The Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF) salutes Iran’s MansurAbad Community-based Protected Area Project as this year’s Markhor Award winner. The International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation (CIC) presents the Award every two years. The Award is sponsored by WSF, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
“For centuries, Iranians have woven their love of nature into the fabric of their culture,” said Corey Mason, WSF’s Executive Vice President of Conservation and COO. “This award honors projects that integrate wildlife conservation with local community livelihoods. By transforming a region previously impacted by poaching into a thriving conservation area, MansurAbad has embodied the spirit this Award was created to acknowledge.”
The MansurAbad project significantly increased populations of iconic species, such as the Kerman wild sheep and the Persian Ibex. Through sustainable hunting, ecotourism, and water management practices, the community revitalized its natural environment, generated employment, and boosted the local economy.
The award was accepted by Dr. Hanieh Moghani, Vice Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, who will deliver the prize to the community leaders unable to attend the ceremony in Cali, Colombia. Dr. Moghani shared a message from the manager of the MansurAbad community-based protected area: “The CIC has sent a powerful message to the world about the benefits of community-based protected areas and the positive outcomes of sustainable wildlife use for conservation. Awarding the prestigious Markhor prize is a clear indication of CIC’s support for our project and others like it.”
Mason added, “The award is named after a mountain goat species of conservation concern, whose population has increased 25-fold in recent years through sustainable hunting tourism. The award celebrates outstanding conservation achievements by individuals, institutions, enterprises, or projects that link biodiversity conservation with human livelihoods through sustainable use, particularly hunting, as part of wildlife and ecosystem management. When revenue from hunting benefits local communities, it fosters a vested interest from these communities to conserve the wildlife around them. WSF is proud to be a part of recognizing such achievements.”
The Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF), based in Bozeman, Mont., was founded in 1977 by sportsmen and other wild sheep conservationists. WSF is the premier advocate for wild sheep, having raised and expended more than $145 million, positively impacting these species through population and habitat enhancements, research and education, and conservation advocacy programs in North America, Europe, and Asia to “Put and Keep Wild Sheep On the Mountain”®. In North America, these and other efforts have increased bighorn sheep populations from historic lows in the 1950s-60s of 25,000 to more than 85,000 today.
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