As Tiger Range Countries launch a new 12-year range-wide recovery plan for tigers, released today in conjunction with Global Tiger Day, a diverse group of tiger conservation organizations and multilateral agencies announced a coalition to support those countries in realizing their long-term tiger conservation ambitions and delivering impact for nature and people from the local to the global levels.

The Tiger Conservation Coalition brings together leading tiger biologists and experts in wildlife crime, human-wildlife coexistence, policy, finance, development, and communications with unprecedented alignment on achieving tiger conservation at scale. Its member organizations include the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), Fauna & Flora, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), Panthera, TRAFFIC, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

In 2024, the Tiger Conservation Coalition will co-organize the Sustainable Finance for Tiger Landscapes Conference with the Royal Government of Bhutan, under the patronage of Her Majesty the Queen of Bhutan, Jetsun Pema Wangchuck (see related announcement). The first-of-its-kind conference will focus on the evolving landscape in finance for nature and opportunities for investors to impact tiger conservation and recovery range-wide. The conference, which will bring Tiger Range Countries together with donor countries, international development banks, financial institutions, the private sector, philanthropists, and other key experts and stakeholders, will be held in Bhutan from 22-23 April 2024.

Tiger Conservation Coalition Chair Stuart Chapman, Tigers Alive Initiative Leader at WWF International, said, “The Tiger Conservation Coalition is deeply grateful to Her Majesty the Queen of Bhutan and the Royal Government of Bhutan for their leadership in convening this important gathering. It’s time for savvy investors to match the ambition of Bhutan and other Tiger Range Countries to turn the tide for tigers and biodiversity. We look forward to a dynamic conference that will result in truly innovative ideas, novel partnerships, and strong commitments to recover tigers throughout their range.”

The Tiger Conservation Coalition is an independent group of organizations that combines and shares the vast knowledge, on-the-ground experience, and data of its members and partners to support Tiger Range Countries in developing and implementing effective approaches to tiger conservation. The Coalition was founded on strong relationships among eminent tiger experts already working together on major tiger assessments, including the latest assessment by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ released in 2022, and the forthcoming Green Status Assessment, and coalesced around a common vision for tiger recovery. By engaging national and local civil society organizations from the region, and continuing to support the Global Tiger Initiative Council and the Global Tiger Forum, the coalition aims to further strengthen partnerships and impactful outcomes for tigers.

Chapman continued, “We are dedicated to collaborating on all fronts to recover wild tigers and their landscapes throughout Asia as part of a winning strategy to address biodiversity loss and climate change on a global scale.”

The Tiger Conservation Coalition works with Tiger Range Countries in pursuit of a world where tigers’ irreplaceable contributions to nature and culture are valued and expanded, and Indigenous people and local communities build vibrant economies around their living wildlife so that all can thrive.

Said Dale Miquelle, WCS Tiger Program Coordinator: “WCS is proud to be part of the Tiger Conservation Coalition, which brings together a diverse group of top experts dedicated to the recovery of tigers throughout their range. We are confident that together, we can make the tiger one of the great conservation success stories of the 21st century.”  

In January 2022, the Tiger Conservation Coalition released its vision for tiger recovery through 2034, the next Year of the Tiger. “Securing a Viable Future for the Tiger” presents a set of measurable goals and high-level strategic approaches to achieve the long-term presence of viable and ecologically functional populations of wild tigers. Its suggested actions, grounded in the latest science and results, would lead to increasing numbers of tigers secure in current and expanded protected habitats, with distribution and connectivity across their indigenous range.

Tiger Conservation Coalition members co-developed Tiger Conservation Landscapes 3.0, an integrated habitat modelling system to measure and monitor changes in tiger habitat at range-wide, national, biome, and landscape scales in near real-time. This work serves as a model for objective, range-wide, habitat monitoring as countries work to achieve the goals laid out in the 30x30 agenda, the Sustainable Development Goals, and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. TCL 3.0 is now available to all in an online tool (https://act-green.org).

To learn more about the Tiger Conservation Coalition, please contact info@tigercoalition.org . For information about the Sustainable Finance for Tiger Landscapes Conference, visit www.tiger-finance.org