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In another sign of hope, recently in Thailand, a dozen Asian nations and Russia vowed to double the number of wild tigers by 2022. These nations also promised to crack down on poaching that has devastated the big cats, as well as prohibit the building of roads and bridges that could harm their habitats. The consortium also agreed to protect core tiger habitats, as well as buffer zones and corridors that connect key sanctuaries and national parks. Governments also committed to reduce poaching through beefed-up law enforcement and to minimize human-tiger conflicts through job creation programs and other efforts.
This is a historic declaration adopted by the 13 countries that have wild tigers. Unfortunately, like many good-intentioned efforts to save the wild life, this conversation effort does not include any money to finance it beyond present budgets. Rather, the nations have agreed to ask international institutions (e.g., the World Bank) for money. They have further agreed to use money from ecotourism, carbon financing and infrastructure projects to pay for tiger programs.
The declaration still needs to be approved by heads of state of the 13 countries. A meeting is scheduled to take place in September in Vladivostok, Russia.
In recent decades, human habitat has encroached on more than nine tenths of the tigers' historical habitats. As a result, tiger population has plummeted. Adding to this population crisis, poaching has increased to supply a trade in tiger parts, mostly as aphrodisiacs and medicinal purposes in Asia. The consequence? A population loss of 65%. Today, less than 3,500 tigers survive in the wild. 100 years ago, the tiger's population was estimated at some 100,000.
In a major setback before the final resolution, China successfully lobbied to delete language requiring a permanent ban on the tiger trade, even though China's domestic tiger trade as been banned since 1993. However, China has been actively lobbying to reopen its domestic trade.
"This is excellent news for tiger conservation," said Michael Baltzer, head of the World Wildlife Fund's Tiger Initiative. The meeting was organized by Thailand and the Global Tiger Initiative, a coalition formed in 2008 by the World Bank, the Smithsonian Institute and nearly 40 conservation groups. The 13 countries attending the meeting were Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam.
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