Over 95% of the world's wild tigers have been lost in the last 100 years and with as few as 3,500 remaining it is vital that we act now to protect them and their vital forest habitats. Thailand is home to a significant population of c.200 tigers. Working across five national parks, our primary aim is to build anti-poaching capacity among park rangers and to break the poaching cycle by engaging with local communities and children of poachers to change attitudes towards tigers and wildlife.
The world's wild tiger populations and their forest habitats are under threat. With as few as 3,500 tigers left in the wild we have to act now to protect these precious big cats and the wider biodiversity of their lush forest homes which, if managed well, can provide important, long-term, sustainable resources for local communities. Tigers are forest dwellers and are inextricably linked with the health of life-giving forest areas - something that we all rely on for our survival.
By providing anti-poaching training and equipment for park rangers we are building capacity among front-line staff to protect tigers. To maximise efficiency the park rangers are also trained to collect and record data on the distribution of wildlife during their routine patrols allowing park managers to identify core areas where anti-poaching initiatives are needed most. Our work with local communities to change attitudes towards poaching further supports the long-term survival of wild tigers.
The support we are providing has been a major boost to morale leading to greater pride and commitment to protect tigers among park staff in what is a hugely challenging landscape. In addition, our education programme is currently reaching over 3,000 students and 123 teachers and as a result of this intensive and consistent work there have been no reports of tigers being poached in the region for three years. Maintaining this positive impact is now key to the long-term survival of wild tigers.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
