IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Ahmad, I.U.; Greenwood, C.J.; Barlow, A.C.D.; Islam, M.A.; Hossain, A.N.M.; Khan, M.M.H.; Smith, J.L.D. | |
| Bangladesh Tiger Action Plan 2009-2017 | |
| 2009 Full Book | |
Wild tigers are a symbol of healthy ecosystems upon which biodiversity and mankind depend. Sitting at the top of the food pyramid tigers require large areas of land to support viable populations, and so act as an umbrella species for securing the future of other species that share their habitat. Furthermore, tiger forests provide a range of ecological services vital to our own existence. Tigers are also a valuable part of human culture and a focal point of many tourist visits to Asia. Equally important is the tiger's intrinsic right to survive irrespective of the needs of mankind. With fewer than 4,000 individuals left in the wild, the tiger is severely threatened throughout its range. The mangrove forests of the Bangladesh Sundarbans support one of the largest populations of tigers in the world with an estimated 300-500 tigers, and an unknown number of tigers occur in the Chittagong Hill Tracts bordering India and Myanmar. However, tigers are threatened in Bangladesh by direct loss, prey depletion, and habitat degradation. Tigers are directly threatened by poaching to supply the increasing demand for tiger products. In addition, Bangladesh suffers high levels of tiger-human conflict, manifested in human-killing, livestock depredation, and ultimately the retribution killings of tigers by affected local communities. Poaching of prey further reduces the capacity of the forest to support tigers, and unsustainable forest use and climate change threaten to reduce the area in which tigers can live. In building a successful tiger conservation effort, there are also a range of challenges that need to be dealt with relating to: (1) institutional development and policy, (2) forest protection and law enforcement, (3) education and awareness, (4) research and monitoring, and (5) the need for collaboration. The Bangladesh Tiger Action Plan (BTAP) marks the beginning of a structured approach to achieving long-term conservation of tigers in Bangladesh. The BTAP is a policy-level document that provides a vision, goals, and objectives to guide an integrated and focused tiger conservation programme. The vision is to ensure protected tiger landscapes in Bangladesh, where wild tigers thrive at optimum carrying capacities and which continue to provide essential ecological services to mankind. The main goal for the next eight years is to stabilise or increase the Sundarbans tiger population. The Bangladesh Forest Department, under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, is the custodian of the forest and its wildlife, but one of the most important aspects of the BTAP is the recognition that the immense task of tiger conservation necessitates support and expertise outside the normal remit of forest management. Therefore, the establishment of a Forest Department-led platform that facilitates collaboration for the implementation of conservation activities will be fundamental to its success. |
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