One of the main goals of conservation is to preserve biodiversity. Protected areas are very important as the last bastions of preserving biodiversity and they need strategic planning and management to achieve executive priorities for better protection. The purpose of this research was to develop strategies for the protection of Asian houbara (Chlamydotis macqueenii) as one of the vulnerable species in the south of Kerman to determine the current situation, its missions and future horizons for the species conservation. In this research questionnaires were provided to regional experts and compiled. The SWOT method was used to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the region and the eva‎luation matrix of internal factors, eva‎luation matrix of external factors and IE matrix were constructed. Results showed that the most important strength are the geographic location of the region and its connectivity value for the species migration. The most important weaknesses are the continuous drought and the lack of sufficient water resources and the degradation of vegetation in the region. The results of the eva‎luation of the matrix of external factors also showed that the illegal hunting, live capture and smuggling of hogweed and the ignorance of the environmental water rights of the Jazmurian wetland in the south of Kerman are the most important threats. The implementation of educational and cultural programs in the region for people awareness of the presence of Hubara and the illegality of its hunting, as well as more effective protection to prevent habitat destructions and degradation of vegetation were determined as the most important opportunities. Quantitative strategic planning matrix (QSPM) was also conducted using the questionnaires and the most important strategy among the existing strategies was determined. Results of this matrix showed that adequate attention of officials to the region (with a score of 4.94) local awareness about the importance of the species and its habitats in the region (4.81), conducting more research projects about the capabilities and potentials of the region and rare species (4.31), motivating locals to protect the species (4.05) and increasing the security in the region to prevent the movement of fuel smugglers and illegal hunters (4.05) were determined as the most important strategies.

منصوره ملكيان

محمود رضا همامي

محسن احمدي