IUCN and partners announce coalition to raise finances for tiger recovery
On International Tiger Day, IUCN with its partners working on tiger conservation announced a coalition to support enhanced ambition and financing for tiger recovery, while delivering impact for nature and people.
The Tiger Conservation Coalition brings together leading biologists and experts in wildlife crime, human-wildlife coexistence, policy, finance, development and communications, with unprecedented alignment on achieving tiger conservation at scale. Its member organisations include IUCN, the Environmental Investigation Agency; Fauna & Flora; Panthera; TRAFFIC; the United Nations Development Programme; the Wildlife Conservation Society; and the World Wildlife Fund.
As part of its ambition to support Tiger Range Countries in realising long-term tiger conservation, the Coalition has announced it will co-host a major conference: Sustainable Finance for Tiger Landscapes. The conference will take place 22-24 April 2024, under the patronage of Her Majesty the Queen of Bhutan. The session will convene a broad range of experts and donors to focus on the evolving landscape of finance for nature and opportunities for investors to impact tiger conservation and recovery throughout their range. Participants will include Tiger Range Countries, donor countries, international development banks, financial institutions, philanthropists and key tiger experts in Thimpu, Bhutan.
The Tiger Conservation Coalition is an independent group of organisations that have worked extensively together on major tiger assessments, including the latest assessment by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ and IUCN’s Green Status of Species assessment under a common vision for tiger conservation.
Since its inception in 2014, IUCN’s Integrated Tiger Habitat Conservation Programme (ITHCP) has supported Tiger Range Countries to strengthen effective policy and sustain conservation impacts. Partnering local civil society organisations, governments as well as international non-governmental organisations, ITCHP supports implementation of tiger recovery in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and Indonesia. Following a Species-Habitat-People approach, projects help protect tiger species, preserve habitats and support people living in and around tiger habitats: to support sustainable development gains and reduce human wildlife conflict. ITHCP is funded by the German Cooperation (BMZ) through the German Development Bank (KfW).
From August 2023, ITHCP will launch a new call for projects to expand its conservation efforts in Thailand and Cambodia. The new call will also include conservation support for leopards and clouded leopards, in addition to tigers. This expanded scope aims to address habitat conservation and the management of human-wildlife conflict related to these species. By doing so, IUCN is laying the foundation for potential tiger recovery in regions where they have experienced significant declines.
Working with the Tiger Conservation Coalition, IUCN will continue to contribute towards achieving Tiger Range Countries’ Global Tiger Recovery Programme and the Global Biodiversity Framework. Providing technical and policy support, as well as efforts to bridge the financing gaps, the ITHCP will continue to work with a broad range of partners to recover tigers in their range landscapes.