Russia hosts first intl. tiger summit
Wildlife activists and officials from 13 nations, where tigers live in the wild, are going to Russia to attend the first summit on the conservation of the endangered animal.
"This is an unprecedented gathering of world leaders to double the number of tigers," said the World Bank’s vice-president for the East Asia and Pacific Region Jim Adams at the opening ceremony of the event.
According to the World Bank, at least an estimated USD 350 million is needed to support the nations’ joint efforts to fight against poaching and to introduce incentives for nature conservation over the course of the next five years.
The aim of the gathering, opened by the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in his home city St. Petersburg, is to discuss raising hundreds of millions of dollars to boost the headcount and prevent the tigers from going into extinction across the world.
Among the attendees due at the meeting is the Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and delegations from India and Bangladesh, the three nations with the largest volume of tiger skin and organ trafficking.
The number of wild tigers has tumbled from 100,000 to just 3,200 over the past century.
Conservation campaigners and charities have warned that continued deforestation and illegal poaching could result in the species being wiped out by 2022.
Source: presstv.ir
