Indian Environment Minister clears the way for endorsement of “Delhi Consensus” at International Tiger Forum in St. Petersburg

Jairam Ramesh to present newly agreed Global Tiger Recovery Program in a show of TRC Ownership

Laying the final bricks on the road to the “Tiger Summit” in St. Petersburg, November 21-24, delegates from tiger range countries (TRCs) hashed out the final substantive issues of the Global Tiger Recovery Program (GTRP) in Delhi at a finalization workshop in late October. The document is the basis for the recovery of the wild tiger and its habitat and doubling of current populations by 2022, and will be presented at the International Tiger Forum by Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh.

Governments of the tiger range countries reached a “consensus on conservation, finalizing both the Global Tiger Recovery Program document and the St. Petersburg Declaration, which will be signed by heads of governments in attendance.

From the very launch of the work on the recovery program nearly 18 months ago, TRCs have expressed the necessity of strong country ownership of the program. The “Delhi Consensus” seals the agreement among the TRCs and caps a process that is widely seen as transparent, knowledge-based, and collaborative, and an example of “bottom-up” action planning and negotiating. The participating countries affirmed their intentions to showcase policy and program commitments, which are part of National Tiger Recovery Priorities (NTRPs), at the Summit.

India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests hosted the workshop jointly with GTI, and Minister Jairam Ramesh addressed the delegates: “I welcome the consultative knowledge-based process undertaken by GTI through World Bank President Zoellick’s initiative which has brought TRCs on a single platform of knowledge-based action. India is happy to share its expertise and work on further enhancing the capacity of Indian wildlife institutions working with global leaders on this agenda. I would urge our economists and conservationists to come together and develop a better understanding by all of us, including policy makers in other sectors, of the enormous value provided by the tiger landscapes.”

The delegates agreed on the framework of a flexible financing mechanism that will allow broad participation by all possible donors to contribute to the GTRP portfolio, which will be updated as the program is implemented. They defined six core functions necessary to implement the Global Tiger Recovery Program. And as a first priority, TRCs agreed on efforts to strengthen national institutions to manage program coordination of the recovery program internally.

Addressing the issue of long-term program management of the GTRP, stakeholders also agreed that the Global Tiger Forum, an already existing inter-governmental institution, should be given new life to help fulfill its mandate to protect wild tigers. GTI has expressed its willingness to support capacity-building of the GTF.

Until long-term management issues are sorted out, interim arrangements call for the Global Tiger Initiative to provide Secretariat functions to support the GTRP.

Countries also called for annual program consultations among the participating countries and international supporters, and also for funding partners to come together in suitable partnerships to better coordinate support and streamline implementation.

With just weeks remaining until world leaders convene a historic meeting in St. Petersburg, the Delhi Consensus is seen as a contribution to help concerned international supporters of the GTRP to converge on a shared vision and shift all energies to the challenging implementation phase, which will determine the real success of the recovery program on the ground.

GTRP (November 2010 version)
This is the conference document for TRC endorsement.

Boost to global efforts to save tigers.
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