An Experience Unmatched - Snowflakes and Tigers - Anusha Shankar

(posted by Anusha Shankar)

Large, gentle snowflakes drifted down around us, drawing a white curtain down upon our last night in Vladivostok, Russia. The next day, on November 25^th, 2010, Devanshu and I bid farewell to the land of the Amur tiger, having spent eight wonderful days in the company of 26 other international youth representatives. The occasion was a Youth Tiger Forum conducted by WWF, and hosted by the Russian Government, WWF-Russia and the UN. Our objective was to meet and discuss the tiger’s situation in our countries, and come up with a Youth Outreach Plan to involve the youth in tiger conservation efforts. At the end of the Summit, we spoke to the Heads of Government and other representatives of the remaining 13 tiger range countries, and urged them to protect the largest surviving Felid and its habitats.

During the course of the Forum, we learnt of the status, numbers, distribution and threats to tigers in each tiger range country. We debated, presented and shared ideas on what the most important problems and next courses of action were, if the tiger is to be saved. What became clearly evident was that tiger numbers are on the decline everywhere. Each of the 3200 remaining tigers in the wild faces the threats of poaching, habitat loss and fragmentation, and direct conflict with human beings. The circumstances vary from one region to another, so each youth delegation developed a country-specific plan. However, we are now truly united in our efforts. The Youth Tiger Network we have formed and will build upon will give us a platform to share information and strategies, and to provide each other support.

I truly enjoyed the seamless interactions we had with the other delegates. The experience proved to me that we share so much across countries. Despite completely different backgrounds and that we lead such contrasting lives, there are common joys, emotions and problems we all face. Most of us forget this after hearing of regional clashes. My roommate Dannee and I, for example, were able to connect and understand each other so well in spite of the fact that she is an English Literature graduate from the UK, and I’m a post-graduate student of Ecology from India. There are so many chances for us to work in harmony across borders and save this world’s biodiversity. It really is about time we took them.

India has an astounding population density of 365 people per square kilometer. And yet, she supports 1400 of the remaining 3200 wild tigers. There are a number of reasons for this. Our generic cultural and religious links to nature, and to tigers specifically, are very strong, and have prevented indiscriminate destruction of tigers and their forests. India’s policies on Wildlife protection are known to be among the best in the world. The Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 was a powerful and comprehensive piece of legislation. Though these laws could most certainly be implemented better, the framework exists to boost protection and vastly improve the Conservation network. A number of other countries do not have such laws at all. This is an essential first step if wildlife conservation of any kind is to succeed. Instead of putting unbearable pressure on our lands and tearing ecologically sensitive habitats apart with roads and railway lines, we must apply this same pressure on our governments to be more environment-friendly.

Apart from lobbying to policy-makers, we can each bring about changes on a small-scale, and make a big difference locally. Though this is spoken about often, more people need to incorporate it in their lives. By turning off the tap, you save a little more of the water which comes from a river in the home range of a Royal Bengal Tiger. By refusing plastic carry-bags at a departmental store, you free your environment from one more source of pollution, carbon-dioxide and cancer-causing toxins.

Our lives are an intricate design, inextricably linked with the future of our world. We need to do our best to protect our environment from destruction at our own hands. The tiger is a symbol of this environment.

We appeal to the youth, be they from tiger range countries or not, to pitch in their skill-set to protecting this iconic, majestic animal. For its conservation represents a triumph over destruction and greed. It shows that we are aware of our environment and how crucial its well-being is to our planet’s (and our) survival. Each of us is a part of a much greater whole. We cannot survive without plants, without air and water. Save the tiger, save our only planet.