GLAND, Switzerland, November 3, 2004 (ENS) – The Islamic Republic of Iran has joined IUCN-The World Conservation Union and becomes the 80th country to become a member of the prestigious international conservation organization.
"Iran's membership to IUCN cements a long standing relationship in dealing with the environment and development challenges facing the country, the Asian continent and the world at large," said Dr. Odeh Al Jayyousi, the IUCN Director for the WESCANA region, which encompasses West/Central Asia and North Africa.
The IUCN and Iran have collaborated on, among other things, the development of a national program addressing major conservation issues of importance to Iran.
By joining the IUCN, Iran strengthens the Union's resolve to work closely with governments, civil society and the private sector in the governance of the world's natural resources.
Back as far as October 2001, the IUCN was providing technical assistance to Iran in drafting a national biodiversity strategy and action plan, and in the conservation of the vulnerable Asiatic cheetah and its natural habitat.
The Asiatic cheetah once ranged from Arabia to India, through Arabia, Iran, central Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and, particularly in Iran and the Indian subcontinent, it was numerous, according to a 1998 report by Peter Jackson, chairman of the IUCN-Species Survival Commission Cat Specialist Group and a professional conservation journalist for over 30 years.
Cheetahs were easy to train, and rulers kept huge numbers for hunting gazelles, Jackson wrote. But by 1990, cheetahs appeared to survive only in Iran. Estimated to number over 200 during the 1970s, current estimates by Iranian biologist Hormoz Asadi put the number at 50 to 100.
Following the Islamic Revolution of 1978, wildlife conservation was "relegated to a back seat," wrote Jackson. "Reserves were invaded by livestock, which overgrazed the land, while both cheetahs and their principal prey, gazelles, were ruthlessly hunted, resulting in a rapid decline."
As a result, the Asiatic cheetah is now listed as critically endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. Initial surveys in 1997 show that urgent action is required to rehabilitate wildlife populations, especially gazelles, and their habitat if the cheetah is to survive.
Iran is considered the cradle of many genetic resources in the world. More than half of the country is covered by mountains, 40 percent by deserts and 10 percent by inland waters.
Spreading agriculture, industry, human settlements and mining infrastructures, has altered almost 90 percent of the natural habitat of Iran.
IUCN Director General, Achim Steiner said Iran's vast experience in combating desertification will be a great asset to IUCN's global arid land initiatives.
Recently an IUCN Regional Office was opened in Amman, Jordan to strengthen collaboration with conservation and development stakeholders in the region.
Iran's endangered species include five mammals that are endemic, that is they are found nowhere else in the world.
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2004. All Rights Reserved.
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