Honor Vows

July 29 was the Global Tiger Day — a day when nations around the world celebrate the existence of this marvelous wild cat and vow to protect it from all threats of existence, especially from poaching. This year the celebrations took place eight months after a historic Tiger Summit “+1” hosted by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, which brought together NGOs, conservationists, civil society, and head of states from 13 tiger range countries (TRCs) to forge a plan that would see the recovery of this endangered species. Unfortunately, conservationists and other conservation organizations have said that poaching is still rampant and is a major threat to the tiger “which only continues to grow.” The World Wildlife Fund on Tiger Day therefore called on the governments and their leaders to honor the commitments made at the Summit and take strong actions to clamp down on poachers.



Clearly, not enough has been done by TRCs to save the tiger population from the looming threat of extinction. While a number of tigers continue to be poached in China where tiger parts are used for manufacturing traditional Chinese medicines, forest guards and government authorities have not been empowered and vigilance strengthened to stop poaching. No concerted efforts have come through in all these months to enforce a firm mechanism to crush poachers. Plans have remained on papers and the zeal of 2010, which was the Year of the Tiger, now seem to be lapsing into passivity. At home, the formation of the much-talked about National Tiger Conservation Authority under the chairmanship of the prime minister is yet to see the light of the day. Such a high-level authoritative body, like in India, was perceived to have been fruitful for enforcing the tiger recovery program.



At the turn of the century, there were 1,00,000 tigers in the wild. At present that number is only 3,200. The goal set in 2010 is to double the number of tigers in the wild by 2022. If the target is to be honored, it will require a speedy national tiger protection program in each TRC, followed by unyielding government commitments and a forceful support and participation of the local population, conservation partners, civil society and individuals who want to save the tigers. On Tiger Day this year, an announcement was made by the Indian government of a 2010 countrywide estimation of tiger numbers, showing that the national population had actually increased by 20 percent to 1,706 from the previous census in 2006. These results show strong national commitment and a well-coordinated participation of all stakeholders without which tigers continue to fall prey to the poachers.



Nepal has already entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with both India and China to protect the tiger species and to work in collaboration with each neighbor to control poaching. We need to implement those MoUs at once. Nepal can achieve much in wildlife protection and conservation sector if it can work together with India and China, which have huge resources and support base to make ambitious plans a reality. The partnership must be strengthened at once to fight poaching.

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