In this - the year of the tiger - a number of prominent environmentalists from around the world will meet in Bali next month to draft plans they hope will ensure the survival of one of the most highly regarded species on the planet.
The global population of tigers is a little more than 3,000, according to the World Wildlife Fundm (WWF). That number stood at about 100,000 at the turn of the twentieth century.
"We are hoping that there can be a conservation program that will be carried out by 13 countries that are home to tigers," Nazir Foead, the director of governance, community and corporate engagement at WWF Indonesia said Friday in Jakarta.
Nazir said the leaders of these countries would meet in Russia later this year to discuss the proposal, adding that the program was also seeking support from other countries.
The Bali meeting, he said, would attempt to unify the efforts of tiger states to protect the species as well as follow up ideas raised at meetings in Hua Hin in January and in Kathmandu last year.
Nazir said that tiger states were not the only ones to blame for the near extinction of the species of big cat. Many countries investing in tiger states, he continued, were also to blame for encouraging activities detrimental to the natural habitats of tigers.
The WWF categorizes the Sumatran tiger as "critically endangered", with numbers in the wild estimated at around 400.
The main threats to the tiger subspecies are poaching and deforestation, it said.
The Sumatran tiger subspecies is among six remaining in the world, including the Bengal, Indochinese, Malayan, Siberian and South China subspecies.
Indonesia was once home to Javan and Bali tigers, but those two subspecies, along with the Caspian tiger, are believed to be extinct.
Several environmental NGOs have named this year the Year of the Tiger, a reference to the critical state of the tiger rather than to the Chinese calender.
The Bali meeting is also expec-ted to draw representatives from organizations from the World Bank and various environmental NGOs.
Nazir said that although the meeting's main agenda would be tigers, side events would include discussions on debt swaps for environmental conservation projects.
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