As a keystone species living in Sri Lankan wilderness, Sri Lankan leopards (Panthera pardus kotiya) play an important role to maintain the balance of ecosystems they live in. Removal of leopards from the equation may result in increase in herbivores and that will impact on the flora negatively. Further, as leopards attract tourists, the tourism industry in certain areas of the country completely depends on a healthy population of leopards. But with increased development challenges, human settlements have extended to the borders of wilderness and the livestock have become an easy prey for leopards. To protect the livestock from leopard attacks, farmers have started attacking the leopards and in certain circumstances killing them too. These ‘revenge killings’ have been identified as one of the main contributors to the threats faced by leopard population in the country.

WNPS in collaboration with the Department of Wildlife Conservation has proposed a pilot initiative on establishing a livestock insurance scheme to reduce the risks of livestock farmers living in Sigiriya area of Sri Lanka as a remedial measure to reduce revenge killings of leopards. Insurance for wildlife conservation is a key innovative financing strategy adopted throughout the world, and it reduces the future investment needs on rehabilitation of a threatened species. The broader objective of this assignment is to pilot test an insurance scheme for mitigating human-leopard conflict in Sri Lanka. 

In this context the UNDP in Sri Lanka invites eligible suppliers to submit their proposal for Procurement of insurance scheme for livestock (Cattle and Goats).