(NP-CN) Nepal, China to sign pact to save the tiger

[Guest guest]

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/enviornment/nepal-china-to-sign-pact-to-save\

-the-tiger_100265523.html

 

Nepal, China to sign pact to save the tiger

October 25th, 2009 - 5:54 pm ICT by IANS

 

By Sudeshna Sarkar

Kathmandu, Oct 25 (IANS) Concerned at the spurt in the smuggling of rare animal

organs and skins to China and India via Nepal, the coalition government of Nepal

is pressing China to sign an agreement in a bid to jointly man the common border

and curb the menace.

 

“We have forwarded a draft of the memorandum of understanding to the Chinese

government and are hoping it will be signed in November,” said Nepal’s Forest

Minister Deepak Bohra, ahead of a key meeting on tiger conservation to be held

in Kathmandu from Tuesday.

 

China, which farms tigers for commercial use, is also the world’s biggest

consumer of tiger organs, which are believed by the Chinese to have medicinal

and aphrodisiac powers.

 

Two years ago, at another international meet in Kathmandu to discuss strategies

by countries with wild tigers on how to protect and increase their numbers,

Chinese tiger farm representatives had been lobbying for the lifting of the 1993

international ban on trade in tiger parts.

 

Though the ban still remains, it is expected that at the four-day Global Tiger

Workshop 2009 in Kathmandu, which will be attended by over 200 participants

comprising policy and decision-makers, scientists, conservationists from all the

tiger range countries, partner organisations and individuals, China will renew

the lobby.

 

“The MoU discussed between Nepal and China is a welcome step in the conservation

of endangered wildlife,” said Ghanshyam Gurung of the World Wildlife Fund. “In

the past, China had been refusing to acknowledge at all that there was a trade

in banned animal organs. Now it is ready to talk about it.”

 

The smuggling network extends from India to China with Darchula in farwestern

Nepal increasingly becoming the border point used by poachers.

 

Nepal plans to discuss strategies with China to step up joint vigilance along

the northern border it shares with China-held Tibet, share information between

the security agencies of both countries and train security, customs and forest

officials for regular monitoring.

 

Though Nepal also has a similar pact with its southern neighbour India, it has

been rusting due to political changes in both countries.

 

While forest officials are scheduled to hold meetings every two years to assess

the situation and improve the existing vigilance, such a meeting has not been

held for several years.

 

Bohra told IANS that Nepal is also seeking a similar pact with Thailand.

 

Besides government-to-government interactions, Nepal is also focusing on raising

social awareness, especially through the media.

 

“The actual poacher gets a fraction of the money killing a tiger,” Bohra said.

“Poaching is also linked with poverty and we need to address that too.”

 

The key partners of the workshop include CITES (Convention on International

Trade in Endangered Species) Secretariat, Global Tiger Forum, Global Tiger

Initiative, World Bank, Save the Tiger Fund, National Trust for Nature

Conservation and WWF Nepal.

 

The main goal of the four-day workshop, to be inaugurated by Nepal’s Prime

Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, is to define strategic actions to save the wild

tiger from extinction.

 

The experts will assess the present situation, challenges and strategies for

wild tiger conservation and identify the most urgent needs and priority actions

to be implemented.

 

It is also looking at generating agreements among the tiger range countries on

effective monitoring indicators for conservation and management of tigers, prey

and habitat including trans-boundary cooperation requirements.

 

The Global Tiger Workshop will be followed by a conference of forest ministers

from Asian countries to be held in Thailand in January 2010.

 

--

Thank you for your compassion !

With best regards,

Debasis Chakrabarti

Compassionate Crusaders Trust

http://www.animalcrusaders.org