Marking the annual International Cheetah Day, Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) signed the Agreement on the Dispatch of Volunteers with the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Somaliland on 4 December 2022. The signing ceremony was held at the Taiwan Representative office in Somaliland, and the Ambassador Allen LOU of the office along with Minister of Environment and Climate Change Shukri H. Ismail Mohamoud (Bandare) and other ministers witnessed the signing of the said Agreement.
The signing of the said Agreement aims to lay the institutional foundation for dispatching volunteers to promote cheetah conservation and to raises awareness for the plight of the cheetah and rallies people from all nations to join in the efforts to conserve the species and to contribute to the protection of global biodiversity.
Most of the trafficked cheetahs are believed to originate in the Horn of Africa, and most are smuggled from this region into the Arabian Peninsula. With the growing number of cubs taken each year, and the adult reproducing population being only 300 to 500 in areas where cubs are poached, it is only a matter of a few years before wild cheetah populations in the Horn of Africa are wiped out by illegal trade.
As a responsible member of the international community, Taiwan has complied with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora for many years. And Taiwan Government have drawn up action plans for the conservation of endangered wild animals like Formosan Black Bear, Leopard Cat and so on. In the future, Taiwan will continue to work together with like-minded partners including Somaliland to protect the global biodiversity and to combat climate change.
