Global Tiger Initiative partners last Friday launched
hands-on training for wildlife conservation professionals from national
parks and protected areas in Southeast Asia with new patrolling
technologies part of a larger effort to protect tigers and other
wildlife in the region.
The Global Tiger Initiative is an international
alliance of governments, global NGOs, international organizations, the
conservation community and the private sector.
The course is part of a scaled-up training initiative
in high-priority tiger conservation areas under the Global Tiger
Recovery Program adopted by the governments of 13 tiger range countries
in St. Petersburg, Russia in November 2010.
Only about 3,200 tigers remain in the wild today,
occupying increasingly fragmented patches of forest across Asia.
“Survival of tigers in the wild depends on the
ability of the tiger range countries to deploy well-equipped
professionals on the front lines of national parks and protected areas
with technology that can put pressure on poachers and organized wildlife
crime syndicates,” said Keshav Varma, program director of the
initiative.
Damrong Phidet, director-general of Thailand’s
Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation welcomed
US Ambassador Kristie Kenny, officials from the World Bank, Smithsonian
Institution, Wildlife Conservation Society and over 30 wildlife
practitioners, participating in the two-week training program Jan 6-21
at Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary in Thailand’s central province of
Uthai Thani.
Participants are from Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao,
Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
The training focuses on sharing the best conservation
practices to be applied in the tiger range countries. Modern patrolling
technologies and management will be introduced, and are utilizing global
positioning satellite equipment, according to a statement released by
the alliance.
Protected area management teams will also be
introduced to new tools and strategies to help jumpstart implementation
of the latest and most effective systems in their own countries, the
statement said.
Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, a priority tiger
conservation landscape and UNESCO World Heritage Site is the venue for
the training program, organized by the Smithsonian Conservation Biology
Institute, the World Bank Institute, Thailand’s Department of National
Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation and the Wildlife Conservation
Society. (MCOT)
