The Hindu : New Delhi News : ‘It is now or never for the tiger’

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Friday, Jul 20, 2007
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‘It is now or never for the tiger’

Staff Reporter

The Big Cat’s lovers launch a signature drive to draw attention to their plight

Photo: V. Sudershan

Joining hands: School children participating in a signature campaign launched by the World Wide Fund for Nature-India and International Tiger Coalition in New Delhi on Thursday to urge the Government to take steps to protect the tiger.

NEW DELHI: School children, eminent conservationists, environmentalists and tiger lovers joined hands with members of the World Wide Fund for Nature-India (WWF) and International Tiger Coalition here on Thursday to launch a signature campaign aimed at drawing attention of the world to the plight of tigers. The campaign is also aimed at stopping trade in tiger parts and products from all sources.

WWF-India Secretary-General and Chief Executive Officer Ravi Singh said: “The point that we are trying to make is that it is now or never for the Indian tiger. Clearly our Government needs to be as effective towards on-the-ground measures as it has been in lobbying at the global platform to save the tiger and its habitat. People too must spread the word and do their bit to save the tiger.”

As part of the campaign, WWF-India has also exhibited a global tiger mosaic, a six-foot-by-six-foot product of an international campaign that ran on websites prior to the latest Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Having received over 20,000 pictures from over 150 countries – of which India was among the top ten contributors -- the mosaic symbolises the power of visual imagery and global concern for the tiger.

Significance

Samir Sinha of WWF-India said: “Given the significance of the debate and its long-term implications for tiger conservation, we are hopeful that this campaign will go a long way in spreading awareness about the importance of tiger conservation.”

Also present at the event were members of the International Tiger Coalition, an alliance of 35 organisations representing more than 100 organisations across the globe, united under the common aim of stopping trade in tiger parts and products from all sources. The aim of the coalition is to co-ordinate research, communications and awareness-raising efforts in order to provide an organised response to the organised crime that sustains illegal tiger trade and endangers all wild tigers.

Meanwhile, the guests of honour at the event were the frontline staff of the forests -- the forest guards -- who patrol the protected areas with minimal equipment.

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