Prime Minister Modi to Inaugurate Asia Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation on Tuesday

The Ministry of Environment and Forests announced on Monday that more than 700 tiger experts, scientists, managers, donors and other stakeholders will be attending the Conference to discuss issues related to tiger conservation. 

 

Ministers and government officials from all Tiger Range Countries, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, India, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russian Federation, Thailand, Vietnam will be present along with representatives from Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan (home to Snow Leopards) . 

 

According to the Ministry, while several Tiger Range Countries such as India, Nepal, Russia and Bhutan have registered an increase in tiger population, the status of Tiger remains “endangered”. Tiger population has declined to non-viable level in some range countries, which is a cause for concern. 

 

Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar, said, “We have allotted Rs.380.00 crore to Project Tiger in the current fiscal year, which is an all-time high and indicates that the Government of India is committed to the conservation of our national animal."

 

Javadekar pointed out that due to the concerted efforts of the Union government and other stakeholders, more than 70% of the global wild tiger population is in India. He also said that saving the tiger means much more than ecological balance. “It is helping in combating adverse effects of climate change as well”, the Minister added. 

 

B.S. Bonal, Additional Director General (Project Tiger) and Member Secretary (National Tiger Conservation Authority) said that delegates will discuss important issues like landscape conservation and habitat management, tiger reintroduction, monitoring protocols, anti-poaching strategy, modern tools and technology for monitoring, MEE and CA|TS, Resource Mobilization and Networking. He also said that the countries will report the status and progress of their Global/National Tiger Recovery Programme and will come out with a futuristic declaration for tiger conservation. 

 

At the Global Tiger Summit at St. Petersburg held in 2010, range countries committed to double the tiger number by 2022 and adopted the Global/National Tiger Recovery Programme. 

 

This conference is being co-organized by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, National Tiger Conservation Authority, Global Tiger Forum, Global Tiger Initiative Council, Wildlife Institute of India, WWF and Wildlife Conservation Trust.