Posted on 22 November
2013 - On the third anniversary of the historic
Global Tiger Summit the Leonardo DiCaprio
Foundation has awarded a $3 million grant
to WWF for a bold initiative to help Nepal
double its wild tiger numbers by 2022 –
the next Chinese Year of the Tiger.
The grant will bolster
WWF’s work with the government of Nepal
and local communities in Nepal’s Terai Arc
landscape to strengthen anti-poaching patrols,
protect core areas for tiger breeding, restore
critical corridors for their dispersal and
expansion, and continuously monitor tiger
populations. Previous support from the Leonardo
DiCaprio Foundation is already showing major
results, growing the number of tigers in
the Terai’s Bardia National Park from an
estimated 18 to 50 tigers.
The grant represents
the first funds awarded from the successful
Christie’s 11th Hour Charity Auction in
May, created by DiCaprio, which raised a
record $38.8 million for conservation in
a single night. DiCaprio has long been a
passionate advocate for the environment
and joined forces with WWF beginning in
2010 to launch Save Tigers Now, a global
campaign to raise political, financial and
public support to save tigers in the wild.
“Time is running out
for the world’s remaining 3,200 tigers,
largely the result of habitat destruction
and escalating illegal poaching,” said Leonardo
DiCaprio, a WWF Board Member. “WWF, the
government of Nepal and local communities
are on the front lines of this battle and
I am hopeful this grant will help them exceed
the goal of doubling the number of these
noble creatures in the wild.”
“Leonardo DiCaprio defies
expectations in leveraging his voice and
influence to restore tigers and their habitat
in one of the most hopeful places on Earth,”
said Carter Roberts, President and CEO of
WWF-US. “His foundation is all about delivering
real results for conservation on the ground
and empowering local communities; nowhere
is that more evident than in Nepal. The
numbers speak for themselves and we are
grateful for our partnership.”
Nepal is on target to
become one of the first tiger range countries
to achieve the 2010 Global Tiger Summit’s
goal of doubling wild tigers by the next
Year of the Tiger in 2022. The Terai Arc
Landscape of Nepal, where the grant will
be used, is 9,000 square miles and includes
protected areas that are critical tiger,
rhino and elephant habitat. The densely
populated region is also home to nearly
seven million people who depend on its natural
resources for their livelihoods.
Tigers, elephants and
rhinos in the Terai are losing habitat and
falling victim to the illegal wildlife trade.
The grant will allow park rangers to use
sophisticated monitoring tools in conjunction
with community policing and intelligence-gathering
to tackle poaching. Basic park infrastructure,
such as guard posts, will also be expanded
and corridors between parks will be strengthened
to give key species the freedom to roam
and help grow new tiger populations across
the Terai.
“Protecting a top predator
like the tiger helps keep forests and grasslands
intact, and ensures that other species like
rhinos and elephants can thrive.” said Justin
Winters, the Executive Director of the Leonardo
DiCaprio Foundation. “The most impressive
part of this project - and the key to its
success so far - is the true collaboration
between WWF, the Nepal government and the
local communities. Finding solutions that
protect tigers and benefit local people
is the only way to ensure long term success.”
WWF and its partners
will also use the grant to help local communities
benefit from conservation by creating income-generating
activities through tourism, handicrafts
and organic vegetable production. The grant
will also support insurance funds to help
families cope with the loss of livestock
to predators.
+ More
US follows Gabon’s lead
in fight against ivory traffickers
Posted on 15 November
2013 - The United States on Thursday publicly
destroyed six tons of confiscated elephant
ivory tusks, following a precedent set by
Gabon when the country’s president Ali Bongo
personally set fire to its seized ivory
stock in June 2012.
“Gabon was the first
country, to send a clear and loud signal
that it is determined to put an end to wildlife
criminality by destroying its entire ivory
stockpile,” according to Lee White, head
of Gabon’s National Parks Agency.
“We congratulate the
United States for sending the same signal,
which we hope will be heard around the world.”
“We also encourage other
states to do the same and fully audit and
publicly destroy their seized ivory stocks,”
White added.
Rising demand for ivory
– especially in East Asia – has led to an
epidemic of elephant poaching across the
whole African continent, including in Central
Africa, where nearly two thirds of its forest
elephants were massacred between 2002 and
2012.
So serious is the crisis
that in May of this year United Nations
Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said that
poaching and illegal wildlife trade – with
the associated proliferation of weapons,
armed gangs and criminal syndicates – poses
a threat to peace and security in the Congo
Basin.
Gabon’s elephants are
also being targeted by poachers. And, although
it only represents 13 percent of the forests
of Central Africa, it is believed to be
the home of half of the Congo Basin’s remaining
forest elephants.
“International law currently
bans ivory trade across borders, and ivory
originating from seizures or of unknown
sources has been and always will be illegal.
Also, since domestic ivory trade is illegal
in all Central African countries, ivory
has no legal market value,” according to
Bas Huijbregts, head of WWF’s campaign against
illegal wildlife trade in Central Africa.
“Destroying seized ivory
therefore not only raises awareness about
the crisis, but ensures that it will be
kept out of the illegal ivory market.”
”Illegal wildlife trade,
is one of the most lucrative illicit international
trades. Valued at between $7.8 and $10 billion,
behind counterfitting, drugs, weapons, oil
and human trafficking,” Huijbregts concluded.
