Bangladesh

Tigers were present in the major districts of Bangladesh in 1930’s. However, due to habitat degradation, fragmentation, encroachment, hunting and poaching, the tiger reduce to a minimum state. Now it is only the Sundarbans mangrove forest covering an area of 6017 sq. km, where the tigers are still thriving in Bangladesh. The last population census in 2004 by Forest Department and UNDP indicates tiger population in Bangladesh Sundarbans around 440 (Approx.) where 121 male, 298 female and 21 calf. The track survey and relative abundance surveys conducted by Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh confirm that tigers are currently distributed across the whole of the Bangladesh Sundarbans, and data from two radio-collared females.

The available information suggests that the major threats to tigers in the Bangladesh Sundarbans are: a) poaching; b) human-tiger conflict when tigers stray into villages or villagers venture into forests to collect forest produce; c) depletion of prey due to poaching; and c) habitat-related threats stemming from unsustainable wood and aquatic resource harvesting, upstream water extraction/divergence and pollution, and the various effects of climate change.

Cyclonic activity is expected to increase in intensity and frequency with global warming, making conservation of the mangroves an even greater imperative to save economies (local and national), livelihoods, and lives. There is clear evidence to show that the impacts of the 2009 cyclone Aila and 2007 cyclone Sidor were mitigated by the mangrove islands. Unfortunately the economic value of these ecological services has not been quantified; thus, an economic valuation of the mangroves is necessary to facilitate willingness of the Government and communities to invest in protection of this valuable ecosystem from further degradation.

It is important to note here that the tiger habitat in the Sundarbans also provides essential ecological services of local, national, and global significance, such as: trapping of sediment and land formation; protection of human lives and habitation from cyclones; serving as a nursery for fish and other aquatic life that support a significant fishery; oxygen production; waste recycling; supply of food and building materials; and carbon cycling and sequestration.

Tiger Conservation Goal:

By 2022, achieve a demographically stable tiger population close to ‘carrying capacity’ under sound conservation management in the Bangladesh Sundarbans ecosystem.

Objectives

• 1. Strengthen Policy Framework
  • Develop Policy framework to strengthen collaboration with the police, coast guard and local administrations.
  • Include wildlife crime in current cross border law enforcement mechanisms.
  • Revise and enact new Wildlife Conservation Act with associated Rules to enhance penalties, create special wildlife conservation units.
  • Mainstream conservation into the development agenda through an economic valuation of the Sundarbans landscape.
• 2. Pursue Institutional Development
  • Change the focus of FD from production forestry to conservation.
  • Create a Dedicated institution for wildlife conservation and management with appropriate training and logistical support to retain expertise and skills.
  • Expand conservation governance across Government Organizations (GOs), Non Government Organizations (NGOs), civil society, and communities.
• 3. Undertake Priority Actions
  • Engaging local communities
    Develop and support alternative livelihoods linked to wildlife conservation and maintainging healthy habitats.
  • Protecting the habitat
    Recruit, train, and post adequate field staff with adequate logistical support and appropriate incentives and risk insurance.
  • Trans-boundary collaboration with India on illegal trade
    Trans-boundary collaboration to curb cross-border poaching, smuggling and trade.
• 4. Proposed Expenditures: to match NTRP costing
• 5. Financing Options
  • Government budget to pay for ecological services, including Increased revenue from well-managed tourism.
  • Global Environment Facility (GEF) 5 funding to fund priority components.
  • Technical Assistance (TA): The current World Bank Sundarbans Technical Assistance project could fund some activities indentified in the NTRP.
  • IDA: A potential trans-boundary project among India and Bangladesh for habitat protection and preservation of the biological integrity of the Sundarbans as a holistic ecosystem.

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 Kingdom of Bhutan

Bhutan is unique in having tigers at altitudes as 4,100 m in the north and central region, and represents the only tiger ecotype adapted to live in high altitude habitats.

The current population estimate of 67-81 adult tigers (~ 115-150 total) is based on five nationwide surveys and analysis of sign data (Bhutan Tiger Action Plan 2005). The densities of tigers are estimated at 1/50 km2 in the southern subtropical forests, and 1/185 km2 in the central Himalayan temperate broadleaf forests (McDougal & Tshering 1998 in Bhutan TAP). The naturally low prey densities expected in temperate forests is consistent with lower tiger densities; however, these data require verification through rigourous, scientifically robust surveys.

Tiger Conservation Goal:

By 2022, demographically stable tiger meta-population in Bhutan thrives and co-exists harmoniously with people through habitat conservation and compatible development activities and livelihoods.

Objectives

• 1. Strengthen Policy Framework
  • Finalize the Protected Areas and Wildlife Act.
  • Create a bilateral policy and MoU between India and Bhutan for collaborative management of transboundary protected areas and to designate Transboundary Peace Parks.
  • Involve local communities and local institutions in conservation.
  • Integrate clear policies on PES into overall government conservation policies and acts.
  • Improve linkages among the different units of the DoFPS.
• 2. Pursue Institutional Development
  • Build staff capacity.
  • Strengthen coordination between different units of the Department of Forests and Park Services (DoFPS).
• 3. Undertake Priority Actions
  • Integrating tiger conservation and rural livelihoods
    
    • Engage local people to participate in habitat conservation and protection.
    • Compensate for opportunity costs of conservation.
  • Conserving habitat and species
    
    • Revise the corridor system to include important tiger habitat outside the current park-corridor system.
    • Zone parks to identify core tiger habitats, and clearly designate corridors.
    • Establish a reliable baseline of the status and distribution of tigers.
    • Pursue trans-boundary collaboration with India and China, and create regional links to curb the illegal trade of tiger parts and derivatives.
  • Integrating tiger conservation and rural livelihoods
    Create a sustainable financing mechanism from innovative fund sources.
• 4. Proposed Expenditures: to match NTRP costing
• 5. Financing Options
  • Government budget to pay for core operational costs.
  • NGOs (WWF, BTF, STF) to support research, monitoring.
  • Bilateral/Multilateral (SDS, HELVETAS, SNV, DANIDA, UNDP) to support community engagement, park zoning.
  • GEF to support community participation, capacity building, and human-tiger conflict.
  • PES to support sustainable funding.

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 Vietnam

Overall goals:

Wild tigers and their prey are developing through significant reduction of the threats they face.

Specific objectives:

• Priority sites for tiger conservation are officially recognized and their management and protection is strengthened.
• Captive tiger facilities are developing towards exstitute conservation to support conservation of wild tigers.
• Prevention, detections and suppression of organized tiger and wildlife crime are significantly strengthened.
• Demand for tiger and wildlife products is significantly reduced and support towards wild tiger conservation is significantly increased.
• Institutional capacity, management and inter-ministerial cooperation strengthened to support tiger and endangered wildlife conservation in Vietnam.
• Strengthen trans-boundary and international cooperation on tiger and wildlife conservation.

Vietnam has experienced widespread decline in natural forest cover over the last 70 years. Strengthened government policies have increased overall forest coverage through plantations to 39.5% by 2009. However, wildlife population has been significantly declining due to loss of habitat and Illegal hunting and trade in wildlife. A number of species now thought to be extinct or reduced to extremely low densities in the wild in Vietnam.

Vietnam has increased its protected area coverage to 6.7% (2.2 million ha) in over 160 protected areas representing most key habitats and landscapes. However, management of these areas faces a number of challenges including inadequate investment for wildlife conservation, low capacity of management authorities, poor collaboration with local stakeholders, and low incentives to protect wildlife.

The Indochinese tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti) is the only subspecies distributes in Vietnam. There has been no comprehensive national survey of wild tiger in Vietnam, so accurate estimates on population size and distribution are not available. Confirmed records of tiger are sparse although tracks and sightings were reported up to 2005 suggesting that wild tigers may persist in the Central Annamites and in other border forests between Vietnam, Cambodia and Lao. The national management and development plan for protected areas is not focused on any single species. Natural tiger habitat has been severely fragmented and protected areas are not large enough alone to hold viable tiger populations. However, there are a number of areas in Vietnam that connect to potential source sites in Lao and Cambodia where small populations of tigers may remain. Under suitable management and strengthened protection efforts, these areas hold the potential to see expansion of tiger populations across the border and secure the future for wild tigers persisting in Vietnam, Lao and Cambodia.

Populations of wild tiger in Vietnam have experienced a severe decline in the last two decades due not only to habitat loss but also a high domestic demand and international trade in tiger parts. The hunting, use and exploitation of wild tigers has been prohibited, for almost 50 years in Vietnam, yet the illegal trade driven by the large profits available has far exceeded the limited resources invested in wildlife crime law enforcement and the low punishments applied if caught provide no disincentive to this illegal trade.

In recent years, enforcement efforts have been significantly strengthened as shown by the increase in the number of cases involving tiger crimes uncovered and arrested by the authorities especially since the establishment of the Environmental Police in 2006. According to report by Vietnam CITES Management Authority in 2009, in the period June 2008-July 2009, law enforcement operations seized 11 tigers all of which were reportedly imported illegally from neighboring countries.

However, due to the professional and organized nature of the criminal network undertaking this illegal trade in wildlife, trans-boundary and enforcement officers such as rangers, police, customs and border security are not sufficiently trained to combat wildlife crime; it would appear that the efforts of law enforcement agencies are restricted to low-level criminals.

Investigations have revealed that the criminal networks organizing the trafficking of tigers remain largely untouched by law enforcement efforts to date and continue to illegally supply tigers to consumers. This is also due to low punishments given and also prosecutions have focused on transporters and lower-level middlemen, not the wholesale traders and criminal bosses at the top of the network.

Captive tiger facilities are developing towards exstitute conservation to support conservation of wild tigers.

A number of captive operations were permitted by the government to breed tigers for conservation on a pilot basis. Since 2006 the known captive tiger population in private operations has increased and at present is over 80 individuals (with additional animals in state-run zoos and rescue centers). At present, captive tiger facilities in Vietnam haven’t had a professional monitoring and management system, and standardized process for conservation breeding. Most of these facilities lack the scientific knowledge and facilities to breed for conservation purposes and none of them maintain a strategic conservation breeding management plan. Therefore, at present, these facilities have not provided any clear support towards wild tiger conservation. In addition, there is no database and reliable method of identifying individuals to ensure these facilities not breaking the laws. Law enforcement agencies have found evidence of some facilities breaking the laws involving the illegal trade in tigers. In addition, government policy is clear and prohibits breeding tigers for commercial profit through sales of individuals, parts or their derivatives. Management of captive tiger operations faces a number of challenges due to weak technical ability and equipment to effectively monitor and control breeding and to ensure no laundering of wild tigers or smuggled tigers into conservation breeding operations.

Institutional capacity, management and inter-ministerial cooperation strengthened to support tiger and endangered wildlife conservation in Vietnam. The Government of Vietnam has taken a number of steps which call for increased interagency cooperation. Recognizing that wildlife conservation needs to extend well beyond Vietnam’s borders, the Government endorsed the GTI, the “ASEAN Regional Action Plan on Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora 2005-2010”, and other regional conservation partnerships.

With reference to the contextual backdrop of this policy framework, and by drawing on its expertise in supporting enforcement and management efforts among government agencies, it is necessary to better co-ordinate, improve communication and share information as well as build stronger partnerships and increase transparency of tiger and wildlife conservation.

Vietnam’s National Pledges:

• General ones:
  • Vietnam recognises the importance of protecting tigers as a component of our broader biodiversity conservation efforts. Vietnam is willing to co-operate at all levels to increase our nations and the regions effectiveness in conserving tigers. We pledge to engage and strengthen support to regional and global mechanisms such as ASEAN-WEN, CBD, CITES, Interpol, WCO-RILO, GTF, and other bilateral and multilateral cooperation on tiger conservation in particular and biodiversity conservation in general.
  • We support GTI and endorse the GTRP, summit declaration and commit to the global goal of conserving wild tiger populations.
• Specific country pledges:
  • Vietnam will make implementation of the NTRP a top priority. Vietnam has established a Steering Committee for Biodiversity Conservation and Interagency committee for wildlife trade control. The implementation of the NTRP will be a top priority in the work plan of these steering committees.
  • Carry out strategic communication campaigns on changing attitudes and behaviors towards tiger conservation and use of tigers and other wildlife products.
  • Recognize three priority protected areas for tiger conservation and strengthen their management by applying minimum standards for resourcing, protecting, monitoring, management, and capacity as well as ensuring no new non-PA infrastructure is built within them.
  • Strengthen law enforcement on anti-wildlife crimes.
  • Initiate dialogue with Cambodia and Lao on the establishment of trans-boundary tiger sanctuaries specifically Yok Don – Mondulkiri Protected Forest, Bu Gia Map – Siema Biodiversity Conservation Area, forest area in Sop Cop District, Son La province which border the Nam Et Phou Louey NCBA in Lao PDR and the Indochinese T-junction area of Cambodia/Lao/Vietnam including Dong Ampham-Virachay-Chu Mom Ray.

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 India

India is central to tiger conservation globally with almost half of the world’s wild tigers in India and over 32,000 sq km area protected as tiger reserves. However, a wide range of geographic terrain, vegetation types, varied habitats, geo-climatic parameters and various anthropogenic challenges posed due to differing socio-economic environment around tiger reserves, determine the tiger status. There are habitats that could benefit from proactive tiger conservation efforts and could see increase in tiger numbers especially in areas where tigers have gone locally extinct or those which have the viable habitat. Since ecologically unsustainable land uses pose a threat to tigers, two goals are relevant in the Indian context: (1) Securing inviolate tiger habitat and increasing the same, (2) Mainstreaming tiger concerns in land uses where tiger is not the goal.

India has a strong political support for tiger conservation with the Prime Minister chairing the National Wildlife Board. Further the political support is also expressed in terms of establishing new tiger reserves (there are 39 tiger reserves in India) thereby bringing additional area under conservation management. India has also demonstrated its willingness in creating inviolate habitats by increasing the quantum of compensation to Rs 1 million family. Overall, the country has a good legal and policy framework to deal with conservation issues. From the list of 12 priority actions from Hua Hin declaration, the participants in the National Consultation grouped actions of similar nature into 3 broad categories, namely, Securing Habitats, Improving Management and Community Centered.

Specific objectives:

• There was acceptance that biologically defined clear goals are required. Numbers are important but controversial, could reintroduce malpractices in counting and projecting numbers. More important is securing inviolate spaces.
• There was general consensus that doubling of tiger numbers may be appropriate as a global goal, but would not be a suitable goal for India.
• NTCA’s view was that while number is a good indicator but instead of getting into the number game, the focus of the goal should be to ensure that adequate and inviolate area is set aside for tigers.
• It was also expressed by conservation managers from the inviolate area is a must to achieve long-term tiger conservation. Yet another view was that people are demanding development and any suggestion of increasing the area for conservation could face stiff resistance from the people.
• It was also felt that announcements of increasing tiger numbers may invite resistance from people living around the tiger reserves, as they will see this as increased chances of human-wildlife conflict.

One of the main challenges for creating inviolate habitats for the tigers remains the relocation of nearly 48,000 households from the core tiger habitats. Almost $ 1.2 billion are required over the next 5 years to create inviolate areas for tigers.

Capacity building of frontline staff (forest guards and foresters) is another challenge. The average age of protection staff is high at 50 years with sparse recruitment of fresh staff (?). There are inadequate field training opportunities and capacities.

Socio-economic development of buffer and fringe areas of the tiger reserves is also a limiting factor in soliciting the support of communities that depend on the forest resources. There are limited livelihood options for these communities and their close proximity and dependence on habitats creates many volatile human-wildlife conflict situations. Yet these are powerful approaches that can positively contribute to tiger conservation, as was highlighted from the field experience of KMTR, where in support solicited from local communities resulted in prevention of forest fires and reduction in grazing by domestic cattle inside the forest.

Tiger Conservation Goal:

By 2022, adequate critical tiger habitat be secured and made inviolate to provide total protection to the core breeding tiger populations and put in place a criteria for assessment of success that includes, extent and quality of habitat, increase in prey-base, number of tigers and reduction in human-wildlife conflict.

Objectives

• 1. Strengthen Policy Framework
  • None
• 2. Pursue Institutional Development
  • Professionalize and improve management practices and systems.
• 3. Undertake Priority Actions
  • Engaging local communities
    
    • Encourage communities around landscapes through sustainable livelihood support.
    • Minimize tiger-human conflict.
  • Anti-poaching and protection
    
    • Step up intelligence-based enforcement.
    • Protect tiger/prey base from poaching through smart patrolling.
  • Securing Habitats
    Make critical tiger habitats/corridors inviolate from biotic disturbance.
  • Transboundary coordination
    Eliminate trade in tiger parts and derivatives and increase demand for tigers in the wild.
  • Monitoring
    Implement scientific adaptive management for tiger conservation with robust monitoring mechanisms.
• 4. Proposed Expenditures: to match NTRP costing
• 5. Financing Options
  • No information provided

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 Indonesia

Tiger Conservation Goal:

Tiger population at tiger’s priority landscapes increased by 100% while occupancy level at identified tiger‘s priority landscapes increased by 80%.

Objectives

• 1. Strengthen Policy Framework
  • Upgrade laws for arresting poachers and illegal wildlife traders and increase penalties.
  • Set up a tiger conservation fund under the existing legal frame work (Environmental Law No. 32 of 2009).
  • Minister to decree that SPORC engage actively in wildlife crime.
  • Develop Laws to protect tiger habitat outside of protected areas in priority landscapes.
• 2. Pursue Institutional Development
  • Minister to establish a national tiger advisory board.
  • Strengthen cross sectoral program planning, i.e. RPJM/D, spatial plan, SEA, EIA (permit control).
  • Establish high level inter-agency (MoF, Police, Customs, MoJustice) command team to deal with wildlife traders and work with Interpol/UNODC and WCO.
  • Create a well trained Elite Investigation group (100 staff) within the Ministry of Forestry for wildlife crime investigations.
  • Develop capacity of the judicial system to interpret and apply the law.
• 3. Undertake Priority Actions
  • Protection outside protected areas
    
    • Enact the local regulations to protect tiger habitats in priority landscapes.
    • Secure and maintain the integrity of source sites and landscapes.
  • Law enforcement and conflict mitigation
    
    • Replicate Tiger Conservation Units in priority tiger landscapes.
    • Reduce tiger poaching and trade, and tiger, human and livestock fatalities from conflict.
  • Transboundary
    Reduce international demands on tiger, its parts and derivatives.
  • Sumatra-wide monitoring
    
    • Develop a blue print for an adaptive management scheme and implement in priority landscapes.
    • Establish a robust time series dataset to show trends in tiger and prey populations.
    • Train relevant key stakeholders in tiger conservation.
    • Enhancing patrolling capacity by implementing MIST and spatially explicit monitoring framework in priority landscapes.
• 4. Proposed Expenditures: to match NTRP costing
• 5. Financing Options
  • Funds from forestry budget for law enforcement, patrols and rapid reaction units.
  • Incentive schemes from watershed benefits, certification scheme, carbon trading, taxes, etc.
  • Funds from donors through pledges and/or project proposals.
  • Performance bonds to protect tigers and restore habitats (Environmental Law No. 32 of 2009).
  • The $17.5 million Aceh Forest and Environment Project to protect critical environmental resources and services from Leuser and Ulu Masen forest ecosystems during the post-tsunami reconstruction process.
  • World Bank grant support to help Indonesia to implement REDD program (through the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility)

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 Cambodia

Bhutan is unique in having tigers at altitudes as Following a decade of intense poaching and loss of habitat, tiger populations crashed in Cambodia and subsequent poaching of prey species prevented relic populations rebounding. An evaluation of the current viability of tiger populations in Cambodia indicates no evidence for a source site of breeding tigers remaining in the country.

Existing tiger populations in Cambodia likely consist of a few isolated individuals, with no evidence of breeding populations. The current size of the tiger population in Cambodia is unknown but is likely to be less than 30 and in the Eastern Plains Landscape less than 15 individuals. Despite camera-trap photos revealing two different tigers in the Eastern Plains in 2005, the most recent evidence of tiger presence is from a camera-trap photo in 2007, and a single set of tracks recorded in 2009. Due to the low encounter rate of tiger sign and the size of the landscape, novel techniques including sniffer dogs, have been utilized to find tiger dung for DNA analysis in order to establish the continued presence of tigers.

The Eastern Plains Landscape forms the largest extent of deciduous-evergreen forest mosaic remaining in Southeast Asia. The potential of the landscape for tiger restoration is due in part to the remoteness of the area, its sheer size, and the fact it harbors one of the country’s largest protected area complexes consisting of Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary, Mondulkiri Protected Forest, Lomphat Wildlife Sanctuary, and Seima Protection Forest, which, together with Yok Don National Park in Vietnam, represents a contiguous protected core of almost 1.5 million ha that contains much of the threatened biodiversity in the landscape.

This landscape has been identified as the best potential source site for eventual tiger re-introduction, being of sufficient size and quality habitat to support a breeding population of ≥25 females and embedded in a larger block of forest that will enable tiger dispersal and repopulation at the landscape scale. However, economic and large-scale infrastructure development across the Greater Mekong Sub-region is rapidly increasing access across the landscape and significantly increasing the pressures on tiger recovery, including habitat degradation (resulting from agricultural expansion, spontaneous human settlement, infrastructure development, and socio and economic land concessions) and decline of prey species due to hunting for wildlife consumption and trade. In recent years, stronger, more effective law enforcement has succeeded in reducing, but not eliminating, the hunting of large game, particularly wild cattle, indicating the potential for tiger population restoration.

Tiger Conservation Goal:

To restore and conserve at least one defined, delimited and inviolate Source Site large enough to hold at least 25 breeding females.

Objectives

• 1. Strengthen Policy Framework
  • Develop a sub-decree to legally designate an inviolate source site.
  • Inter-ministerial cooperation and coordination for sustainable land-use and management across the Eastern Plains Landscape.
  • Sign a trans-boundary agreement with Vietnam to combating cross-border wildlife crime.
  • Review and revise existing wildlife laws that govern penalties for poaching and trade in species of high commercial value.
• 2. Pursue Institutional Development
  • Improve technical skills of enforcement agencies and community to monitor and manage protected areas and community managed areas.
  • Train FA, and GDANCP personnel on scientific skills for biological monitoring.
  • Increase operational resources for effective patrolling and monitoring.
  • Create greater awareness of the conservation values of tigers in local communities.
• 3. Undertake Priority Actions
  • Designate inviolate source site for tiger recovery
    
    • Secure at least one inviolate potential source site, free from any type of infrastructure, habitat conversion, concessions and human interference with a clear mandate for management of the source site for tiger recovery.
    • Increase frequency and efficiency of regular patrols to monitor illegal activity within the source site and protected areas in the broader landscape, with strict monitoring of law enforcement operations using MIST and full integration of monitoring into PA management cycle.
    • Integrate legal designations of tiger source sites, protected area zoning, landscape corridors and community managed areas within provincial, district and commune development and land-use plans, through consultation of key stakeholders, capacity building, advocacy, and coordination of technical support to relevant government departments.
  • Monitoring tigers and tiger prey
    Implement consistent tiger and prey monitoring protocols in potential source sites.
  • Trans-boundary collaboration with Vietnam to combat illegal trade
    Conduct annual coordination meetings for patrol planning and exchange of results from joint law enforcement patrol activities along the border.
• 4. Proposed Expenditures: to match NTRP costing
• 5. Financing Options
  • International Development Agencies: ADB and JICA implement regional development projects and could facilitate trans-boundary activities of the NTRP.
  • GEF: Complimentary to potential GEF-5 biodiversity priority areas and activities.
  • PES/REDD: Sustainable financing opportunities are being investigated in the landscape and have the potential to contribute to protected area management and conservation in the long-term.
  • Tourism: Increased revenues from well managed and appropriate tourism development.
  • National budget: Institutional support from central government.

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 China

There are four tiger subspecies in China: panthera Tigris altaica, panthera Tigris amoyensis, panthera Tigris corbetti and panthera Tigris Tigris. The main issues facing their population are: first, wild tigers live in limited areas, isolated from each other, hard to access to other potential, adequate habitat; second, poor vegetation in their habitat and severe insufficiency in preys resources; third, human activities interfere quite seriously with the activities of the wild tigers and their preys, illegal hunting still exists, illegal snare directly threaten the wild tigers in particular; four, the natural reproduction of the extreme small species faces severe genetic problems. In addition, the fact that the wild tigers injure people and domestic animals and the need to restrict the way of production and living in local communities in order to protect wild tigers will have close impacts on conservation.

According to surveys and monitoring, it is estimated that there are about 40-50 wild tigers living in China, consisting: P.T. altaica living in the mountains connecting Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces with Russia or its eastern mountains in the neighborhood, their population has grown from 12-16 by end of last century to current 18-22; even though there are reports of sporadic traces of P.T. amoyensis, the tigers have not been seen over more than 20 years in the wild; there are about 11-16 P.T. corbetti living in Xishuangbanna and Huanglianshan Natural Reserve, a bordering area of Yunnan province with Laos and Vietnam; there are about 8-10 P.T.tigris living in the forestry in southeast of Tibet, bordering India. Given the limited technology and capacity of survey and monitoring in the past, more scientific and reliable methods and technology needs to be adopted to conduct more comprehensive survey and monitoring in order to have accurate dynamics of the population and habitat of wild tigers.

Current data also shows that the main constraint factors for wild tiger population growth consist of: limited and highly fragmented habitat, quite low density of preys in the habitat, existing poaching of preys which poses threat to the safety of wild tigers, serious interference from human beings, wild tigers injuring people and domestic animals from time to time, etc. Given all these problems, comprehensive study needs to be conducted over the tigers’ distribution area and the current status of the habitat in the surrounding areas as well as the way of living and production of the local residents, systematic engineering measures and policy guarantee needs to be taken to promote the expansion and quality improvement of habitat to reduce interference from human beings; field patrolling and law enforcement and supervision needs to be strengthened to fight illegal hunting of tigers and other wild animals and to curb smuggling and illegal operation of tiger products; continuous and systematic scientific research and monitoring needs to be developed to ensure timely understanding of the population dynamics and evaluation of the habitat, so as to provide basis for conservation intensification and habitat improvement; capacity needs to be enhanced for prevention of damages to people and animals by wild tigers, improve compensation system relating to direct losses. Besides, pilot must be established for the release of amoyensis to the wild, the natural release zone will be gradually extended based on the experience from practices and relevant study results, stable and sustainable development of wild amoyensis population will be achieved eventually.

Another item of attention is that only with understanding and support of local people for wild tiger population and habitat conservation can objectives of conservation be basically assured. But conservation must require necessary constrains over the way of production and way of living for local people, it is easy to trigger conflicts between the conservation activity and local communities which will go against sustainable conservation. Therefore, while the conservation of wild tiger and their habitat is being strengthened, public education needs to be developed vigorously, and the needs of economic development and livelihood improvement for local residents shall be taken into account at the same time, proactive guidance shall be given to change the way of production and living inadequate to conservation, support shall be given for exploration of new ways of local economic development that are favorable to conservation, efforts shall be made to promote integration of wild tiger and their habitat protection with local economic development and local life improvement to achieve coordinated and sustainable

Historical reasons have made wild tiger population in extreme endangered state in China. A series of measures have been taken in China in laws and regulations, in construction of natural reserves, in restoration of habitat, in cracking down poaching and illegal trade to save and restore the wild population of this specie, such efforts result in gradual improvement in the population and the habitat of Chinese wild tigers. China will continue to extend and optimize the wild tigers’ habit, explore the release of artificial bred tigers into nature, strengthen the conservation management, intensify law enforcement and engage in wide dissemination and education to create sound conditions for the restoration of wild tigers so that to achieve significant population growth and large scale extension of the habitat of wild tigers by 2022.

Tiger Conservation Goal:

To achieve large scale extension and quality optimization of the wild tigers’ habitat by 2022, to promote significant population growth of the wild tigers, to guide and assist the local residents to adequately develop economy and improve livelihood.

Objectives

• 1. Strengthen Policy Framework
  • Policy to ban hunting in key areas to improve prey populations.
  • Policy and legal backing for conservation plan for wild tigers.
• 2. Pursue Institutional Development
  • Use current technology for field patrolling and monitoring.
  • Improve management and patrolling facilities and equipment, recruit additional staff and provide better training.
• 3. Undertake Priority Actions
  • Coordination of tiger conservation with social and economic development of local communities
    
    • Compensate for damages to people, livestock, and crops from tigers and their prey from earmarked funds.
    • Establish clear standards and procedure of compensation with strong monitoring and verification.
    • Pilot and demonstrate economic development models favorable to wild tiger conservation.
  • Conservation, extension, and optimization of the wild tigers’ habitat
    
    • Identify zones for wild tiger conservation and restoration, and evaluate potential tiger release sites.
    • Zone tiger habitats to prevent damage from infrastructure and development.
  • Strengthen law enforcement against smuggling and illegal operation of tiger products
    
    • Collect information on smuggling and illegal operations of tiger products.
    • Improve enforcement system and strengthen capacity to enhance enforcement effectiveness and curb illegal activities.
  • Improve international cooperation mechanism for wild tiger conservation
    Promote effective cooperation mechanism for technical exchanges, information sharing and coordinated actions
  • Improve the monitoring system for wild tiger populations and their habitat
    Identify the areas of responsibility of monitoring agencies, establish coordination systems, and implement monitoring in action zones.
  • Develop propaganda and education on tiger conservation
    
    • Explain to the public the damages to wild tiger populations from illegal trade and consumption.
    • Establish reporting phone lines, set up reward and punishment system, encourage public to report on illegal activities.
• 4. Proposed Expenditures: to match NTRP costing
• 5. Financing Options
  • The Central government in combination with the ecological development of “12th five year plan” will provide necessary funds.
  • Local governments will provide necessary counterpart funds according to proportions.
  • Other domestic and foreign funds will be sought.

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 Lao PDR

Tigers are sparsely distributed across the country, but at low numbers. Today, a breeding tiger population is confirmed only in the Nam Et-Phou Louey (NEPL) national protected area (NPA), which is a part of larger Tiger Conservation landscape #35 in the north-eastern Lao PDR. For the persistence of tigers in other parts of the country, provisional information exists from reports of animal signs but the certainty of tiger presence remains unknown. Further field survey on the ground is needed to better understand the status of tigers.

Threats to tigers in Lao PDR are similar to those in other tiger range countries, such as poaching of tigers for trade in their body parts, depletion of their prey due to overhunting, and also habitat shrinkage. However, hunting of tigers and prey to support international trade is the most key threat.

In order to tackle these threats and secure viable tiger populations, the current National Tiger Action Plan (2010) established a focused strategy that lays out specific actions to be taken over the next 10 years.

Those primary objectives include:

• Increase public awareness and support for the recovery and conservation of wild tigers and their habitats.
• Identify and demarcate totally protected zones (TPZs) in protected areas and corridors for connectivity between TPZs in tiger conservation landscapes.
• Increase and make effective the enforcement of national regulations and international conventions to stop killing of tigers and to regulate illegal harvest and trade of tiger prey.
• Increase national cross-sectoral cooperation for the recovery and conservation of wild tigers and their habitats.
• Increase international cooperation to reduce the illegal trade of tiger and prey to neighboring countries.
• Monitor and reduce human-tiger conflict in tiger conservation landscapes.
• Strengthen Protected Area organization, capacity and sustainable financing to effectively implement management activities to reduce threats to tigers and prey at priority source sites in Class 1 and 2 tiger conservation landscapes.

Tiger Conservation Goal:

To recover and maintain viable breeding populations of tigers in all Class 1 and 2 Tiger Landscapes, and to ensure connectivity between all tiger landscapes in Lao PDR, by 2020.

Objectives

• 1. Strengthen Policy Framework
  • Government to endorse the Tiger National Action Plan.
  • Revise the national protected areas regulation into a Prime Ministers Decree to grant higher status to the protected area system.
  • Use policy and legislation provisions to facilitate sustainable funding (e.g. though payments for watershed protection, given the high number of hydropower proposed developments in Laos).
• 2. Pursue Institutional Development
  • Train technical staff in each TCL, recruit necessary cadre, and equip properly.
  • Strengthen the capacity of DoFI, customs staff, border staff, economic police and CITES MA and SA (training, equipment).
  • Establish: Lao WEN; a Prime Minister’s Commission on Endangered Species; and a Tiger Taskforce under MoF.
• 3. Undertake Priority Actions
  • Engage local communities
    Support alternative livelihood for local communities.
  • Habitat conservation
    
    • Establish inviolate core zone at Nam Et Phou Louey NPA.
    • Establish connectivity between TCLs.
  • Law enforcement and tiger monitoring
    
    • Implement camera trapping and occupancy surveys and MIST.
    • Conduct scientific surveys of tigers in the entire TCL.
• 4. Proposed Expenditures: to match NTRP costing
• 5. Financing Options
  • GEF 5
  • Possibly funds from private industry for Corporate Social Environment Responsibility or Payment for Ecosystem Services.
  • Donors.

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 Malaysia

The current tiger population is distributed throughout Peninsular Malaysia, mainly in the state of Pahang, Perak, Terengganu, Kelantan and Johor. The source populations are in three main forest complexes; Belum-Temengor Complex, Taman Negara, and the Endau Rompin Complex.

The Royal Belum State Park and the adjacent Temengor Forest Reserve comprise the Belum-Temengor complex, and is probably the main stronghold for the tiger population in the Main Range. But only very general information on tigers is available; apart from a study in Gunung Basor Forest Reserve in Kelantan, where tiger density was estimated at 2.59 tiger/100 km2 (Darmaraj, 2007), not much is known about the population from the rest of the Main Range.

Endau Rompin, and Endau Kota Tinggi encompasses southern Pahang and Johor States. Among the three main forest complexes that form the tiger landscape, this is the smallest and most fragmented. Very little is known of tiger ecology in this area.

A study by Kawanishi and Sunquist (2004) estimated the tiger population in Taman Negara is about 52-84 adults. If poaching threats are not eliminated or at least significantly reduced, this population may not be viable in the long term. Thus, connectivity with the other forest complexes has to be maintained for genetic and demographic viability. However, the Taman Negara forest is at risk of isolation from the Main Range due to a railway and road running parallel to the western border of the park, and these and other fragmentation threats are being mitigated under the CFS Master Plan.

Poaching of tigers and prey across the region is becoming serious issue and Malaysia is also affected by this phenomenon. At present, the capacity to patrol the relatively large tiger habitats where access is often difficult, is inadequate. While laws to apprehend and prosecute poachers and curb wildlife crimes were inadequate until recently, two new legislation (The International Trade of Endangered Species Act, 2008 and Wildlife Conservation Bill, 2010) have been drafted and will come into effect soon, setting the platform for more effective law enforcement. However, staff capacity for patrolling and policing has to be built.

Tiger Conservation Goal:

By 2022, a wild tiger population of up to 1000 adults thriving within the Central Forest Spine as envisaged in the National Tiger Conservation Action Plan (NTCAP) of Malaysia.

Objectives

• 1. Strengthen Policy Framework
  • Finalize the enactment of the new Wildlife Conservation Act.
• 2. Pursue Institutional Development
  • Build capacity for Prosecution and Forensic Activities.
  • Professionalize and strengthen the Wildlife Crime Unit and Malaysian Wildlife Enforcement Network (MY-WEN).
  • Establish a coordination mechanism within the Ministry to monitor the implementation of the NTCAP and CFS.
• 3. Undertake Priority Actions
  • Protection for tigers and their prey
    
    • Strengthen law enforcement in and around the core tiger habitats.
    • Increase the number of informants in core tiger areas.
    • Develop focused and intelligence driven anti-poaching patrol strategies in key forest sites (poaching hotspots) to secure tiger habitat.
  • Habitat conservation and management
    
    • Maintain linkages between the three priority areas through ecologically sound land use compatible with tiger conservation.
    • Secure the core areas in the Central Forest Spine and enlarge where possible.
    • Implement community-based, better management practices (BMPs), effective awareness programmes, and compensation mechanisms to mitigate human-tiger conflict.
    • Design and develop smart infrastructure to maintain linkages and corridors.
  • Curb the illegal trade in tiger parts, derivatives, and other wildlife crimes
    
    • Work with customs, border officials, and INTERPOL to crack down on illegal international trade.
    • Enhance informant networks at local level.
  • Transboundary
    Strengthen and improve cooperation through bilateral and ASEAN to curb the illegal trade of tigers and parts across borders and in the Straits of Malacca.
  • Monitoring
    
    • Institutionalize effective science-based systems to monitor tiger, prey, and habitat conservation.
    • Improve knowledge and awareness of tiger ecology through research.
• 4. Proposed Expenditures: to match NTRP costing
• 5. Financing Options
  • Government (Federal and State)
  • NGOs
  • Commercial sector
  • PES

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 Myanmar

In Myanmar the Hukaung Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in the north and Thaninthayi Nature Reserve in the south of the country are considered to be the areas for TCLs where the NTRP should be focused.

Within these source sites the number of the Tiger population is estimated in the Hukaung TCL as 50 and in the Taninthayi TCL as 35. The existing Tiger populations in both areas are based on the best estimate of the NWCD. The Tiger population outside of the TCLs and PAS is currently unknown.

Illegal trade in Tiger products is extending beyond Myanmar’s boundaries. Eliminating such trade needs trans-boundary cooperation between Myanmar and neighboring countries.

The following activities should be implemented to reach the set goal.

• Increased 20 more staff assignment to Hukaung and total 15 staff toTaninthayi to increase patrolling presence and effectiveness.
• Continue the use of SMART patrolling in Hukaung and Taninthayi Nature Reserve.
• Improve information gathering and law enforcement to reduce illegal Tiger trade in the PAs, in major cities and at border crossings.
• Increase awareness among stakeholders and law enforcement agencies such as local police, customs, and township forestry officers to fight against wildlife trafficking.
• Evaluate the potential to expand protected areas in Thaninthayi to include Mount Myint- Mo-Lakat or other areas in the south that may still support Tiger populations and to establish ecological corridors where possible to connect the critical habitats.
• Increase education outreach programs for Tiger conservation in areas where Tigers occur, are being hunted or are being traded.

Tiger Conservation Goal:

To conserve two source sites for Tigers.

Objectives

• 1. Strengthen Policy Framework
  • Amend penalties of the current law and legislations with regard to tiger related offences.
  • Review existing development policies to strengthen support for Tiger Conservation and integrate in the development agenda.
• 2. Pursue Institutional Development
  • Improve capacity and strengthen infrastructure to monitor the population status and distribution of tigers.
  • Prepare management plans for tiger landscapes and PAs with tigers.
  • Create meaningful cooperation with government line agencies for effective and efficient law enforcement and education outreach for tiger conservation.
• 3. Undertake Priority Actions
  • Anti-poaching and protection
    
    • Improve law enforcement in source Landscapes
    • Increase effective patrolling and integrate with appropriate database (e. g MIST).
  • Habitat management
    Nominate important tiger core areas and corridors for legal protection.
  • Transboundary coordination
    Enter into trans-boundary agreements with India, Thailand and China to reduce illegal trade and wildlife crime.
  • Monitoring
    
    • Establish a baseline for tiger and tiger prey species.
    • Standardize biological monitoring protocols (possibly with MIST).
• 4. Proposed Expenditures: to match NTRP costing
• 5. Financing Options
  • GEF: Potential GEF-5 biodiversity priority areas and activities.
  • International NGOs: Currently supporting the Hukaung landscape.
  • PES/REDD: A PES system currently operates in the Thaninthayi Nature Reserve but other PES type projects are not being developed. No REDD projects are being developed yet in Myanmar.
  • National budget: Institutional support from central government.

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 Nepal

The Government of Nepal pledged to implement several conservation actions to help increase the country’s tiger population from an estimated 121 to over 250 adult tigers by the Year 2022. These pledges were made by the Hon Minister of Forests and Soil Conservation during the Kathmandu Global Tiger Workshop in October 2009 and during the Hua Hin Ministerial Conference in January 2010. Several of these pledges have already been implemented, demonstrating Nepal’s genuine commitment to saving its tigers and leadership towards achieving the global tiger recovery goal.

The pledges made by Nepal, and their status are as follows:

• Improve and increase tiger habitat. To fulfill this pledge, Nepal has already declared Banke National park (900 Km2) and the Bardia NP Buffer Zone Extension (180 Km2). Banke NP is adjacent to the existing Bardia NP; thus, together with the Bardia NP BZ extension, creates a large protected area complex to support breeding tigers. Nepal is also in the process of extending the Parsa Wildlife Reserve (400 Km2), which will greatly increase the size of the Parsa-Chitwan NP complex. The Prime Minister of Nepal also participated in a public awareness-raising event in Chitwan on the impacts of invasive alien plant species to help tackle this problem that is degrading wildlife habitat in the Terai.
• Control illegal wildlife trade with commitment from the high authorities. Nepal is at the final stages of establishing a National Tiger Conservation Committee (NTCC) and a Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) under the leadership of the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation. Nepal also hosted a South Asia Wildlife Expert Group meeting and has agreed to host the South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN); currently Nepal functions as the coordinator until a decision is made in Bhutan. A Memorandum of Understanding to address transboundary conservation and development issues, including control of wildlife trade, was signed with China. A similar MOU with India is being processed. A government-level transboundary meeting will be held in July 2010 towards this agreement. The Government of Nepal will also endorse the CITES Bill, which only requires final approval from the constituent assembly.
• Apply a new, effective approach to control poaching. Ground work to implement MIST is initiated. Training for relevant staff has begun.
• Apply the latest and innovative science in tiger conservation. A national tiger survey has been completed using scientifically defensible methodology. A radio-tracking project will be initiated by September 2010 to understand tiger ecology to inform landscape and meta-population conservation. Initially, two tigers will be collared with satellite GPS collars, with plans to collar another 20+ tigers in the next two years.
• Commitment for investment. The Government of Nepal is committed to continue financing the core recurrent costs of conservation (US$ 360 million over 12 years). However, the Government will require a total of US$ 42.7 million over the next 12 years as incremental financing from the International Community and conservation partners and stakeholders to fund the conservation program necessary to recover tigers as detailed in this NTRP.

Tiger Conservation Goal:

By 2022, a demographically stable meta-population with at least 250 tigers conserved in the TAL with transboundary ecological links.

Objectives

• 1. Strengthen Policy Framework
  • Amend the NPWC Act 1973 and Forest Act 1993 to enable landscape conservation.
  • Gazette the TAL as a priority conservation landscape.
  • Place TAL conservation as a high-profile feature in the political agenda.
• 2. Pursue Institutional Development
  • Establish a National Tiger Conservation Committee (NTCC), WCCB, and SAWEN.
  • Develop adequate human resources and capacity in the field and centre for research, smart patrolling, intelligence, judiciary procedures (e.g., scene of crime).
  • Build and restore infrastructure for effective management and protection.
• 3. Undertake Priority Actions
  • Building local community stewardship for conservation
    
    • Implement proactive human-tiger conflict mitigation program
    • Implement alternative livelihood programs compatible with tiger habitat conservation.
  • Population and habitat conservation
    
    • Manage the TAL as a conservation landscape with core areas, buffer zones, corridors to conserve tigers as a metapopulation with transboundary ecological linkages.
    • Protect tiger habitat from human encroachment through strict law enforcement.
    • Assess development projects planned in the TAL to determine impact on tigers, prey, and habitat, and approve only on the basis of recommendations from rigorous impact assessments.
  • Monitoring and protection
    
    • Implement and upgrade MIST (Management Information System Technology)
    • Conduct periodic population monitoring using camera-trapping and occupancy surveys.
    • Conduct research programs on tiger ecology and metapopulation structure.
    • Strengthen anti-poaching in protected areas with small, highly-mobile patrol teams.
    • Strengthen and scale-up community-based protection units and intelligence networks.
  • Sustainable financing
    
    • Explore potential for carbon-related funds and financial offsets from smart infrastructure for tiger and tiger habitat conservation and management.
    • Initiate national and international cooperation for payments for water and other hydrological services from the river system to support tiger conservation in the TAL.
• 4. Proposed Expenditures: to match NTRP costing
• 5. Financing Options
  • Government of Nepal: Recurrent cost and infrastructure.
  • IDA (World Bank): Regional programs, capacity building and networking and institution building.
  • World Bank (PAF): restoration of critical tiger conservation corridors through voluntary resettlement of communities in flood-prone areas.
  • GEF: Capacity building, human tiger conflict, livelihood and infrastructure.
  • WWF: Species, habitat, trans-boundary, corridors and connectivity
  • CITES: Law enforcement capacity building
  • Bilateral: All activities

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 Russia

Currently, the Amur tiger range in Russia totals about 180,000 km2, including an area of around 36,000 km2 (or 20% of the Russian range) within protected areas, with 10% of them being federal PAs.

The recent century saw various trends in the Amur tiger population in the Russian Far East. There were periods of decline, stabilisation and growth of the population as well as periods of its fast and slow changes. Since the early 1940-ies, changes in the Amur tiger population have been recorded in special registers, and since 2001, Amur tiger count guidelines have been followed. These Guidelines require implementing an annual monitoring program and undertaking a full-range count every decade.

Since 2000, the Amur tiger range has been expanding to in the northern and western directions. Compared with the 1990-ies, the status of the Amur tiger population has changed: forest-scarce flatland parts of the range have been lost to agricultural development; increased fragmentation of the Sikhote-Alin and East- Manchurian population groups is fraud with complete isolation of these population groups in the nearest decade; and there is a downward trend in the number of tigers. Changes also occurred in the institutional frameworks and social and economic conditions for tiger conservation in Russia.

All numerous adverse anthropogenic factors, affecting the Amur tiger, may be classified into two large groups, depending on whether they cause direct impact (poaching, involuntary withdrawals) or indirect impact (forest fire, forest logging, road construction, human population density growth, hunters’ activities, etc.). Poaching poses a major threat to the existence of the Amur tiger in Russia. As regards anthropogenic factors causing indirect impact, which reduces the Amur tiger population, the worst of them is the loss of habitats due to industrial development, including clear-cutting and unsustainable game management, impairing the tiger’s prey population.

Tiger Conservation Goal:

To identify mechanisms for safeguarding the existence of a viable population of the Amur tiger consisting of at least 500 animals with a maximum genetic diversity across the Russian Federation.

Objectives

• 1. Strengthen Policy Framework
  • Prescribe legal requirements to prosecute those sell and purchase tiger skins on the internet.
  • Amend the forest legislation to protect Korean pine and oak trees.
  • Amend laws to provide economic incentives to increase prey populations.
  • Amend laws to include stiff punishments for illegal procurement and transport of tiger parts.
• 2. Pursue Institutional Development
  • Raise the level of professional knowledge of nature resource managers and specialists.
  • Mobilise additional financial support for protected areas to improve protected areas management.
  • Raise the level of knowledge about tigers among officers of customs and law enforcement services.
• 3. Undertake Priority Actions
  • Human-tiger conflict prevention and settlement
    
    • Prepare recommendations on safety rules for local people in Amur tiger habitats.
    • Put radio-tracking collars on Amur tigers.
    • Establish an Amur Tiger Recovery Centre.
  • Strengthened protected area network
    
    • Establish ecological corridors to connect protected areas in key Amur tiger habitats.
    • Expand the area of the existing nature reserves and national parks in the Amur tiger range.
    • Establish protection zones with restricted natural resource use on land adjacent to PAs.
    • Provide incentives to PA staff by increasing salaries and supplying needed equipment.
  • International cooperation
    
    • Establish trans-boundary reserves for seamless movement of Amur tigers
    • Coordinate actions to suppress smuggling and re-selling of Amur tiger poaching products.
    • Coordinate research programs, and develop international Amur tiger research cooperation.
  • Amur tiger population studies and monitoring
    Improve methodological frameworks for Amur tiger monitoring and counts following the guidelines approved by the MNR in its Order # 63 of March 15, 2005.
  • Public awareness and education
    
    • Implement targeted PR campaigns for various social groups living in the Amur tiger habitats to develop a positive image of the tiger as a symbol of the region’s wildlife.
    • Preserve and promote spiritual culture and traditions of indigenous people that respect the Amur tiger.
    • Promote sustainable natural resource management to conserve tiger habitats and prey populations.
    • Develop negative public opinion about poaching.
• 4. Proposed Expenditures: to match NTRP costing
• 5. Financing Options
  • Details unavailable

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 Thailand

Information unavailable.