TEHRAN –The Department of Environment (DOE) and the Football Federation have signed a memorandum of understanding to support wildlife conservation, particularly the conservation of Asiatic cheetahs.

The head of DOE, Shina Ansari, held a meeting on Wednesday with the Federation’s president Mehdi Taj, the Federation’s vice president, Mehdi Mohammad-Nabi, and the national football team head coach, Amir Qalenoei. 

Ansari and Taj signed the agreement on maintaining support for the Asiatic cheetah species by establishing an environmental and sustainable development committee in the Football Federation and benefiting from the capacity of the athletes to develop the culture of protecting animals through raising awareness of wildlife conservation. 

Conservation efforts 

In January, Hamid Zohrabi, an official with the DOE, said that the DOE is taking new steps to further protect the Asiatic cheetahs in the country.

“Relocating domestic animals from cheetahs’ habitats, fencing Tehran-Mashhad road, which is one of the most dangerous areas, and breeding in captivity are among the most recent measures the Department of

Environment has been taking to preserve cheetahs,” IRNA quoted Zohrabi as saying.

These plans mainly focus on threat removal. During these years, domestic animals have been removed from an area of 150,000 hectares including Golestan National Park as well as the wildlife sanctuary in the area, Zohrabi added.

The DOE is following up on the allocation of two trillion rials (around 2.9 million dollars) to decrease cheetahs’ mortalities on the Tehran-Mashhad road through enhancing road lighting, reducing vehicle speeds, and fencing. Drones and other wildlife monitoring tools can be also used to conserve cheetahs in the area. However, more is needed to be done to reach a favorable result, the official further noted.

“We do our best to safeguard cheetahs’ habitats, but to increase their population, the plan to breed in captivity is going on. We have already taken measures to standardize their breeding site in captivity with the help of the private sector, Zohrabi stressed.

“The expansion of the cheetah territory, and safeguarding their habitats have also increased the number of cheetahs,” IRIB quoted Zohrabi, as saying in November 2024.

Highlighting the key role of public participation in the conservation of Asiatic cheetahs, the official said over 400,000 hectares area of land between Turan National Park in Semnan province and Miandasht Wildlife Refuge in North Khorasan province are protected by the private sector.

The plan to increase prey is being implemented by the cooperation of the DOE and local communities, he noted.

In October 2024, the official said that the DOE is planning to organize a committee for the preservation of critically endangered species including cheetahs, black bears, and great bustards.

“The Department of Environment is planning to protect endangered species by establishing conservation committees with the help of non-governmental organizations, as well as fostering cooperation with the public, rangers, experts, and government agencies,” IRNA quoted Zohrabi as saying.

MT/MG