International Tiger Day
International Tiger Day, also known as Global Tiger Day, is an annual celebration to raise awareness for tiger
conservation, held annually on 29 July. It was created in 2010 at the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit. The goal
of the day is to promote a global system for protecting the natural habitats of tigers and to raise public awareness
and support for tiger conservation issues.
Positive ways to move ahead on International Tiger
Day
.
Monday, July 29 is International Tiger Day, and all over the world people will
celebrate the great
cat
and all that it represents – environmental security, clean air, clean water and clean government.
International Tiger Day is a time to spread the word that saving the remaining wild tigers means
saving
ourselves – from climate disasters, from the scourges of corruption and organised crime, from a future
void of
the magnificence of nature.
EIA will be spending International Tiger Day participating in a tiger conservation workshop in China being
hosted
by the Government, with support from the Global Tiger Initiative and WWF.
makers, to spur them into action against the criminal networks that control the trade.It’s an
opportunity for
our tiger campaigners to engage directly with Chinese officials and decision-
We know from our own investigations and insights into the who, where, what, why and how of the trade,
that a lot
more could be done to disrupt these networks by using targeted law enforcement. Where there
is a will,
there is a way. The question is, whether the Government of China will put its money and resources
where they
are needed.
Demand reduction is an equally important aspect of combating illegal trade, but in China policies which
support a
parallel legal market for the skins of captive-bred tigers are proving highly counterproductive.
This failed
experiment is in factstimulating demand and thus driving the poaching of wild tigers and other Asian
big cats.
With leadership, strong supportive policy and collaboration, however, demand reduction campaigns can be
successful and this workshop provides an opportunity to focus on a positive way forward.
It would truly be an International Tiger Day worth
celebrating if,
in this 20th anniversary year of China’s domestic tiger
bone
trade ban, China extended that commitment to end all
trade,
in all tiger parts and products from all sources, wild and
captive.
Action point: If you want to help make the changes the wild tiger
needs, write to your Head of State and urge them to reach out to the
new leadership of China, asking that every possible action is taken to end demand for tigers and other
Asian
big
cats, including an unambiguous end to policies which promote trade and putting more investment into
enforcement
resources to disrupt the major criminal networks controlling international illegal trade.
