Rexano Conservation Can China and India cooperate for the cause tiger conservation? Barun Mitra Liberty Institute

Free Market Environmentalism

Can China and India cooperate for the cause of tiger conservation?

By Barun Mitra, May 31, 2007

The ten-day conference of parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) is beginning in The Hague next week. One of the issues that will agitate many of the delegates is the future of tigers. And the spotlight would be on China and India, not just on what they may say, but also when they stay silent. If these two neighbours could cooperate, CITES may become marginal for tiger conservation. The number of tigers in the wild has been on the decline. The estimates range between 2000 and 3000, today. This is about half of what was believed even a few years ago. It is said that on average, one tiger is killed illegally each day in India. Are all these tigers ending up in China? In China, there is a big demand for tiger bone used in traditional Chinese medicines (TCM). But a recent report by some environmental groups found little evidence of tiger bones in Chinese pharmacies. Let’s leave this debate aside.

The key question is, if there is demand for tiger parts, wouldn’t it make more sense to increase the production of tigers. The policy of prohibiting trade and hunting of tigers, and a focus on policing has not really helped the tiger so far. Couldn’t an attempt to meet the demand by increasing supply be more effective in securing the future of tigers?

The fact is that tiger is a renewable resource; they can be bred. Simply put, tigers can be farmed! Tigers breed quite easily in captivity. China has almost perfected the art of breeding tigers in captivity in the past decade. The number of tigers in captivity in China stand at 5000. To meet the demand for tiger products, if some of these bred tigers could be supplied, then the profit margins of poachers and smugglers will suffer.

There are a number of species that are legally traded today. From cattle to crocodiles, many species have escaped extinction riding on the power of commerce. In the 1970e, while project tiger was being launched in India and trade was prohibited, around the same time efforts were on under the auspices of FAO to try and farm crocodiles for the market. Even today, crocodile farming is prohibited in India. But around the world crocodile farming has become commercially successful. Around 2 million crocodiles are harvested each year in countries as diverse as Australia, South Africa, Thailand, United States, and others. From barely 200, hundred years ago, the American buffalo today numbers over half a million, and niche markets for buffalo products have emerged as well.

Yet, there is little evidence of illegal poaching and smuggling of crocodiles taking place in India or elsewhere. The reason is clear. If an international fashion house wants to buy crocodile skin in large volume at competitive price, it can easily buy the consignment from legal farms in the open market. They don’t have to rely on poachers.

Now, let’s consider economics of wildlife and nature tourism. In the US, activities like trekking, bird watching, fishing, hunting, etc, generates economic activity worth over US$ 100 billion annually.

China and India are gifted with a wide range of flora and fauna. Economic potential of these resources are huge. Today, some of the poorest people in India, live amidst rich environmental resources. Harnessing the economic potential of these resources would not only change the face of poverty in rural India, but, also provide the incentive to invest in these resources so that they are used in a sustainable manner.

Rather then being a drain on public exchequer, wildlife resources could significantly boost the economy.

China provides an interesting lesson. The rapid industrial growth in China over the past two decades has attracted millions of rural Chinese away from the countryside.

Some remote areas are clearly depopulating. Consequently, the human pressure on land, forest and water bodies have declined. China is now trying to rebuild the natural environment in some of these areas. South China tiger (SCT) is one of the most endangered subspecies of tigers in the world today. China is working to reintroduce SCT in a couple of such areas. A few of the captive bred SCT animals have been sent to South Africa so as to prepare them to live in wilderness again. In a few years, their progenies are to be returned to China for release in recreated habitats.

One of the other objectives of this project is also to integrate the local population in to the eco-tourism sector, by giving them a stake in the project. This way the people would have an incentive to protect their environmental resources.

India has faced quite a few problem housing big cats in captivity. Last year, six of the big cats died in Delhi zoo. In 2000, about a dozen tigers died in a span of a week in mysterious circumstances at the Nandankanan zoo in Orissa. But in China, hundreds of tigers are being raised and managed in captivity without a major mishap. On the other hand, India has significant expertise in managing tiger habitats.

While China and India are competitors in the world market, the two Asian giants have an opportunity to cooperate in the area of tiger conservation with the help of commerce. Last week, there was a high powered Chinese delegation visiting India, and tiger was one of the issues on the agenda. This week, India’s senior environmental bureaucrat was quoted in different newspapers that the government of India might be considering setting up tiger farms. “These can be in zoos, or forest areas, but not in tiger reserves”.

Even if India does not follow the Chinese towards commercial tiger farms, a controlled and monitored tiger breeding programme would be in India’s interest. The tiger population in some the tiger reserves in India are so small at present, and theses parks are so isolated, that even without any external pressures, these tiger populations may not be viable in the long term because of genetic degeneration. A scientific breeding programme, along with a reintroduction plan to recharge the genetic pool of tigers in reserves provide yet another opportunity for China and India to cooperate.

CITES does not restrict breeding. While the Chinese breeding programme could meet the demand for tiger products, and in the process make it less attractive for the illegal trade in tigers, the Indian breeding programme could help augment the wild tiger population and contribute towards conservation. What is necessary is to think differently, so that the gap between the two sides could be bridged. There seems to be a few early indications that such a bridge between the two Asian giants may not be too far away.

Author: Barun Mitra is the director of Liberty Institute, an independent think tank in New Delhi.