During the plenary discussion on the "Status of the global tiger recovery program for the period from 2010 to 2022", which took place within the II International Tiger Conservation Forum, the range states of the rare predator shared their experience for the last 12 years and plans for the future.
President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin welcomed participants of the «Tiger» Forum in the form of a video message.
"The task of strengthening international cooperation and exchanging experience with those who have succeeded in tiger conservation is of particular importance. I am pleased to mention the achievements of my colleagues from India, Nepal, Bhutan and China, where the tiger population is steadily growing. We, too, can be proud of our achievements: 12 years ago there were no more than 390 adult Amur tigers in the Russian Far East taiga, while now we have about 750 tigers and their cubs. This is the result of systematic measures taken by the government, but above all a demonstration of coordinated work by Russian scientists, enthusiasts and conservation organizations," said the head of state.
Konstantin Chuichenko, Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the II International Tiger Conservation Forum Organizing Committee and Chairman of the Center «Amur Tiger» Supervisory Council, addressed the audience with a welcoming speech.
"I would like to express confidence that this Forum will increase the attention of the international community to the problem of tiger conservation. We really need to act together, because the tiger is a beautiful noble predator that knows no borders between states. So only through collective efforts will we be able to achieve success. We must work together to address the threats that continue to exist today. And I think together we will win," said Konstantin Chuichenko.
In his speech, Alexander Kozlov, the Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation, mentioned that not only the tiger population has increased during the last 12 years, but also the range of this rare predator has grown. Earlier only Primorsky and Khabarovsk territories were the tiger's home, but now the predator inhabits both the Jewish Autonomous Region and the Amur Region. The area of its habitat has increased to almost 186,000 square kilometers.
"Thirteen countries are the guardians of the last remaining tigers in the wild. It is up to all of us, each of us, to the future of the predator. We are obliged to maintain a balance and treat all wildlife with respect," Alexander Kozlov said.
Summing up the results of 12 years of tiger conservation, the measures taken in Russia were announced. In 2013, liability for crimes against the tiger was introduced into the Criminal Code, and in 2019, the punishment for these crimes was increased. On the basis of wildlife protection services in the rare predator's range regions, a system of protection of the tiger and its prey base was created. New specially protected natural areas have been established. Conflicts between humans and tigers are resolved, and a program of compensation for farmers who have suffered losses due to tiger attacks has been introduced. A system of rehabilitation and reintroduction of the tiger is underway. Large-scale educational work is being carried out.
Konstantin Chuichenko and Alexander Kozlov discussed objectives for the next 12 years in the sphere of the Amur tiger protection in Russia.
"As of today, we have reached a comfortable number of individuals. Now the task is to expand the tiger's range and get closer to its historical boundaries. Excessive tiger density leads to an increase in conflicts with humans. Generally, the so-called tiger's density games don't have any effect, since the tiger determines his own density. If tigers are too dense, they just don't get along with each other, and, as the saying goes, they go wider," Konstantin Chuichenko noted.
He also noted that, when protecting tigers, it is important to understand that this predator is the top of the food chain, and for comfortable reproduction and existence it is important to think about the state of the taiga and forest, as well as ungulates, which are the basis of the tiger's diet. The direct protectors of the tiger - the Hunting Department, which is well-equipped at the moment - should not be neglected. A new center was opened in Ussuriysk in 2020 and a similar center will appear in the Khabarovsk territory in the near future.
Alexander Kozlov emphasized that tigers do not know state borders, so it is important to strengthen cooperation with bordering countries through specially protected natural areas. Russia and China are currently discussing the creation of a transboundary reserve "The Land of Big Cats". There are already 25 predators living there today. Special attention should be paid to the risks for tigers and to minimizing those risks when working on projects and programs for the socio-economic development of the Russian Far East, which may affect lands without protected status, but which fall within the tiger's range.
Pine nuts will be included in the list of strategically important goods and resources, which will allow to effectively combat the illegal movement of pine nuts across the customs border of the Eurasian Economic Union, and consequently affect the volume of their harvesting, reducing them to the established optimal level.
Particular attention will be paid to combating poaching. Further toughening of penalties for crimes against rare animals and maximum similarity of the legislation in this area with respect to the violators in all tiger range countries will help improve the situation.
Also, tigers in captivity in unfavorable conditions cannot be neglected. Work is planned on a real effective mechanism for bringing those responsible for cruel treatment of animals to justice.
DPRK
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to the Russian Federation Sin Hon Chol noted that the tiger is a symbol of the Korean nation and that DPRK has worked to significantly restore tiger habitat and created a legal framework to protect rare and endangered animal species. DPRK advocates cooperation among bordering countries for the sake of the tiger, especially with Russia and China.
India
Satya Prakash Yadav, member-secretary of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) of the Republic of India, where the tiger population has doubled in the past 12 years, shared a positive experience in conserving and increasing the tiger population.
"India is the country with the largest number of tigers in the world, where the tiger is the national animal. We have about 70 percent of the entire population. Since 2010, we have seen a steady growth: it grows by about 6% per year," said Satya Prakash Yadav.
According to the experience of India, to preserve and increase the population of tigers it is necessary to pay special attention to sources of clean water. During the reporting period approximately 350 different sources of water pollution were eliminated in this country, which was a significant contribution to the conservation of the population of this predator species.
India has been conserving the tiger since 1973, and today there are 52 tiger sanctuaries that cover 40% of India's tiger range. Considerable results on the increase of the number of rare predators are achieved by the combination of different measures: registration of the best practices of tiger conservation, monitoring with photo traps, registration of the mortality of all tigers, work with the personnel of the reserves, special methodology of registration of all conflicts between tigers and people, special standards of counteraction to smuggling, strategy of buffer zones and corridors for the animals.
It should be noted that practically every year the Indian government allocates 60 to 80 million dollars for realization of the aforementioned measures, and 4.5 million dollars for creation of workplaces.
Currently, the number of tigers has increased and, considering India's population, resolving conflicts is one of the most difficult tasks in managing the population. India has established special requirements and protocols for this that tell you what to do if tigers come to people's homes. There is also a notification system and special teams that travel to the site of conflict situations.
Myanmar
There are an estimated 36 tigers in Myanmar. Myanmar's Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Khin Maung Yi spoke about the measures taken in the country.
"We are actively engaged in preserving the tiger population using modern technology and working together with international government organizations and NGOs to counter illegal capture and trade of tigers. Myanmar now has 58 protected areas, covering almost half of the country. Tigers inhabit 7% of the country. Myanmar has developed a national program to protect the tiger, aiming to increase its population," commented Khin Maung Yi.
In order to fully implement the national tiger conservation plan, which runs until 2028, about $10 million is needed, of which the country currently has about half.
Nepal
Ram Chandra Kandel, Director General of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation of the Ministry of Forestry and Environment of the Republic of Nepal, also shared his successful experience. It should be noted that Nepal is one of the leaders in the growth of the population of the rare raptor. In 2010, there were 120-150 individuals in this country, so the goal was set to double the population.
"Over these 12 years we have been able to not only double the tiger population, but exceed those numbers. Today we have over 300 tigers. That's really a great achievement. We have three major tiger-protected areas in the country. They make up 23% of the country," said Ram Chandra Kandel.
Nepal's commitment to biodiversity conservation began in the 1970s, and since 2010 the country has intensified efforts to conserve tigers. The population growth has been made possible through various mechanisms, including combating illegal trade in tigers at the highest political level and protecting national park boundaries. There has also been a great deal of emphasis on working with local people who have been harmed by tigers. The country has developed special compensation mechanisms, allowing payments to be made to the population if crops are damaged by predators or if tigers, for example, destroy domestic animals. Work to protect and increase the tiger population in Nepal is being carried out in close cooperation with India.
Having achieved these results, Nepal plans to focus its efforts on maintaining forage, expanding tiger habitat, protecting national park boundaries, and minimizing damage to tigers caused by infrastructure development.
Thailand
In Thailand, the situation of the tiger population is difficult. The reasons for this are illegal capturing of animals and illegal trade in their parts, as well as insufficient forage base in a number of protected areas. The current population size is 148-189 animals. The country is planning to work on preserving the quality of existing tiger habitats, as well as on engaging in other areas, where striped predators have not been observed for the last 10 years. The country is also considering the possibility of reintroduction.
Laos
Laos is a member country of the Forum, where, unfortunately, tigers have disappeared altogether in the last 12 years. At the same time, the state is not giving up and is aiming at reintroduction. Already 70% of the forest area in Laos has been allocated for the creation of a new tiger population. For this process it is planned to use those predators which are kept in captivity. It is also planned to work actively to educate the population and reduce the amount of hunting on rare animals.
As Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Forestry of Laos Thongphat Vongmani noted, the Republic is working closely with all tiger-range countries and is trying to comply with international standards and requirements in matters of protected areas. For this purpose, the state has strengthened its environmental protection legislation.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh is a state with a slight increase in its population. As of 2018, there were 114 tigers in the country, an increase of 8% from 2014. Based on estimates of available forage, there could be as many as 200 tigers in Bangladesh's forests.
According to Amir Hosein Chowdhury, chief forest conservation officer at Bangladesh's Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, the prime minister is making all necessary efforts to preserve forests and biodiversity.
"The government of Bangladesh has amended the constitution and 18 areas have been designated as specially protected areas. In 2012, Bangladesh passed the Wildlife Protection Act and introduced serious criminal penalties for killing tigers. A national committee for the conservation of tigers under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change was also established. Since 2020, the cutting of trees in these areas has been reduced and the amount of land where hunting is allowed," said Amir Hosein Chowdhury.
Bangladesh is also introducing various measures to resolve conflict situations between tigers and humans. In 2021, there is a reporting system where people can report such cases and get help.
Vietnam
According to Pham Van Dien, Deputy Director General of the Forestry Department of Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Development, the country has about 30 tigers in seven protected areas.
Pham Van Dien also said that Vietnam has introduced new legislation to protect the tiger. In 2018, a law to prosecute poaching went into effect. In 2014, a national tiger protection program was adopted for 2018-2020.
"Tigers can move through very large areas, and we border China, Cambodia and Laos. These are all tiger range, so it is important for us to cooperate, to join efforts to preserve the tiger population despite the borders between countries," said Pham Van Dien, deputy director general of the Forestry Department of Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Development.
Cambodia
In Cambodia, as in Laos, the tiger is technically considered extinct. In order to restore its population, a reintroduction program must be developed and implemented. The country currently has two 10,000-square-kilometer protection zones that can be used for the reintroduction of animals. For this purpose it is planned to work closely with border tiger range countries, NGOs and international nature protection organizations, to build cooperation with local communities. The representative of Cambodia also proposes to establish a special fund to finance tiger conservation projects, develop cross-border corridors for the movement of animals, and improve the quality of monitoring.
Kazakhstan
Tiger reintroduction program is planned to be realized in Kazakhstan, and Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources of Kazakhstan and Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of Russia signed a memorandum of cooperation during "Tiger" forum.
"This is actually a very big program for Kazakhstan. As a member of the Convention on Biodiversity we care about the conservation and restoration of ecosystems. Considering that in the middle of the last century there was a tiger on the territory of Kazakhstan after all, we decided to recreate, reintroduce the tiger population exactly to the area where it was. We are now at the beginning of our way," said Vice-Minister of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources of Kazakhstan Aliya Shalabekova.
She expressed the hope that by 2025 the country will have a sufficient forage base and restore forests necessary for the reintroduction of the tiger. The development of the program has been underway since 2010. At the moment there is a protected area of 415 thousand hectares near Lake Balkhash in Kazakhstan. To date, there are about 45 species of mammals, 280 species of birds and 420 species of plants. It is expected that the first striped predators to set foot on these lands will be Amur tigers native to Primorye.
The final document of the II International Tiger Conservation Forum was the Declaration on Tiger Recovery and Conservation. It was accepted by all participants of the Forum.
The II International Tiger Conservation Forum was organised by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation, Center "Amur Tiger" and Roscongress Foundation.