnership projects

Due to an international bank embargo, WLT has never supported ICS financially.

 
 

Other projects and activities

  • Currently, Iranian Cheetah Society is conducting various research projects on big carnivores and scientific findings are published in books and academic journals.
  • ICS is a consultant to the Iranian government on the conservation of the country’s big carnivores and cooperates with international agencies planning to establish wildlife-related projects in Iran.
  • ICS holds regular workshops and training courses to educate rangers and students about wildlife conservation issues. Drawing on more than a decade of experience in environmental education, ICS has an active education unit which, in partnership with the Iranian Ministry of Education, implements public programmes to increase people’s awareness of conservation.
  • In recent years ICS has set up a television documentary production unit to produce wildlife films for public broadcast. In search of the Persian Leopard, for example, was an award winning documentary produced by ICS about a group of Iranian researchers who spent six years studying the behaviour of the species.
 
 

Awards and Achievements

2010: International Fajr Film Festival, Iran
2010: The Outstanding Iranian Champion, Iran
2009: Cinema Verite, Iran
2009: Future for Nature Award, Netherlands
2008: Pasargad Award, Iran
2007: White Rootser Award for Protection of Animals, Iran
2006: Future Conservationist Award, UK
2005: National Environment Award, Iran

 
 

Contact Details

Chief Executive: Morteza Eslami

Address: Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS)
PO Box 14155-8549
Tehran
Iran

Website: www.wildlife.ir