Leonardo DiCaprio was in attendance today -- and announced he was making a $1-million donation -- as world leaders gathered in Russia approved an ambitious plan designed to protect wild tigers from what many believe is an imminent threat of extinction.
Because of poaching and critical habitat destruction, only 3,200 tigers remain throughout Asia, where 100,000 of the magnificent beasts roamed a century ago.
The first-ever tiger summit, held in St. Petersburg and hosted by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, resulted in the approval of a plan intended to double the number of wild tigers by 2022.
About $127 million -- the funding coming largely from governments and conservation organizations -- will help support what is known as the Global Tiger Recovery Program.
Provisions within the plan, among other things, call for paying poor countries to halt deforestation and provide for stepped-up enforcement against trafficking in tiger parts, which are in high demand in China and India, for use as traditional medicine and aphrodisiacs.
DiCaprio, a board member of the World Wildlife Fund, attended the summit and added star power to a conservation effort that needs all the help it can get. His $1-million donation was made available immediately.
DiCaprio, star of such films as "Titanic," "Blood Diamond" and "Avatar," also made trips recently to Nepal and Bhutan, where he rode elephants through tiger habitat as part of an anti-poaching effort. Earlier this year he took part in a WWF effort to raise $20 million for conservation through the Save Tigers Now campaign.
In a statement, Carter Roberts, WWF president and CEO, said of DiCaprio: "His financial commitment will spark urgent on-the-ground conservation for tigers. His storytelling will inspire people around the world to help."
The 13 countries that still have wild tigers, besides Nepal and Bhutan, are Russia, China, Bangledash, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
Unfortunately, many are are poor countries that generate revenue through products rendered from trees. The World Bank has offered a $100-million loan package to some of these nations for conservation work, which includes creating and protecting new habitat. The Global Environment Facility, has committed $12 million to fund regional projects that show benefits for biodiversity and reductions in carbon emissions, or saving forests.
Ironically, this is the Year of the Tiger on the Chinese calendar. Largely because of poaching, tiger numbers have declined by about 2,000 since the last Year of the Tiger, 12 years ago.
The next Year of the Tiger is 2022, which is why it was chosen as the target year for the goal to double tiger numbers. If that happens it'll be a major success story, but if tiger numbers show further decline or fade altogether from some regions, there will be little reason to celebrate.
-- Pete Thomas
-- Photos: Top two images, showing a wild tiger and actor Leonardo DiCaprio helping to set up a camera in Nepal, are courtesy of the World Wildlife Fund. DiCaprio image was by Jan Vertefeuille. Bottom image is courtesy of the Global Tiger Recovery Program
-- Editor's note: This post also appears on the GrindTv outdoors blog
Even though tigers have been known to attack humans, they are still part of our ecology. I hope that Lenardo DiCaprio's donation will not be put into waste. And I also hope that more celebrities will follow his example in saving these big cats.
Posted by: Send SMS Thailand | Apr 28, 2012 at 02:31 PM
I can't believe that someone would be so generous as to pay
$1-000-000. Leonardo Dicaprio,and EVERONE else who is trying to help save the tigers is making a huge difference.
If no-one helps a tiger might be a thing of the past and that really upsets me because they are so beautiful and I don't want to say goobye to them.
Posted by: Jemma C | Nov 24, 2010 at 11:11 AM