Smithsonian World Bank initiative to save tigers

[Guest guest]

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Smithsonian Institution and World Bank Group Join Forces to Save Wild Tigers

from Extinction

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Press Release No:2009/EXT/422

 

Contacts: Pamela Baker-Masson (202) 633-3055

 

David Theis (202) 458-8626

 

 

 

Washington, D.C., June 19, 2009 - The Smithsonian Institution and the World

Bank Group today announced a new program under the Global Tiger Initiative

to help stabilize and restore wild tiger populations and save this

endangered species from extinction in its natural habitats.

 

 

 

Poaching, habitat loss and other issues have reduced the global tiger

population in the wild to less than 3,500, and the losses continue. Under

the new agreement signed today in a ceremony webcast from the Smithsonian

Castle in Washington, D.C., the World Bank and the Smithsonian’s National

Zoo will establish and support a Conservation and Development Network that

will train hundreds of rangers, foresters, and other habitat managers in the

latest cutting-edge practices in biodiversity management, with a specific

focus on preserving and increasing wild tiger populations. The World Bank

will dedicate more than $1 million over the next year toward these training

efforts, and the Smithsonian and World Bank will work to expand the alliance

to include other members and raise additional financing for implementation.

The Year-of-the-Tiger Summit is scheduled to be held in the second half of

2010.

 

 

 

G. Wayne Clough, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, said, “Combining

the Smithsonian’s scientific and conservation expertise with the World

Bank’s 60-plus years of development knowledge will allow us to build a

global network of leading scientists, policy makers and NGOs with the

critical goal of saving the wild tiger.”

 

 

 

World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick said, “We are very pleased to

join with the Smithsonian in this important and innovative new effort.

Without urgent action, the tiger could be extinct within the next 10 years.

Working together, we can unite hundreds of conservation practitioners and

dozens of institutions across the tiger range countries of Asia to arrest

the terrible loss of tiger populations and bring these magnificent species

back from the brink.”

 

 

 

The new Conservation and Development Network will link the leading knowledge

institutions in China, India, Indonesia, Russia, Thailand, and other Tiger

Range countries with globally significant centers of excellence in

conservation science and professional training. The National Zoo's

Conservation and Research Center located in the Shenandoah Mountains in

Front Royal, Va., will serve as one of the initial launch-pads for

development of the Network.

 

 

 

The training should also lead to more effective measures against illegal

trade and trafficking of tiger parts, and intensify surveillance, detection

and conviction of poachers. In addition to promoting stricter

implementation of conservation laws and laws against illegal trade and

traffic, the network should allow countries to more efficiently share

information about poaching activity, leading to more robust efforts to

combat the problem.

 

 

 

Steven Monfort, Acting Director of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, said,

“The loss of the tiger would have implications much larger than simply the

loss of a charismatic species. The extinction of this top predator

signifies irreversible changes in functioning of natural ecosystems and all

the services they provide, in addition to the erosion of the cultural and

spiritual values that are associated with the tiger. We’re very pleased to

see this important next step in the progress of the Global Tiger

Initiative.”

 

 

 

The agreement comes one year after the launch of the Global Tiger Initiative

(GTI), a collaborative effort between the World Bank, the Smithsonian

Institution, Global Environment Facility, the International Tiger Coalition,

and other members to assist the 13 tiger range countries with their efforts

in restoring wild tigers and preserving their habitats. Additional

information about the GTI can be accessed through its new website

http://www.GlobalTigerInitiative.org.