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The Arabian leopard is a flagship species for Oman’s mountain habitats. It once occurred throughout the mountainous regions of Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Palestine and Jordan. However, by the 1990s the leopard became locally extinct in most areas of the Arabian peninsula and if viable populations remain, they are most likely to be found in the high mountains of Oman and Yemen. In 1997 the Office of the Advisor for Conservation of the Environment of the Diwan of Royal Court began a survey of the Arabian leopard in Jabal Samhan Nature Reserve in the southern region of Oman, the Dhofar, where a strong population has been shown to exist. However, the one other area of Oman where the leopard may survive, the Musandam peninsula in the northern parts of Oman, has not been surveyed yet.
We have been asked to survey the area for leopard and its prey species, but as the natural prey species in the Musandam region of Oman are likely to be at very low levels, leopards often have to turn to domestic stock, mainly goats, for food. The socio-economic interaction with local people and herders will be a further area of investigation for the expedition. First of all, please note that this operator has won multiple awards that show its committment to conservation and the environment. Two of the most prominent awards are "Best Volunteering Organisation" at the 2006 Responsible Tourism Awards and higly commended for "Best for Conservation of Endangered Species" at the 2007 awards. See http://www.responsibletourismawards.com for more details.
The operator is committed to running real wildlife conservation research expeditions to all corners of the Earth and says "Our projects are not tours, photographic safaris or excursions but genuine research expeditions, promoting sustainable conservation and preservation of the planet's wildlife by forging alliances between scientists and the public. Our goal is to make, through our expedition work, an active contribution towards a sustainable biosphere. We believe in empowering ordinary people by placing them at the centre of scientific study and by actively involving them out in the field, where there is conservation work to be done.
We always work in close conjunction with local people and scientists and try our best to ensure that the fruits of our expedition work benefit our local helpers, their society and the environment they live in. Adventure, remote locations, different cultures and people are part and parcel of our expeditions, but also the knowledge that you will have played an active role in conserving part of our planet's biosphere. We exist for those who, through their hands-on work, want to make a difference to the survival of the particular species or habitat under investigation, and to the world at large. We invite everyone to come and join us out in the field, at the forefront of conservation, to work, learn, experience and take responsible guardianship of our biosphere.
To achieve this we will wherever possible:
- collaborate with reputable scientists, research institutions and educational establishments (wherever possible from the host nation) who are experts in their field
- collaborate with organisations and businesses which operate in an ethical and/or sustainable way
- operate in an ethical and sustainable way, minimising negative impacts on local cultures, environments and economies
- publish results and recommendations based on collaborative work together with those who helped gather data and draw conclusions.
We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same holiday can have different views!
