The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, will inaugurate the three-day 3rd Asia Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation tomorrow in New Delhi. More than 700 tiger experts, scientists, managers, donors and other stakeholders are gathering 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, besides Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan, having ranges of Snow Leopard are participating in the conference. While several Tiger Range Countries like India, Nepal, Russia and Bhutan have registered an increase in tiger population, the status of Tiger remains “endangered”. Tiger population has decimated 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, Shri Prakash Javadekar, said, “We have allotted Rs.380.00 crore to the 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, ‘Tiger’. Shri Javadekar said that due to the concerted efforts of the 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.
Shri B.S. Bonal, Additional Director General (Project Tiger) and Member Secretary (National Tiger Conservation Authority) said that delegates will discuss all 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.