The 13 tiger range countries have agreed to conduct a comprehensive tiger census by 2016 to determine the animal’s population and habitat status as they work to double the wild tiger population by 2022.
The agreement came at the conclusion of the 2nd Stocktaking Conference of The Global Tiger Recovery Program held at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel, which ended yesterday.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the three-day conference that began on Sunday.
The declaration on the comprehensive census said the countries agreed to undertake reserve-specific tiger monitoring using camera traps, DNA analysis to ensure transparency, and other intelligent technologies to build up national tiger databases.
Some 140 tiger experts from over 20 countries participated at the conference. Senior government officials from the 13 tiger range countries attended the conference to review progress towards the goal of doubling the number of wild tigers by 2022, known as Tx2.
The 13 tiger range countries are Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The delegates agreed that tiger range countries would engage local communities in tiger protection to reduce human-tiger conflict. They also agreed to increase investment in and professionalise front-line wildlife protection staff so that Zero Poaching could be achieved.
In a press release, Mike Baltzer, head of the World Wildlife Fund Tigers Alive Initiative, hailed the governments for agreeing to hold a comprehensive census, saying it was a crucial step to achieving Tx2.