The tiger, a magnificent symbol of power and energy and a national icon for many of the countries in Asia, stands on the precipice of extinction. We have lost 97% of our wild tigers in this century while their habitat has shrunk to 7% from the historic home range globally. With as few as 3,200 remaining, action is needed to increase their habitat and strengthen protection measures for the species from major threats, particularly poaching, land conversion, and trade. In Nepal, there are only 155 adult tigers left in the wild.
The truth is that the tiger is at the heart of Nepal’s identity, and we do have the power to save it. And it is worth mentioning that Nepal is, in fact, leading the way in tiger conservation through a landscape-level conservation approach in the Terai Arc.
On the policy front, the Nepal Tiger Recovery Plan, based on the GTRP, has already been endorsed by the Government of Nepal with the goal of doubling the number of tigers in Nepal by 2022, the next Year of the Tiger. A Memorandum of Understanding on biodiversity conservation and addressing illegal wildlife trade was signed between Government of Nepal (GoN) and the People’s Republic of China while a trans-border biodiversity conservation resolution was signed with the Government of India.
The first meeting of the South Asia Experts Group on Illegal Wildlife Trade, which was organized in Kathmandu in 2010, laid the foundation for South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN) with its Secretariat established in Nepal as a coordinated regional response to combat illegal poaching and trafficking.
Various institutional mechanisms have also been set up to strengthen tiger protection measures in Nepal. The National Tiger Conservation Committee was formed under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister of Nepal in order to address wildlife issues at the highest political level. To strengthen cooperation and coordination among inter-government agencies for curbing wildlife crimes, mainly poaching and illegal wildlife trade in the country, the Government of Nepal also formed the Wildlife Crime Control Coordination Committee and established Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) with district-level cells for effective field-level enforcement.
Cutting-edge science was introduced for tiger conservation in Nepal through the country’s first collaring of a tiger with a GPS plus GLOBALSTAR-3 satellite collar to aid tiger ecology studies, and the introduction of Management Information System Technology (MIST) in Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve to help in patrolling efforts.
Funding priorities have also been stepped up, following the need for increased investments for tiger conservation in Nepal. The Government of Nepal has committed a budget of Rs. 300 million for the next five years for tiger conservation programs in Nepal; the government has already invested more than the committed amount in 2010 and 2011.
Millions of Rupees are also being invested by the government under the President’s Churia Conservation Initiative for conserving the Churia Range, an important habitat for tigers. Likewise, the World Bank is investing US$3 million under the Regional IDA Project to conserve tigers and trans-boundary conservation for Nepal while Hollywood celebrity Leonardo DiCaprio provided US$1 million to fund anti-poaching efforts and habitat protection in the priority tiger landscapes across Asia, with Nepal being one of them.
Communities in the Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) have demonstrated excellent stewardship in tiger conservation through a range of interventions, from participating in raising awareness to controlling poaching.
Despite all these efforts to protect tigers in Nepal, however, poaching to feed continuing consumer demand for various tiger body parts – mostly for use in traditional medicine and folk remedies – is the largest immediate threat to wild tiger populations. Traders are even storing dead tigers for their parts, which increase in value as numbers of tigers in the wild fall. Tiger bones have been used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for at least 1,000 years. Alternatives to tiger products have now been found, validated by scientific research studies sponsored by the Chinese government and embraced by TCM practitioners. Although TCM leaders say they no longer need or want tiger bone medicines, and international trade in tiger parts is illegal, there is still high demand for such products.
Given this immediate threat to tigers, the “Zero Poaching” campaign is being taken forward by the WWF network under the Tigers Alive Initiative across several countries. In Nepal, the Zero Poaching campaign is being led by the Government of Nepal, WWF Nepal, and National Trust for Nature Conservation, and other partners. While combating poaching is entwined in a complex network of demand and supply, tackling this issue is an equation of resources plus will.
Protecting tigers means not just protecting a species; it also means protecting entire ecosystems. The benefits are not merely notional, they are quantifiable. Hundreds of rivers spring from tiger habitats and tiger tourism can be worth tens of millions of dollars. Tiger-inhabited forests are carbon sinks, acting as brakes on anthropogenic or human-made global warming. Healthy forests with healthy tiger populations provide a myriad of ecosystem services to communities both near and afar, particularly in the face of climate change.
In short, healthy tiger populations need healthy forests, and healthy forests provide a raft of benefits for people, in effect creating win-win situations for humans to live in harmony with nature.
The writers, Dr. Ghana S. Gurung and Akash Shrestha, work with WWF Nepal as Conservation Program Director and Communications & Marketing Manager respectively. They can be contacted at info@wwfnepal.org.
Click here for the photogallery
Related story
Manage tiger-human conflict to save tigers
-1200x560_20220209150522.jpg)
