Global Tiger Recovery Program

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The global tiger recovery program is the plan thrashed out at the St. Petersberg International Tiger Forum (‘Tiger Summit’), on November 21–24, 2010. Putin was present (good for his image). The meeting was a response to the continuing failure of "Tiger Range Countries" (TRC - countries in which the tiger lives) to stop the gradual decline of the world tiger population. The 13 TRC's agree the contents of the program.

You can see the document by clicking on this link. It is a large document - too large in my humble opinion - and takes ages to load.

As it is so large, in this post, I will focus on one area; what the TRCs propose to do to reduce and/or stop poaching of tigers. Poaching is probably the second most important factor in the loss of tigers in the wild after loss of habitat.

The thirteen TRCs are as follows, and a summary of what they intend to do follows the country's name:

  1. People’s Republic of Bangladesh - they intend to "deploy" people to conserve tiger habitat and the tigers themselves. Not very imaginative and it indicates an admission that they don't have enough people employed already. They also plan to introduce "smart patrolling" in the Sunderbans. 
  2. Kingdom of Bhutan - "strengthen" anti-poaching enforcement. 
  3. Kingdom of Cambodia - employ more people to protect tigers (the same as above actually).
  4. People’s Republic of China - increase monitoring and protection and increase awareness.
  5. Republic of India - set up dedicated tiger protection force.
  6. Republic of Indonesia - strengthen patrolling and law enforcement and work internationally.
  7. Lao People’s Democratic Republic - implement monitoring and strengthen law enforcement.
  8. Malaysia - provide effective long term protection for tiger and prey - imaginative!
  9. Union of Myanmar - "Strengthen" law enforcement and improve awareness. This is a corrupt country.
  10. Nepal - they make an implied admission that they don't have effective tiger monitoring and protection methods. They intend to "institutionalize" these systems. Big words, little action I predict.
  11. Russian Federation - prevent conflicts between tiger and human.
  12. Kingdom of Thailand - widen conservation effort and facilitate international cooperation.
  13. Socialist Republic of Vietnam - create monitoring system. "Delist instructions on use of endangered species" (does this mean they currently or did have instructions on "use" of endangered species? Create captive tiger registration system and monitoring scheme. Create breeding plan.
Well having read these I see lots of cliched words and phrases (spin) but I don't feel that there is commitment to change. Prediction: no change - continued downward trend of tiger population.

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