Gustavo Fonseca, Natural Resources Team Leader of the GEF, addresses the Second Asian Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation, held at Thimpu, Bhutan. |
By Yoko Watanabe, GEF
THIMPU, Bhutan, 23 October 2012 – Partners in an international effort to preserve the tiger cited progress but also agreed on the need to intensify their efforts as the Global Environment Facility (GEF) joined with partners in inaugurating the Second Asian Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation, held at Thimpu, Bhutan.
The Conference was organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests of the Royal Government of Bhutan, in coordination with the Global Tiger Initiative.
Two years after the Global Tiger Summit in St Petersburg, Russia, thirteen Tiger Range Country Ministers or their representatives came together to review achievements since the summit and to reaffirm their commitment to doubling the tiger population by the next Year of Tiger in 2022.
In the past decade, the world's tiger population has decreased in an alarming rate, dropping to less than 3,500 animals in total. Fragmentation of habitat, poaching, and illegal trading and the encroachment of humans are among the leading contributors to the decline.
The Conference recognized the significant progress that has been made by the Tiger Range Countries in protecting the tigers during the past two years. At the same time, the countries agreed on the need to intensify implementation of the Global Tiger Recovery Program that was agreed at the Global Tiger Summit as a roadmap to reach the goal.
“In the past two years, the GEF made big strides in supporting related projects on the tiger and its habitat conservation,” said Gustavo Fonseca, the GEF’s Natural Resources Team Leader. Speaking at the opening session of the conference, which was also attended by the Her Royal Highness Princess Ashi Kesang Wangmo Wangchuk of Bhutan, Mr. Fonseca said, “We have approved fourteen projects in ten Tiger Range Countries to support concrete conservation actions on the ground. These projects have secured over $70 million in GEF grants, leveraging additional resources of $310 million as co-finance.”
During the ministerial plenary session, GEF Program Manager Yoko Watanabe delivered a presentation on GEF-supported Tiger programs.
“The GEF is supporting the tiger and other threatened species conservation initiatives through our protected areas management, biodiversity mainstreaming, and sustainable forest management programs,” Ms. Watanabe said. “Building on experiences, the GEF is supporting new and innovative ideas for tiger conservation through these projects."
The GEF project in Vietnam is working to reduce wildlife consumption by raising public awareness and developing appropriate policies. In Thailand, the project plan is to implement the “wildlife premium mechanism” within the broader program aimed at reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. The mechanism provides a further financial incentive to protect wildlife. This will create an additional incentive payment for wildlife conservation. In Malaysia, the GEF project supports construction of a comprehensive land use master plan prepared in the Central Forest Spine Landscape, and implementation of a wildlife corridor and wildlife management on the ground. The project will also implement Smart Green infrastructures that will promote safer pathways for the tigers.
The role of GEF in securing and leveraging necessary finance to implement the program was recognized by several Tiger Range Countries throughout the Conference.
“We are glad to be hosting this important conference and further affirm our commitment to conserve the tiger and its habitat over the long term,” Dr. Pema Gyamtsho, Bhutan’s Minister of Agriculture and Forest, told the attendees to the conference. “Support from the GEF and others is critical to demonstrating innovative approaches to providing incentives to the communities for conservation of habitat and the animals themselves, and this support ensures that we can achieve a convergence between environmental and development needs.”
In Bhutan, the GEF has supported strengthening the management of the Jigme Dorji National Park, which is a key habitat for the tigers in Bhutan. The park was where the Royal Bengal Tiger was found at 4,200 meters, the highest-altitude tiger sighting recorded among the tiger range countries.
In India, which hosted the 11th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity in mid-October, the GEF has worked on the EcoDevelopment Project, which strengthened management of numbers of tiger reserves, including Periyar National Park, through community involvement. The CEPF is also implementing projects to monitor and strengthen management of parks and corridors in the Western Ghats.
Bhutan Tiger's Nest Monastery