OREANDA-NEWS. Government officials, international scientists, the World Bank, NGOs, and tiger conservation experts in the Russian Far East met in Vladivostok, Russia, to celebrate ‘Tiger Day’ on September 28th and build on their collaborative efforts to protect tigers and their habitats through the new ‘Global Tiger Initiative’, reported the press-centre of World Bank.

The Global Tiger Initiative was launched on June 9th at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington D.C. It brought together global experts, tiger conservationists, scientists, celebrities, many national and international NGOs, along with representatives of World Bank Group and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). 

The Initiative aims to stop and reverse the catastrophic global decline of wild tigers by aligning national and international efforts to sustain their habitats and prey base, decrease illegal trade and trafficking in tiger parts, reduce human-tiger conflict and strengthen wildlife enforcement.  The Initiative calls to convene in 2010 the “Year of the Tiger” Summit where leaders of participating governments and international organizations could announce their specific commitments to save these unique wild animals.

Over the past century, the worldwide population of tigers has shrunk from 100,000 to below 4,000.  Unless the threats from poaching and habitat loss are significantly reduced, experts say that the tiger could easily slip into extinction.  Not only a noble emblem of the Russian Far East, the tiger is also treasured by the rest of the world community. 

The survival of wild tigers represents the health of ecosystems for both human and animal well-being, and is an undeniable mark of sustainability of regional economic development, one of the themes of the forthcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit to be hosted by Russia in Vladivostok in 2012.

This year’s ‘Tiger Day’ in Vladivostok was multi-day event, on September 26-29, with the regional festival, field visits, films, workshops, and a tiger strategy roundtable organized by the Primorsky Kray Administration.  In addition, high-level discussions took place in Khabarovsk on September 30-October 1 in conjunction with the Far Eastern International Economic Forum.

The ‘Tiger Day’ events aim to raise awareness and solidify official support of the exceptional and successful efforts to preserve and sustain the population of the unique Amur tigers and their precious natural habitats, a rare example of how coordinated action can really work at a global scale.  This cooperation was highlighted during the recent visit of Prime Minister Putin to Primorsky Kray.

Participants of the Initiative recognize the importance of the dedicated efforts made by the Russian federal and regional authorities and environmental NGOs – as a result of which the tiger situation in the Russian Far East is much more encouraging than in other countries, and the Amur tiger population is now considered stable and even increasing there. 

Although important challenges remain in combating tiger poaching, illegal logging and forest fires, the Far Eastern regions of Primorye and Khabarovsk can offer to the international community important positive lessons in the development of regional protected area networks for the conservation of tiger habitats and tiger-friendly development of the regional economy.  The Russian Federation, housing one-eighth of the world’s wild tigers, is well positioned to play an essential role in the further global tiger conservation efforts.