Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences - Biogeography

Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences | Geography Department | Biogeography | Research | Past Projects | Towards Adoption of Systematic Wildlife Monitoring Framework in the Southern Caucasus

Towards Adoption of Systematic Wildlife Monitoring Framework in the Southern Caucasus

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Embedding monitoring in conservation efforts is crucial for developing proactive conservation and management strategies, and for evaluating their effectiveness. To work towards the long-term survival of leopard in the Caucasus, monitoring core populations, the connectivity among them, and prey availability is of high priority. By implementing a systematic approach in monitoring leopard and its prey, conservationists will be provided with a clearer picture on the status of leopard and the effectiveness of their management strategies. This project aims at proposing a monitoring framework for the southern Caucasus (Armenia and Azerbaijan) as a pilot area within WWF leopard conservation program, facilitating decision-making in the alleviating threats to the leopard and its prey.

 

The project objectives are:

1. Consolidation of existing wildlife data based on systematic grids, and the application of a camera trapping data management tool

2. Identification of core leopard areas with confirmed leopard presence for future systematic monitoring efforts, and identification of potential leopard habitats for future survey efforts

3. Identification of scientifically and practically robust methodologies in prey monitoring for the core leopard areas to assess prey population trends

4. Mapping corridors between core leopard areas and identification of survey areas in the leopard corridors to assess their functionality

5. Selection of methods to assess the levels of human-leopard conflicts in the core leopard areas

 

More information

Please contact Dr. Arash Ghoddousi.

 

Funding and Support

This project receives funding from WWF-Germany (01.06.2017 – 30.09.2018) and operates in collaboration with WWF-Caucasus.

 

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WWF Germany and WWF Caucasus