The Foundation for Endangered Wildlife in Yemen

SUPPORT THE FOUNDATION - Click HERE and go to "Send Money" You can then make a donation in any amount to the following address - contact@yemenileopard.org - your support is greatly appreciated...THANK YOU!

Who Are We?

The Foundation for the Protection of the Arabian Leopard in Yemen is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring a “sustainably managed population of wild Arabian leopards living in harmony with local communities in Yemen.”  We partner with other organizations and individuals who have a stake in helping us to achieve our mission.  Our Program Implementation Plan, though developed independently, is closely aligned with the Strategy for the Conservation of the Leopard in the Arabian Peninsula which was published by the Environment and Protected Areas Authority (Sharjah) in January 2010.

A Brief History of the Foundation for the Protection of the Arabian Leopard in Yemen

The foundation’s origins go back to 1996 when David Stanton, then a teacher at Sana’a International School (SIS), first organized the school's participation in the WWF Walk for Wildlife.  This annual event involved students in a global fundraising effort on behalf of the WWF’s endangered species program and by the time the walk was discontinued in 2006, SIS students had walked a cumulative total of more than 20,000 kilometers and raised more than $30,000 for conservation.  When WWF-UK announced that it was going to drop the walk from its fund-raising strategy, David decided to continue organizing this popular school tradition.

To make the event more locally relevant we chose to walk for the Arabian leopard, a suggestion of SIS alumnus Melissa Stanton.  The 1st Annual SIS Walk to Save the Arabian Leopard was held on November 11, 2007 and the concept was so popular that students walked more than 2,400 km and raised more than $6,000, beating the previous distance and fundraising records by more than 20%.  In order to administer the money that the students raised, the Yemeni Arabian Leopard Recovery Program (YALRP) was formed with the goal of “ensuring an expanding population of wild Arabian leopards in Yemen.” Shortly afterwards we shortened the name to Yemeni Leopard Recovery Program (YLRP).

The YLRP lobbied incessantly on behalf of the Arabian leopard, and achieved its first major success when the Yemen Council of Ministers declared the Arabian leopard as Yemen’s official National Animal in an historic decree on April 29, 2008.  Also named in the decree were a National Tree – Dragon’s Blood Tree (Dracaena cinnibari), a National Bird – Golden-winged Grosbeak (Rhynchostruthus socotrana), and a National Flower – Jebel Iraf Aloe (Aloe irafensis). Unfortunately, this landmark legislation was overshadowed by pressing issues which attracted most of the Government of Yemen’s focus.  In light of the desperate plight of Yemen’s new National Animal, YLRP founder David Stanton decided to leave his job at SIS, a post that he had held for more than 14 years, in order to focus full-time on the conservation of Arabian leopards.  Realizing that the YLRP could only have a limited impact as an ‘unofficial’ entity, David recruited His Excellency Abdulrahman Al-Eryani, Yemen’s Minister for Water and the Environment, Dr. Abdul Karim Nasher from Sana’a University, Dr. Masaa Al-Jumaily from Lebanese International University, Dr. Amal Al-Kebsi from Sana’a University, and Yemeni artist Mr. Adnan Jumman to serve on the Foundation’s Board of Trustees.  Following registration with the Yemen Ministry for Social Affairs and Labor on November 18, 2009, one of the Board’s first acts was to rename the foundation Al Moassassah hemayat al nimr al Araby fi al Yemen (The Foundation for the Protection of the Arabian Leopard in Yemen).  To this day, the foundation strives to ensure the survival in the wild of one of the World’s most highly endangered mammals, the Arabian leopard.

The Foundation’s Board of Trustees

Since its inauguration the Foundation has always had an exceptionally strong board of trustees.  Starting with a government minister, three university professors, and Yemen’s pre-eminent graphic artist the board has undergone some readjustment since its inception.  On April 13, 2010 Drs. Nasher and Al-Jumaily tendered their resignations from the Foundation’s board citing heavy work loads and frustration with the foundation’s slow progress as the principal reasons for their leaving.  The board suffered a further loss on May 3, 2010 when Dr. Al-Kebsi resigned in order to devote more time to her ongoing dental studies.  However, the foundation soon recruited new board members in the form of former Yemeni Prime Minister, His Excellency Dr. Abdul Karim Al-Iryani, and Yemeni business leader Mr. Haitham Alaini. The most recent addition to our now-stable Board of Trustees is Mr. Marco Livadiotti, a 50-year resident of Yemen with an impressive track record in the conservation of Yemen’s nature and culture. It is safe to say that few, if any, NGOs in Yemen have a more powerful or dedicated Board of Trustees than the Foundation for the Protection of the Arabian Leopard in Yemen.

 

SUPPORT THE FOUNDATION - Click HERE and go to "Send Money" You can then make a donation in any amount to the following address - contact@yemenileopard.org - your support is greatly appreciated...THANK YOU!