Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin has vowed to work toward generating $600 million by the next year of the tiger to protect this species from extinction, and to wipe out poaching. [break]
Speaking at the Tiger Summit, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal highlighted the achievements for Nepal in the field of conservation in the past year. He said, "We are committed to save the tigers, but we need the support of all the others in this endeavour."
Also speaking on the occasion, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said that China is willing to "visibly" boost the tiger population. He laid stress on the behavior of people towards wild animals and said that there is an urgent need to address the livelihood issues of people in order to save the forests and wild animals.
Importantly, World Bank President Robert Zoellick announced a Wildlife Premium Market package for Nepal and Malaysia, under which the Bank would lend funding support for projects to help improve the livelihood of local people in a bid to save forests. He also announced a $100 million loan support to the South Asia Wildlife
Enforcement Network. He, however, said that the Bank will not support projects in core protected areas.
He also announced creation of a multi-donor trust fund to help the Global Tiger Initiative, the Global Tiger Forum and the Global Tiger Recovery Program. He hailed the achievements of Nepal in the filed of conservation.
The other speakers included Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Prime Minister of Laos Bouasone Bouphavanh.
PM Nepal was accompanied by a five-member delegation including Forest Minister Deepak Bohara, Nepal´s ambassador to Russia and the chief of protocol.
Di Caprio´s Nepal video released
The highlight of the program was the screening of a 10-minute documentary filmed by renowned Hollywood star Leonardo Di Caprio during his visit to Nepal in March. The video titled "Save our Nature" was based on his jungle safari in the Bardiya National Park earlier this year.
Director General of WWF-International, James Leap, announced that the video will be released next week and said Di Caprio has contributed 1 million US dollars for WWF-International-led projects in the Tiger Range Countries.
Also present on the occasion was renowned Bollywood actress Preety Zinta, who drew much world attention to the event in the last three days. The Summit officially ends today.
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