Sunday 02 / November / 2025
Salalah: A scientific workshop titled "Updating the Arabian Leopard Conservation Strategy" commenced today in the Wilayat of Salalah, Dhofar Governorate.
Organized by the Directorate General of Environment in Dhofar, the workshop runs until 5 November, as part of national, regional and international efforts to enhance Arabian leopard protection programs and conserve its natural habitats.
The opening was held under the patronage of Eng. Sulaiman Nasser Al Akhzami, Vice Chairman of the Environment Authority, with the participation of a number of experts and specialists from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Arabian Leopard Fund, the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, alongside the Arabian Leopard Conservation team in the Sultanate of Oman.
This workshop aligns with the Environment Authority's approach to update its strategies in line with the targets of the National Environment Strategy in Oman. The event program featured 9 working papers addressing the protection of the Arabian leopard and the sustainability of its habitats, reviewing the 2025–2030 Regional Strategy, field work mechanisms, and genetic studies and environmental monitoring.
The working papers also cover the efforts of the Arabian Leopard Fund and captive breeding experiences, the updated strategic action plan, as well as enhancing national efforts to protect the Arabian leopard and ensure its sustainable presence in its natural environment, given that Oman is the last and safest home for the Arabian leopard in the world.
Over four days, the workshop will discuss specialized working papers focusing on key themes aimed at developing an integrated strategic plan for the Environment Authority. This will be achieved by reviewing and evaluating the previous national strategy (2014), analyzing the current status of the Arabian leopard in Oman based on habitat distribution data, confirmed leopard numbers, and ecological balance integrity, in addition to identifying major threats and showcasing success stories in the field of protection.
Sessions will also cover genetic studies and the genetic diversity of the Arabian leopard, reviewing stratified monitoring methodologies for the Eurasian lynx to benefit from international experiences in tracking technologies and behavioral studies, alongside presenting the efforts of the Arabian Leopard Fund in supporting protection programs across its natural range in the Arabian Peninsula. This will pave the way for developing a future action plan and defining priorities in the fields of conservation and breeding.
The Arabian leopard is classified as "Critically Endangered" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The Sultanate of Oman has been at the forefront of nations seeking its conservation since the 1980s, which later led to the declaration of the Jabal Samhan Nature Reserve as the world's first reserve dedicated to the Arabian leopard in 1997.
Oman also implemented the first National Strategy for the Conservation of the Arabian Leopard (2014–2024), which was based on the results of extensive surveys of leopard numbers and their distribution areas, and contributed to the reclassification of the Arabian leopard in the 2023 edition of the Red List.
