World Bank teams with celebrities to save the tiger; India refuses funds

12 June 2008

The World Bank's Tiger Conservation Initiative aims to raise global awareness about the plight of the endangered tiger and to work with local and international communities to stave off its extinction. The initiative is unprecedented for an institution whose stated mission is to fight poverty in developing countries rather than conserve endangered species. But a day after the launch, India is reported for have refused the World Bank's "offer" for a loan for the inititiative.

The World Bank has teamed up with the Smithsonian Institution's National Zoological Park in Washington, DC, Hollywood celebrities and the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) to help save tigers from extinction.

Harrison Ford, Bo Derek and Robert Duvall were among the celebrity attendees who joined World Bank President Robert Zoellick at an event unveiling the Bank's Tiger Conservation Initiative at the National Zoo, on Monday, June 9.

At the launch, Zoellick related the plight of the tiger to other major global issues stating, "just as with many other challenges of sustainability, such as climate change, pandemic disease, or poverty, the crisis facing tigers overwhelms local capabilities and it is one that transcends local borders."

Ford, a long-time environmental activist, said that with this initiative the World Bank had signaled its intention to be a "global leader in biodiversity conservation."

The Bank's initiative was praised by those attending the ceremony, for helping to raise awareness of the tiger crisis to the global community. The National Zoo's director John Berry declared that the initiative was the "the single most important act for tiger conservation in history." Reuters reported that tiger conservation biologist John Seidensticker believed that it would help to stave off tiger trafficking which is at an all-time high and hoped that with the World Bank, tiger conservation efforts would be more coordinated and focused.

But the initiative has not been without criticism. Tiger conservationists in India have slammed the Bank for supporting projects such as highways and forestry plantations, which ironically, have destroyed tiger habitat. Valmik Thapar, a prominent tiger conservationist, and Ullas Karanth, a leading tiger scientist, have slammed the proposal demanding that the Bank should first admit to the damage caused by development and wildlife conservation projects it has supported before offering India money, reported the Times of India (TOI). They point to possible fraud and illegal cutting of thousands of trees during the implementation of the Nagarhole Tiger Reserve, one of several Bank-funded, eco-development projects in India. Further, Thapar and Karanth maintain that the National Zoo had asked the Bank for advice on the development of a joint proposal, but the World Bank "went ahead without waiting for completion of deliberations and 'asked' the Indian government to 'request' it for a loan and even suggested a conceptual framework for it."

On June 13, a day after the lunch, the TOI reported that the Government of India has decided to refuse the Bank's "offer" for a loan to save the tigers, stating that it "feels that it has enough resources to tackle tiger conservation on its own and the Bretton Woods organization would not be able to provide any technical input that India cannot muster domestically."

Sources

India rejects World Bank funds to save tigers, by Times of India, June 13, 2008 (Times of India website)

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Celebrity, by Dana Milbank, Washington Post, June 10, 2008 (Washington Post website)

World Bank leads tiger conservation drive, Agence France-Press, June 10, 2008 (AFP website)

Celebrities join World Bank in saving tigers, by Lesley Wroughton, Reuters, June 9, 2008 (Reuters website)

World Bank Joins Drive to Save Endangered Tigers, June 9, 2008 (World Bank website)

World Bank offers India loan to save tigers, The Times of India, May 30, 2008 (Times of India website)