17 May 2012 - New Delhi,
India – Tiger range countries in their first
meeting to review efforts on doubling the
number of wild tigers by 2022, reported
significant progress, but recognized that
urgent and elevated action is still needed
to halt poaching.
“Steady progress is
being made towards meeting the goal of doubling
wild tiger numbers,” said Mike Baltzer,
Leader of WWF’s Tigers Alive Initiative.
“But tiger range governments must urgently
and seriously step up action to eliminate
poaching if they do not want their investments
to go to waste.”
In November 2010 at the “Tiger Summit” in
St. Petersburg hosted by the Government
of Russia and the World Bank, the 13 Tiger
Range Governments and partners committed
to doubling the number of wild tigers by
2022 (TX2). They presented the Global Tiger
Recovery Program (GTRP), which represents
the plans towards meeting this goal.
The meeting in New Delhi,
held from 15-17 May 2012, was the first
time since the Tiger Summit that senior
government officials from all 13 countries
have met to review progress on implementation
of the GTRP and plan the next steps.
Before the meeting,
WWF released results of a preliminary assessment
of 63 legally protected areas in seven tiger
range countries that showed only 22, or
35%, maintain WWF’s minimum standards of
protection. This indicated that tigers in
most of the protected areas are still very
vulnerable to poaching.
Poaching of tigers,
to feed consumer demand for their body parts
and products, is now the main factor reversing
the gains made by governments, donors and
other partners working towards the 2022
goal. Nearly all tiger range countries spoke
of the poaching problem and efforts they
are taking on the ground to tackle it. These
include strengthening capacity and introducing
new, innovative law enforcement monitoring
tools, such as M-STrIPES and SMART, to better
manage protected areas with tigers. They
also considered new approaches to reduce
consumer demand for tiger derivatives.
“We are pleased that
the approaches we recommended on demand
reduction are being considered to support
implementation of the GTRP,” said Sabri
Zain, Director of Advocacy and Campaigns,
TRAFFIC International. “It is critical that
we implement new approaches to changing
consumer behaviour if we are to successfully
stem out poaching in the long run and therefore
in achieving TX2.”
During the meeting, TRAFFIC also presented
new figures from its latest research into
the rising number of tiger part seizures
taking place in Asia. With 53 seizures occurring
each year, levels remain high. The analysis
also identified persistent tiger trade hot-spots
such as Kathmandu, Hanoi and the Russia/Northeast
China border. It is essential that a tiger
trade monitoring system be established as
information such as this can assist enforcement
efforts in the field where it is most needed.
In a sign indicating
tiger range countries are increasingly working
together to save the tiger across their
borders, the meeting witnessed the signing
of a bilateral agreement on trans-border
cooperation between India and Nepal and
another between India and Russia.
''This gathering of
tiger range states shows that the momentum
to save tigers is indeed building, but the
pressure on the species continues,” said
Ravi Singh, Secretary-General and CEO, WWF-India.
“Coordinated anti-poaching measures across
tiger range states are called for. These
need to be scaled up and implemented urgently
to achieve zero poaching."
WWF is supporting tiger range countries
in their enforcement efforts through both
training and helping to develop computer-based,
law enforcement monitoring systems. It has
also identified three actions tiger range
governments can take immediately to launch
an elevated operation towards Zero Poaching.
These include identifying and delineating
the most important sites requiring good
protection from poaching, and ensuring these
sites have sufficient numbers of enforcement
staff who are well trained to monitor and
improve their effectiveness by using monitoring
systems. WWF also suggests that the police
and judiciary need to help to ensure strict
punishment on poaching and to actively engage
local communities living adjacent to important
tiger conservation areas.
+ More
Saving one turtle at
a time in Bali
13 May 2012 - By Aimee
Leslie, WWF's Marine Turtle and Cetacean
Manager - Indonesia is 90% Muslim, but Bali
is the exception, which is 90% Hindu. The
Hindu community of Bali has traditionally
used marine turtles for religious ceremonies
for decades. Consumption of these turtles
summed between 10,000 and 20,000 a year.
It is no secret that
changing a tradition, specially a religious
one is no easy task; but WWF-Indonesia was
determined to do so. The local veterinarian
and Hindu, I.B. Windia Adnyana, was aware
of the problem and took matters into his
own hands. He joined forces with his brother,
a local religious leader to talk to the
Hindu community and let them know that the
turtle ritual could have dire consequences
for the survival of the local populations.
The religious leaders listened and wanted
to help, but could not eliminate a practice
that was still intrinsically knit into their
customs. Besides, the whole village of Serangan
Island depended mainly on the sales of adult
turtles to the Hindu community.
None the less, the local
government joined in, and in 1999, measures
were agreed on. Only 300 marine turtles
per year would be culled for religious purposes.
These turtles would be provided only through
a permit authorized by the local government.
The turtles would only come from the Turtle
Education Centre, to be built by the government
in Serangan Island.
The Turtle Education Centre would only use
five Olive Ridley turtle nests a year, to
raise the turtles for Hindu religious ceremonies.
This is because adult nesting turtles have
a much higher value for the future of their
population. In nature only 1 out of every
1000 hatchlings born survives long enough
to achieve sexual maturity.
Since 2006 the Turtle Education Centre has
been up and running. It provides the Serangan
village with more income than they ever
had when dedicated to the illegal turtle
trade. Students and tourists go to the Centre
to see and learn about marine turtles. Though
this is not the ideal solution, we’re in
the process of getting there. WWF and its
local partners were able to make a difference
for Indonesia's marine turtles, one turtle
at a time.
+ More
Working together to
save the dolphins of the Mekong River
13 May 2012 - By Aimee
Leslie, WWF's Marine Turtle and Cetacean
Manager - Today the population of 85 Irrawaddy
dolphins that inhabits the Mekong River
in Cambodia faces great danger. Gill nets,
the proposed construction of hydropower
dams, and unplanned development all threaten
the survival of the Irrawaddy dolphins in
the Mekong.
But today, the biggest
challenge faced by WWF scientists is that
the calves are dying in very high numbers.
A recent population study lead by WWF and
the Cambodian Fisheries Administration found
that the survival rate of calves through
to adulthood was virtually zero. This means
that practically all Irrawaddy dolphins
born in the Mekong die within the first
years of life.
"If this trend continues Irrawaddy
dolphins could disappear from Mother Mekong
by the end of the decade," said Gerry
Ryan, a dolphin researcher at WWF-Cambodia.
"The problem is that we are uncertain
why so many calves are dying."
In January 2012, WWF convened a dolphin
conservation workshop in Kratie, Cambodia
that was attended by fifteen of the top
cetacean scientists in the world and many
local and regional experts. The scientists
agreed that gill nets are the primary cause
of adult mortality, but the reasons for
the high rate of calf mortality are still
not clear.
WWF, the Fisheries Administration, and the
Dolphin Commission signed the Kratie Declaration,
a joint statement in which they agreed to
work together to conserve dolphins in the
Mekong. The declaration included a long
list of recommendations for the conservation
of this population.
WWF has been working
in Kratie, Cambodia to help save Mekong
Irrawaddy dolphins since 2005. The team
has worked side by side with the Fisheries
Administration to monitor the size of the
population, determine causes of mortality
through necropsy studies, water quality
testing, promote protected areas in key
dolphin habitat, and with local organizations
to develop alternatives that improve the
livelihoods of the surrounding communities,
while reducing human pressure on dolphins
and their environment.
"The Irrawaddy dolphins attract over
10,000 tourists a year to this province,"
said Gordon Congdon, Project Manager for
WWF-Cambodia. "The survival of this
population is important for the livelihoods
of the communities along the Mekong River
and as an iconic symbol of the rich natural
heritage of Cambodia.”
WWF will continue efforts to save Irrawaddy
dolphins in the Mekong River through science
based policy development and ongoing research,
concurrent with grassroots work with local
communities to reduce the threats - for
healthy dolphins, healthy rivers, and healthy
people.
