On the occasion of the Asiatic Cheetah and Media Festival, a number of Iranian journalists and game guards from protected areas across Iran were awarded for their efforts in raising awareness among the general public and safegaurding this unique cat of the Iranian plateau respectively at a ceremony on Tuesday 14 September. Held at the Iranian Department of Environment (DOE), the event brought together tens of journalists, game guards, high-ranking Government officials, representatives of UNDP Iran, veteran conservationists and environmentalist and a big number of volunteers working to save the Asiatic Cheetah from extinction.

A message from the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Ms. Consuelo Vidal was read out in the ceremony. Also, a teaser jointly produced by UNDP Iran and the Asiatic Cheetah Conservation Project (ACCP), highlighting the significance of saving the Asiatic Cheetah and achieveing the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 7, was publically shown for the first time.

In her message to the Festival, which was read out by Mr. Saeid Ferdowsi from UNDP Iran's Environment and Energy Programme Clusetr, Ms. Vidal expressed delight that the cooperation with the DOE on the wildlife conservation has been rejuvenated through the signing of the second phase of the ACCP recently. She underlined that the Project was a kingpin of UNDP's collaboration with the DOE and that it has set a benchmark for all other joint initiatives, adding,'We are indeed privileged to be able to continue our accosiation with this initiative.'

However, the UNDP Resident Representative also stressed that there was still no reliable population estimate of the Asiatic Cheetah, nor is there detailed information on its ecology. It further added that therefore the most effective way to ensure the integrity of Cheetah habitats is to sustain, and if possible, augment physical protection. Ms. Vidal praised the hard work of the game guards, which goes far beyond the call of duty, as well as the effective leadership of the protected areas managers, all of whom have vital parts in countering habitat threats. In the end, she thanked all the people involved in the conservation of the Asiatic Cheetah for their outstanding commitment through their dedication and personal sacrifices, most notably acknowledging the leadership and patronage of Mr. Mohammadizadeh, vice-president and head of the DOE, who was the next key-note speaker.

The Head of the DOE opened his remarks by regretting that the unique wild life of Iran has been neglected in the past 30 years. Highlighting the immense success of the Project in attracting public attention to the issues around wild life conservation in Iran, he thanked all the project staff, UNDP and other international partners for their thoughtful, patient and perseverant efforts since the Project kicked off and stated that it was now the time that the Project is shared with the rest of the world as a successful model. He called UNDP and the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to carry out more efforts in line with this. He praised clips such as UNDP and ACCP's joint production and underlined, 'Works as such consider the preferences of the global audience in using the modern media and softwares and carry the message with a touch of arts'. He called for more activities to share the success of the Project with the global community.

Reminding that there was a time when there were less than 10 Cheetahs, Vice-presient Mohammadizadeh appreciated the hard work of the game guards in 10 habitats all over Iran and hoped that their efforts are well-reflected by the meida. He further and acknowledged the efforts of the print media in raising awareness among the gerenal public regarding the Asiatic cheetah and their habitats. Nevertheless, he called for the Islamic Republic of Iran's Braodcasting  (IRIB) in its role as the national media to pay more attention to sensitizing the public about this unique global environmental heritage.

In the end of this ceremony, the top advocates of the Asiatic Cheetah from the world of the media and game guards from protected areas and habitats were awarded for their outstaning performances in raising awareness among the general public and safeguarding the cheetahs and their habitats respectively by the Head of the DOE and a number of veteran conservationists from the DOE.

A theatre produced by the Asiatic Cheetah Association NGO was also performed in the event. The theatre is among the creative initiatives taken for awareness raising among the school children living in local communities within or adjacent to the Asiatic Cheetah habitats. 

The Asiatic Cheetah Festival will be held in thr form of a four-day event in Tehran and the 10 cities within the protected areas to raise awareness regarding this unique cat of the Iranian plateau. It is hoped that these initiatives lead to establishment of 31 August as the National Asiatic Cheetah Day.