(posted by Devanshu Sood)
The aim of the International Youth Tiger Forum held at Vladivostok, Russia from the 18th till the 24th of November, 2010 which was attended by youth leaders from around the world including us from India was to agree upon a Youth Decleration and a Global Youth Action Plan along with individual National Youth Action Plans for each of the participating nations which will be implemented by the youth leaders in their respective nations, to involve the youth in the conservation of the tiger not only in their own countries and regions but across the world and to make the voice of the youth heard in matters of tiger conservation. The Youth Declaration and Action Plans which were made at the Summit were then presented by us the Summit's participants to the Heads of States and other Delegations who had assembled at the International Tiger Conservation Forum, held at St. Petersburg, Russia from the 21st till the 24th of November, 2010 in the form of an appeal from the youth made by us on behalf of the youth of the world, to save the wild tiger.
In this post we have provided the Youth Decleration along with the Youth Action Plans that we came up with at the summit.
The Youth Declaration
An Appeal by Participants of the International Youth Tiger Forum
We, the youths participating in the International Youth Tiger Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, in this Year of the Tiger, appeal to the world to save the tiger. We represent all 13 tiger range countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand, and Vietnam) and the United Kingdom.
During these past few days, we have learned more about the plight of the tiger, its decline and the threats facing the species. Not only is the tiger hunted, it is also losing much of its home – the forests.
We know for many of our countries, development is important. However, we do not want development that results in us losing many of the world’s natural wonders and wild species like the tiger. We want our children to be able to inherit a living planet full of the wonders of the natural world.
The tiger knows no political boundaries. For example, tigers from Russia travel to China, and tigers from Nepal frequently cross into India. Likewise, tigers from Laos trespass the border into Vietnam, before wandering into Cambodia.
We therefore call on the governments of the countries that still have tigers in the wild, to urgently unite in efforts to save the tiger and double its numbers in the wild by 2022. Only by swiftly acting together across borders can we reverse the situation and stop the decline of tiger populations.
We also call on the governments of economically developed countries to support national and international programmes on tiger conservation through providing funding and technical support. The conservation of the biggest cat on the planet for future generations is a noble and essential investment. Tigers live in forests rich in biodiversity; therefore, tiger conservation will have immeasurable benefits for overall nature conservation, as well as for the many local communities who rely on these areas for basic needs and ecosystem services such as food, water and timber.
We invite the world’s youths to join us in supporting tiger conservation. Our youth action plans have a role for everybody keen to lend support to the youth tiger conservation movement – from increasing awareness to mobilizing youths to take action; from adopting a green lifestyle to actively volunteering in activities such as replanting of degraded forest areas.
We pledge to continue in our role as Tiger Ambassadors to actively promote activities and mobilize the youths of the world in doing our part to conserve one of the world’s most iconic symbols of biodiversity conservation.
Let us together make this year a turning point for the tiger.
Thank you.
The Summary of Our Individual National Youth Outreach Projects which is an Annexeure to our Youth Decleration.
Annex I
Youth Action Plan on Tiger
During the Forum the delegates elaborated a Youth Action Plan for international and national levels which can be supported by the governments of 14 countries and by non-profit environmental organizations.
International level:
- - Tiger Ambassadors public awareness movement
- - International Tiger Day with one-week activities
- - Youth Tiger Network for work coordination
National level:
- - Education (information and methodological materials, lectures, schools and university engagement)
- - Internet activities (website, social networks, blogging, online viral campaigns, petitions)
- - Competitions (art, design, photo, projects)
- - Events (exhibitions, festivals, conferences, concerts, camps)
- - Actions (flashmob, drama, marathon)
- - Fundraising activities (donations, sponsored activities)
- - Opinion leaders involvement (show business, sportsmen, authorities)
- - Conservation activities (scientific and social researches, student brigades, volunteer work, local communities involvement, field trips, exchange programmes)
Global Youth Outreach Programme
We, the youths participating in the International Youth Tiger Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, in this Year of the Tiger, appeal to the world to save the tiger. We represent all 13 tiger range countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand, and Vietnam) and the United Kingdom.
We the youth delegates propose our international plan to unite the fourteen nations in furthering the involvement of the youth in tiger conservation.
In pursuit of our goals we propose the following actions:
1. Youth Tiger Network
· The creation of the “Youth Tiger Network” the purpose of which will be to raise awareness about the conservation of the tiger and the problems facing it
· The network will unite our fourteen nations and their individual National Youth Tiger Outreach Programmes.
· The network will be used as a portal for Tiger Ambassadors' blogs and news, and as a calendar for all activities happening in all countries.
· “Youth Tiger Network” will be led by a steering committee which will ensure the co-ordination of the calendar activities and be responsible for keeping the site up-to-date.
2. International Tiger Day
· The co-ordination of the 'International Tiger Day' in each of the fourteen nations on the last Sunday of each September.
· We the youth tiger delegates propose to initiate activities before, during and after the International Tiger Day, relating to our National Youth Tiger Outreach Programmes.
We pledge to continue in our role as Tiger Ambassadors to actively promote activities and mobilize the youths of the world in doing our part to conserve one of the world’s most iconic symbols of biodiversity conservation.
Let us together make this year a turning point for the tiger.
Thank you.
All in all the summit was a success with us youth form around the world coming together to initiate the process that will lead to the greater involvement of the youth, both in their own nations and worldwide in the cause of protecting and conserving the Tiger, saving it from its untimely demise cause by the multitude of human endorsed actions, poaching, habitat loss and man animal conflict along with its demand in traditional Chinese medicine and the demand for its fur, being some of the reasons directing the most majestic animal that may have ever roamed the earth towards extinction.
However the summits at St. Petersburg and Vladivostok have been the start in the right direction, not only has it led to the adoption of the global Tiger Recovery Programme but it has begun the coordinated worldwide action that has been always required but not been there to conserve the wild Tiger. We now have seen the collective will and commitment of the world, its leaders and its nations, taking Tiger conservation into the right direction.
Meeting and interacting with the delegates brought home the fact that the youth from the different countries were no different from us (almost the same as the realization that the Amur Tiger is also just like the Royal Bengal Tiger – a beast of meagre needs and accommodating habits!)
The Tiger habitats know no borders and neither do the Tigers, roaming freely through their territory, regardless of passports.
It is important to remember that by saving the wild Tiger we save so much more. The Tiger is a metaphor for life, for the forest and ecology it is a part of. So, saving the Tiger means saving and securing everything that the Tiger represents. When we save it, we save its habitat, water resources and all the animals, insects, birds, reptiles and other living organisms that inhabit its pristine ecosystems.
Not only do we save and protect our Tiger and our ecosystems but we also create a protective cover for our world against climate change. An estimated five gigatonnes or 15 per cent of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions – the principal greenhouse gas – are being absorbed or ‘sequestrated’ by tropical forests 'that are inhabited by the wild Tiger' every year, making them the ‘mitigation engine’ of the natural world. This could also be described as ‘green carbon’.
-FACTOID
It is now time, time to convert all of our deliberations, plans and declarations into concrete actions on the ground, changing the on ground reality, bringing the Tiger back from the brink that we as a world have pushed it into.
So we put a spectacular year on Tiger conservation behind us, one that can be said has indeed been the turning point for the wild Tiger. And now we all, all of us conservationists look forward to a year in which we hope and will change the fortunes of the Tiger.
And Remember.
Together We Can and Will Save The Tiger !
Roar !!!
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