Three Kurdish conservationists awarded the inaugural Ranger Award

NEWSROOM—Three Kurdish individuals have been recognized with the 2024 Ranger Award from the Persian Leopard Working Group for their efforts in protecting Persian leopards and other wildlife in the Kurdistan Region.

Hana Reza, president of Leopards Beyond Borders, told 964media, “Thanks to God and the efforts and dedication of several global experts and organizations, we have achieved another goal: presenting the international Ranger Award. This annual award is given to those who have dedicated their lives to protecting nature and wildlife in Kurdistan. The award is being given to three people from the Kurdistan Region for the first time and presented on International Leopard Day.”

May 3 is internationally recognized as Leopard Day to promote the conservation of the wild animal.
“The award acknowledges the significant efforts of those who have dedicated their lives to protecting nature and especially the Persian leopard,” Reza added.

The inaugural Ranger Award will honor rangers from the Kurdistan Region, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Among them, three individuals have won the award: Nabaz Horeni, Bahez Farooq Ali, and Araz Ata Mohammed Salih.

According to Reza, all three awardees have shown unwavering dedication in past years to protecting the wildlife in the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan.

In the Bamo Mountains, located in the Sulaymaniyah governorate near the Iran border, Horeni has demonstrated exceptional personal commitment and dedication to biodiversity conservation over the past two decades. His environmental activities also focused on preventing the illegal collection of resin gum from endemic trees, which “are already under pressure from forest fires and drought.”

Nabaz Horeni. Photo: Leopards Beyond Borders

Ali, alongside his brother, has been actively involved in biodiversity conservation since 2009.

Despite encountering direct threats to their lives, such as walking into minefields to set up camera traps and monitor Persian leopards, “they have fearlessly confronted those who aim to exploit the natural resources of the Bamo Mountains for their own gain,” according to a statement from Leopards Beyond Borders’ website.

Bahez Farooq Ali. Photo: Leopards Beyond Borders

According to the organization’s website, Araz Ata, one of the awardees, works as an exemplary forest policeman in Sulaymaniyah’s Qaradagh area and has been serving for 19 years. In 2011, he played a significant role in installing the first camera trap, which recorded the first leopard in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.

Araz Ata. Photo: Leopards Beyond Borders

The Persian Leopard Working Group, established in 2023 to facilitate efforts to conserve the Persian leopard and its natural habitat in its historical range, including the mountains of Kurdistan, is a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s specialist group on big cats.