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.

An Experience Unmatched - From India with Love - Devanshu Sood

(posted by Devanshu Sood) 

Landing in Vladivostok on 18 November, with the flight attendant's comforting words “it’s fine weather outside” when the temperature was -12 degrees Celsius, seemed a blessing after the unexpected experience at Moscow airport due to a ‘technical error’ in my visa. The 8 days I spent in Vladivostok, Russia, along with the 27 delegates from 14 countries, at the International Youth Tiger Summit organized by the Russian Government, in association with the United Nations and the World Wildlife Fund for Nature, were truly special.

Day 2 at YTS

(posted by Devanshu Sood)

Hi everyone,
Here goes day 2!

We began the day with the gala opening ceremony at the Vladivostok State University of Economy and Service. This was attended by the Governor of Primorsky Province (in which Vladivostok is) S. M. Dar'kin; the Consul General of India in Vladivostok; the Consul General of Vietnam in Vladivostok; Igor Chestin, WWF - Russia's CEO, and all of us, the delegates from the different tiger nations. It was covered extensively by the Russian media- both the print and television.

Gala Opening and Day 1 at the YTS

(Posted by Anusha)

Greetings!
Our first update on the Summit follows. This post is made up of fragments which were written at different times, so excuse the changes in tense please!