The 13 tiger range countries on Thursday signed a joint resolution on tiger conservation that focuses on implementation of past commitments, strengthen cooperation, emphasise tiger recovery, enhance knowledge sharing and technologies and ensure funding and technical support, among others.

The three-day Asian Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation concluded in New Delhi on Thursday, with the representatives of the member countries acknowledging the threat to survival of the wild cats on global scale and agreeing to work together to achieve the goal of doubling their numbers by 2022 as envisaged in the St. Petersburg Declaration in 2010.

Minister of Forests and Soil Conservation Agni Sapkota headed the Nepali delegation at the third conclave. The first and second conferences were held in Thailand and Bhutan in 2010 and 2012 respectively.

The New Delhi Resolution released on Thursday focuses on seven-point to improve and recover the tiger populations across the tiger-range countries, particularly in the areas with low tiger densities, and work towards addressing the demand for tiger products and combat wildlife crime through trans-boundary coordination.   

“Wildlife trade has not come strongly as needed, given the ever increasing poaching activities ongoing in the major tiger habitat countries including Nepal and India,” said a delegate attending the conference requesting anonimity.

The ministerial meeting was more focussed on issues, including increase in tiger populations, trans-boundary collaboration and tiger reintroduction, the delegate added.

The conference opened on Tuesday with a big announcement that the global wild tiger numbers have increased for the first time from 3,200 in 2010 to 3,890.

The increase in population was attributed to multiple factors, including increases in tiger populations in India, Russia, Nepal and Bhutan, improved surveys and enhanced protection. However, experts are concerned about the news on increase in tiger population terming it as a metho-dology flaw and scientifically incorrect.

According to the latest figures, Bangladesh has 106 tigers, Bhutan 103, Cambodia nil, China seven, India 2,500, Indonesia 371, Lao PDR two, Malaysia 250, Nepal 198, Russia 433, Thailand 189 and Vietnam less than five tigers in the wild.

Nepal lost 14 tigers to poaching in a year between February 2015 and February 2016. “Poaching and illegal trade are still the major threats to the wild tiger population in the country,” said Maheswar Dhakal, deputy director general at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation.