Salalah – In order to update Oman’s national strategy to protect the critically endangered Arabian leopard, the Directorate General of Environment in Dhofar kick-started a four-day workshop on Sunday, bringing together experts, conservationists and regional partners. Organised by the Environment Authority (EA), the workshop runs until November 5 and brings together representatives from the International Union […]
Salalah – In order to update Oman’s national strategy to protect the critically endangered Arabian leopard, the Directorate General of Environment in Dhofar kick-started a four-day workshop on Sunday, bringing together experts, conservationists and regional partners.
Organised by the Environment Authority (EA), the workshop runs until November 5 and brings together representatives from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Arabian Leopard Fund, the Royal Commission for AlUla in Saudi Arabia and Oman’s Arabian Leopard Conservation Team.
The meeting is part of efforts to revise the national conservation strategy in line with the objectives of Oman’s National Environment Strategy. Participants will review the 2014–2024 national plan, assess current data on leopard distribution and population, and identify key threats to the species and its habitat.
Nine working papers were presented at the opening session under the patronage of Suleiman bin Nasser al Akhzami, Vice President of the EA. These covered regional strategies for 2025–2030, field monitoring, genetic research, breeding programmes and environmental tracking technologies.
Officials stressed that Oman remains the last safe habitat for the Arabian leopard in the wild. Only a small number survive in remote mountain areas, with the species listed as “critically endangered” on the IUCN Red List.
Ali bin Salem Beit Saeed, Director General of Environment in Dhofar, said the workshop aims to develop an updated national plan for the next decade. “We seek to improve the status of the Arabian leopard through strict protection policies, habitat rehabilitation, community engagement and safeguarding prey species,” he said.
The sessions will also examine international experiences in monitoring, cross-border conservation and genetic diversity, as well as the role of conservation funds in supporting projects across the Arabian Peninsula.
Oman has led regional efforts to protect the species since the 1980s. These efforts resulted in the establishment of Jabal Samhan Nature Reserve in 1997, the first reserve in the world dedicated to the Arabian leopard. The first National Strategy for the Conservation of the Arabian Leopard, implemented between 2014 and 2024, was based on extensive field surveys and helped inform the leopard’s updated classification in the 2023 IUCN Red List.
Findings from this week’s workshop will feed into a new action plan aimed at ensuring the species’ survival in its natural environment.
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