Representatives from 13 countries have gathered in Bali to develop a plan to preserve their tiger populations from extinction due to massive habitat destruction and illegal trading.
The three-day Pre-Tiger Summit Partners Dialogue Meeting, which was opened Monday by Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan, is a preparatory meeting in advance of a heads of government meeting to be held in St. Petersburg, Russia, in September.
“It is alarming that only six of the nine tiger sub-species in the world still exist. In Indonesia, only Sumatran tigers are left. The other two sub-species in Indonesia have become extinct,” Zulkifli said in his opening remarks.
Participants will jointly formulate a draft Global Tiger Recovery Plan which will propose a plan to double the world’s tiger population by 2022, according to a representative.
The summit will also draft a declaration for the heads of government meeting, which will be attended by Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam.
Zulkifli said that Indonesia still lacked monitoring on the ground to preserve tigers, even though the country has a zoning system for conservation.
Accordingly, the ministry is proposing stricter penalties for forestry crimes that will sentence offenders to a minimum of five years in prison for crimes such as destruction of endangered species’ habitats, he added.
“We have not had the Bali tiger since the 1940s nor the Java tiger since the 1980s. The continued existence of the Sumatran tiger is precarious. We are working to save them through a mix of strategic policy, regulation and action,” Zulkifli said.
There are currently about 400 Sumatran tigers, which comprise 12 percent of the world’s total population of wild tigers. Tiger habitats have decreased by half over the last 25 years, according to Forestry Ministry data.
A World Wildlife Fund (WWF)report shows that the global tiger population has dwindled from more than 100,000 to about 3,200 over the past century.
Illegal trading and trafficking of tigers has been worsening, said Keshav Varma, World Bank Program Director for the Global Tiger Initiative.
Rampant hunting to meet demands for tiger parts in traditional medicine and health tonics or for decoration and fashion has also emerged as a major threat to tigers, Keshav said.
“Illegal traders and poachers have become more sophisticated and better equipped. These people are present in many tiger habitats, thanks to loopholes and weak law enforcement. Governments must become more aware by making their laws much stricter.”
Besides providing loan schemes, World Bank and its partners are encouraging countries to come up with research projects.
The GEF (Global Environment Facility) gives grants to countries to strengthen their biodiversity networks and policy implementation on habitat protection and management.
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