Tiger Range Countries (TRCs) have finalized an ambitious Global program for restoring wild tiger populations. After two year long deliberations this programme was finalized yesterday here at the end of a two day workshop ‘Consensus for Conservation’. Representatives from Tiger range countries participated in it. Earlier they met at Kathmandu, Nepal and Bangla Desh and gave their national inputs to finalize of the Global Tiger Recovery Programme (GTRP), supported by 13 parallel National Tiger Recovery programs. This will pave the way for a historic endorsement of the GTRP by TRCs leaders at the Tiger Summit in St Petersburg, Russia next month. This will begin a decade long process of range-wide recovery, built on the implementation of national actions and also trans-boundary actions to curb illegal trade and demand for tiger parts. The Summit will be the first of its kind of Tiger Summit.
The GTRP has emerged from a two-year long consultation process in which TRCs have taken the lead in learning from each other about best practices and for defining priority actions to be taken to deal with the crisis of extinction facing the Tiger. The decade’s long experience of India and its expertise gained through Project Tiger has been a valuable input into the GTRP. Early actions to implement policy and institutional actions have already begun in TRCs.
Addressing the workshop, Shri Jairam Ramesh, Minister of State for Environment and Forests (I/C) said, “I welcome the consultative knowledge based process undertaken by GTI through the World Bank President Mr Zoellick’s initiative which has brought all TRCs on a single platform of knowledge based action. I look forward to present the finalized GTRP at the upcoming Summit on behalf of TRCs. India is happy to share its expertise and work with the Bank on further enhancing the capacity of Indian wildlife institutions working with global leaders on this agenda.”
According to Global Tiger Initiative (GTI), the GTRP has a high probability of success because all 13 TRCs are working in concert, with a high level of political commitment to implement a comprehensive program which will be supported and closely monitored by the global conservation community.
Mr. Keshav Varma, Program Director of GTI said that India with its Project Tiger Programme said India is now setting the stage for a global recovery of wild tigers and protection of the economic and bio diversity values of these habitats.
The workshop was organized by the Ministry of Environment and Forests through the National tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and co-hosted by the Global Tiger Initiative supported by Global Environment Facility (GEF), Smithsonian Institution, the World Bank and other partners. Bangla Deas, Bhuta, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam are iger Range Countries.
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