Following three years of working together to improve leopard conservation in Tandoureh National Park, a ceremony to thank and acknowledge park rangers for their efforts and commitment was held in the park on 18 October 2016. In a presentation, Future4Leopards Foundation manager Mohammad Farhadinia recounted key developments and achievements during the Project’s first three years in Tandoureh. Hamid Salehi, managing director of Khorasan Razavi DoE, followed by endorsing the Project’s work on improving conservation in the park and the results that have been achieved. (Khorasan Razavi is the main province of the Khorasan region and contains both Tandoureh and the provincial capital Mashhad.) The ceremony ended with a presentation of special gifts to the rangers, with each receiving a pair of mountain trousers and a warm jacket before the serious onset of winter conditions in Tandoureh.

As part of the Project’s action plan to support and empower anti-poaching measures, strong commitment by the rangers is one of our key priorities for the coming years. Therefore, the bulk of the conservation funds raised by the Foundation will be devoted to supporting them. As a first step, basic high-tech equipment was assessed and acquired to enable rangers to carry out their anti-poaching activities more effectively.