END TIGER TRADE, The eyes of the world are watching

Photo copyright: http://www.endtigertrade.org.

Groups Release TV Spot to Reject Tiger Trade

LONDON, May 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In advance of the world's largest wildlife trade meeting next week, 35 organisations have launched a powerful, 4-minute television spot urging China to keep its ban on tiger trade.

One of the UK's leading actors, Martin Jarvis, lent his voice to the spot, which details the consequences that reopening legal trade would have on wild tigers. The public service announcement can be viewed at: http://www.endtigertrade.org.

A plea to help stop the Tiger trade!

Please do what you can to stop the unethical trade in body parts of the endangered tiger:
Help End the Tiger Trade
Please Stop the Tiger Trade

Action Alert of the Month: Help End Trade in Tiger Parts

China represents the largest market for illegal trade in animal parts, and in particular trade in Tiger parts. In 1993 the Chinese government took decisive action to help save the species by outlawing all domestic trade of tiger products. At the same time public awareness campaigns have helped curbed a demand that once supported a burgeoning trade in tiger parts.

Now there are new pressures on the Chinese government, by so-called tiger farm operators, to relax these regulations and to make the trade in tiger parts legal again. This must at all costs be stopped because once trade is legalized it opens up opportunities for criminals to white wash money from trade in illegally poached animals of the wild tiger. Besides, years of public awareness campaigning and education on the issue may be at risk. Please help save the tiger from this fate. If we do not stop all trade in tiger parts we may soon only be able to see these wonderful animals in zoos and tiger farms, where they certainly do not belong. Therefore, EarthEchoes asks you to visit Help End the Tiger Trade and sign up to ask China to keep its tiger trade ban in place.

Photo Copyright: © John Goodrich, WCS. The photo is of male tiger Lyutia.

Here is Save the Tiger Fund's press release on the campaign: Conservationists Call on China to Support Law Over Tiger Farms

For obvious reasons this campaign is very close to EarthEchoes' heart since the editor, Trond Lovdal, works for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in Russia Far East as the Tiger Friendly Certification Manager. This campaign on WWF's website is sponsored by 28 organizations involved in tiger conservation, including WCS, Save the Tiger Fund, Conservation International, IFAW, TRAFFIC, Care for the Wild International, The Corbett Foundation, etc.

Please do your part to help save this wonderful cat from extinction. Visit Help End the Tiger Trade and sign up to ask China to keep its tiger trade ban in place. Your views will be personally conveyed to China's leaders.

Group Photo From Hun Chun Nature Reserve

The official group photo from the training and survey trip to Hun Chun Nature Reserve. I am second from the left on the front row. The director, Dale Miquelle, is 4th from the left.

The whole experience from this 11 days endeavour was incredibly interesting to me, not only from a conservation viewpoint, but also from a political viewpoint. It was very interesting to observe how the Chinese approached conservation from a very different political angle to that of the Russians. It gave me some very useful insights into Chinese thinking on nature conservation and the management of nature reserves.

Tracking and Survey Training, China

The second part of the tiger and ungulate survey and tracking training took part in Hun Chun Nature Reserve in Northeast China from February 1 to 10, 2007. About 20 participants from both the reserve and WCS China took part in the training and surveys. Hun Chun NR is a long and thin nature reserve stretching along the Russian border all the way down to the North Korean border. It is in a beautiful area with many hills, creeks and rivers. The first picture is a view of North Korea just a short way from the border. The border goes along a river which can be seen to the right and center of the photo. The picture is taken from a hill just inside China looking southward. The second photo below shows me with China to the north on the exact same ridge. This specific transect along the N. Korean borde was done on the last day of the training and surveying. By that time we had finished about 30 transects in all for Hun Chun NR. On this transect we saw several fresh hare and Sikha deer tracks, but unfortunately no tiger or leopard tracks. Another important aspect of the work done along these transects was to mark by GPS and on the map any snares that were found. The snares were then removed. It is a sad fact that much of the wildlife in Northeast China is disappearing due to illegal snares. Along one transect a group of four people removed as many as 80 snares.

The transects were often as long as 15 km so it was a lot of hiking, often in deep snow. Although it was quite cumbersome it nevertheless was really worth the hard work as the participants learned a great deal about tracking and tiger and ungulate surveying methods, not to mention experiencing the great scenery and nature.

Tracking and Survey Training, Russia

WCS Russia have just completed a training course for representatives from China in how to conduct tiger and ungulate monitoring and tracking. Eight Chinese attended the training. The training was given to WCS China staff and representatives from Hun Chun Nature Reserve. Here John Goodrich is showing the group how WCS is tracking radio collared tigers and how to get an approximate location of the animal (in this case an adult female tiger). It was a very enthusiastic group that took part in the 3 day training program in Sikhote Allin Nature Reserve.

In the second picture my group is taking a lunch break after we have walked for about 6 km to track animals (I am the person closest to the tree). This day we found many tracks from various ungulates and even a set of relative fresh tiger tracks, probably a young male tiger. The next training session was held in China where we conducted tiger, leopard and ungulate monitoring and surveys along with the training for about 20 staff from WCS and Hun Chun Nature Reserve.

Link of the Month: Wildlife Conservation Society

Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is the organization I found work with after finishing my MSc. degree in Environmental Management. It is an incredibly interesting organization to work for and my work as a Manager for the Tiger Friendly Certification Program is multi-faceted as it touches on aspects of biodiversity conservation, sustainable development, community development and poverty alleviation. It has received a grant of US$ 97,000 from the World Bank. To read more about the project please visit: World Bank Development Marketplace: Tiger Friendly Certification in Russia Far East

Below is a short clip on the Amur Tiger and its current condition. This is the sub-specie of Tigers that live in Russia Far East. The Hornocker Foundation was one of the first orgainzations outside of Russia to conduct scientific research on the Amur Tiger. It merged later with WCS.

New job as Manager for Tiger Friendly Certification

In July 2006 I was offered the position of Tiger Friendly Certification Manager with Wildlife Conservation Society (Russia). I will now be based in Vladivostok, Russia Far East where I will be working on helping conserve the Amur (Siberian) tiger by reducing human-tiger conflicts. We do this through economic incentives to hunters and community members in tiger territories via the Tiger Friendly Certification Scheme. The idea is that these economic incentives will be strong enough to stop poachers from killing tigers and its prey (ungulates). My contract with WCS is until June, 2007 so I have nearly a year to help make a difference in Amur tiger conservation efforts. The project has received about US$ 97,000 in funding from the World Bank. To read more about the WCS project I will be managing please visit: World Bank Development Marketplace: Tiger Friendly Certification in Russia Far East

WCS also has some information about the project on its website: WCS - Tigers and Hunters

This project is also very interesting because it deals with issues at the intersection of development, business, and conservation. Tiger conservation is the ultimate goal of the project, but it is understood that to be effective in addressing the issue of tiger conservation one must also address the issue of development, poverty alleviation and local capacity building as these issues are all interlinked.

I will also in all likelihood be involved in transboundary tiger conservation co-operation between Russia and China due to my background from China (work and masters degree in Chinese politics) and this will also be og great interest to me.

This will be a huge change in my life as I now will be moving to Russia, something which I previously have never considered. However, I feel that this is a unique opportunity for me to get some valuable wildlife conservation experience and to help conserve one of the rarest sub-species of tigers in the world. I am therefore looking very much forward to take up my position with WCS and I sincerely hope that I can make a difference helping reduce human-tiger conflicts and thus help conserve the rare Amur tiger.

Tracking the Amur Tiger

I have just returned from a five day visit to Russia Far East (RFE). I went there for a job interview with Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). It was a very interesting experience and I learned a great deal not only about WCS, but also about the environment and working conditions in RFE. On the first day I wnt straight to Nezhinsky Nature Reserve to meet with the game wardens and NR staff. Stayed over night there and got to try the famous Russian banya (sauna) with an accompanying dip in the cold lake next to it. Then next it was visiting the office in Vladivostok for meetings and interviews there. The last two days was spent in beautiful Lazo NR where Dale Miquelle (the Russia Program Director) and I tracked a tiger for nearly three km along beaches and ridges. We were accompanies by the reserve's "guard" dog that I named Drog (friend in Russian) as he was very friendly. The picture is of me and Drog next to the tiger tracks on one of the beaches.