ussia to tighten punishment for tiger killing, trade -Putin.

R
23/11 Tass 82

ST. PETERSBURG, November 23 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia will tighten
punishment for tiger killing and trade, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said
at the International Tiger Forum in St. Petersburg on Tuesday.
A national strategy of preservation of Amur tigers has been approved
in the country, Putin said. "The strategy requires the drafting of
regional development programs, investment, construction and infrastructure
projects," he said.
The Russian program of tiger conservancy "has started a growth of the
tiger population. The number of Amur tigers, most of which live on the
Russian territory, has grown by nearly ten times in the past 60 years.
Today this population nears 500," he said.
"We aim at sustainable nature conservancy and review the structure of
economic activities in areas populated by tigers," Putin said. "Several
days ago Russia outlawed the logging of Korean cedar pine, which is vital
for feeding boars and deer. If these animals leave the taiga, the tigers
will have nothing to eat."
Putin also promised new research projects. "The Russian Academy of
Sciences and the Russian Geographic Society have started up an extensive
program for studying tiger biology. There is a joint action plan with
Chinese colleagues. For instance, we will create transboundary zones for
free movement of tigers. We have done the same for leopards," Putin said.
Consultations are underway with South and North Koreas, he said.
"Our country is ready to share its wealth [tigers]. Tiger families
from Russia may help restore the tiger population in areas, where tigers
have gone extinct, for instance, in Kazakhstan or in Iran," he said.
The Global Tiger Initiative was made in 2008, and it gained support of
all the 13 Tiger Range Countries," he said. "It is symbolic that we have
approved a global program for restoring the tiger population in the Year
of Tiger. The program will coordinate national efforts, draw financial,
managerial and technical resources and propel academic contacts," he said.
Tiger Range Countries pledge to abide by environmental demands, he
said. "It is of paramount importance to integrate tiger conservancy into
long-term socioeconomic development plans," Putin said.
Russia is interested in close cooperation with everyone who realizes
their responsibility for nature conservancy and is ready to pool efforts,
the premier said.
"The readiness of states for large joint projects and their adherence
to preservation of tigers will be confirmed in a special declaration of
the chiefs of state and prime ministers of the Tiger Range Countries,"
Putin said.
"While discussing the future of tigers, we are actually discussing
problems vital for the entire planet and entire mankind. We say that
sustainable development of civilization is possible only in case of
environmental awareness," he said.
The presence of prime ministers and heads of many international
organizations at the forum displays their readiness to develop a joint
strategy and to take active steps in preservation of the tiger population,
Putin said.
"The current situation is nearly catastrophic, as the tiger population
has reduced by nearly 30 times, from 100,000 to slightly more than 3,000,
in the past century. Three out of eight tiger sub-species have gone
extinct," he said.
"It is our duty to pay our dues to nature, to save whatever can be
saved and to correct our mistakes," Putin said.
People have always admired tigers and told legends about the tiger's
might and beauty, he said. "At the same time, there was tiger trophy
hunting, and hunters mercilessly killed adult animals and cubs," he said.
"Tiger hunting has become a cruel amusement and a source of money.
Egoistic economic activity, thoughtless use of forests and poorly
considered infrastructure projects left a little chance for survival to
tigers," he said.
Tiger Range Countries, financial and environmental organizations,
whose representatives gathered for the Tiger Summit in St. Petersburg on
Sunday with a goal to double the world tiger population by 2022.
According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the world tiger population
has reduced by 30 times to 3,200-3,500 wild tigers. Less than 100 years
ago, tigers roamed across most of Asia. Their territory stretched from
eastern Turkey to the Russian Far East, extending northward to Siberia and
southward into Bali. In a relatively short period of time, humans have
caused tigers to disappear from 93% of their former range and destroyed
much of their habitat.
Only 7% of historic tiger habitat still contains tigers, and, at this
rate, wild tigers will be extinct in just a few decades, WWF said.
Tigers used to live in 25 countries, but now they can be found only in
13 countries, among them Bangladesh, Bhutan, Vietnam, India, Indonesia,
Cambodia, China, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal and Russia.
WWF Secretary General James Leape said that everything started from
the trophy hunting of tigers, a practice which persisted in some countries
up to the 1970s. He noted that the former Soviet Union banned the hunting
of Amur tigers in 1947.
Tiger hunting is now illegal throughout the world, Leape said.
Extensive habitat loss and fragmentation has forced tigers to live in
small, isolated pockets of remaining habitat, making it harder for tigers
to reproduce. Increased road networks and reduced habitat size also leave
tigers more exposed to poachers. The expansion of human activities in
tiger habitat has led to overhunting of tiger prey species, WWF said.
Russia has a steady population of Amur tigers, Russian Natural
Resources and Ecology Minister Yuri Trutnev told the forum.
Russia had over 1,000 Amur tigers in the middle of the 19th century,
but the population dropped significantly by the beginning of the 20th
century and only 50 Amur tigers were left in the 1940s, Trutnev said.
"Eighty percent of all tigers were killed by hunters," he said.
Deforestation and industrial development of the Russian Far East also
added to the problem, the minister said.
The Soviet Union was the first country to ban the hunting of tigers in
1947, Trutnev said. Six nature reserves, three national parks and 13
conversation areas were formed in the Khabarovsk and Primorye territories
for tiger conservation, he said.
As of now, the Amur tiger population in Russia, which is the home of
90% of all Amur tigers, has grown by nearly ten times. The number of Amur
tigers varies from 428 to 502.
The national strategy of Amur tiger conservation, which was adopted in
June 2010, set the goal of a viable tiger population of no less than 500
animals. Another two conservation areas will be formed with that purpose,
including one jointly with China. It will be prohibited to log Korean
cedar pine and logging of other trees will be limited within the tiger
habitat. The population of hoofed animals will be increased. Measures
against poaching and illegal tiger trade will be tightened.
"In fact, we plan to certify any tiger skins owned by individuals to
make sure that these products are legal," Trunev said.
"In the opinion of scientists, the current tiger population in Russia
is steady and harmonious with the habitat and food supply. This population
may grow, but not in geometric progression, the minister said in answer to
the Itar-Tass question why Russia did not aim to double the tiger
population by 2022 like other countries did.
"We simply started to fulfill this mission earlier than others," the
minister said.
The summit has approved a global program, which will help restore the
tiger population in the period from 2010 through 2022.
The program was based on national projects of the Tiger Range
Countries, but drafters say that it would require funding of $350 million
in the first five years. The World Bank and some other international
development banks, the Global Ecological Fund, private, corporate and
international public organizations have expressed their readiness to be
donors.
The St. Petersburg Tiger Summit will continue until November 24.
-0-yer


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