IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Quintero, J.D.; Roca, R.; Morgan, A.; Mathur, A.; Shi, X. | |
| Smart green infrastructure in tiger range countries - A multi-level approach | |
| 2010 Full Book | |
Tigers (_Panthera tigris_), are majestic animals that have captured the imaginations of many ancient and modern cultures. But tigers today are on the brink of extinction in the wild as a result of poaching - including their prey - illegal trade, combined with habitat loss and degradation. The world's population of wild tigers has plummeted by 95 percent in just over a century, from an estimated 100,000 in 1900 to about 3,500 today. In 2008, the World Bank, together with other stakeholders, established the Global Tiger Initiative (GTI) "to assist the 13 tiger-range countries (TRCs) with their efforts to restore wild tigers and their habitats." Early on, tiger experts identified infrastructure (transportation, mining, and hydroelectric power in particular), as major factors contributing to habitat degradation. Although the situation for wild tigers is precarious, there are still excellent opportunities for financing agencies, governments, business owners/ operators, engineers and local communities to ensure that infrastructure is tiger-friendly. We define such Smart Green Infrastructure (SGI) as infrastructure that avoids tiger habitats, minimizes and mitigates adverse impacts through tiger-friendly design, and compensates for any remaining damage to have a net positive impact. _This study addresses infrastructure's impacts on tigers at international, national, sectoral and project levels in combination with the 'mitigation hierarchy' which is based on avoidance, mitigation, minimization and compensation of impacts. It examines infrastructure policy challenges and opportunities, using lessons learned from case studies, along with regional and in-country analyses_. While there are opportunities for improvement in all countries, Russia, India, Bhutan, and Nepal have, in particular, developed good foundations for tiger-related conservation, planning, and policy efforts. Best practices, drawn from case studies in non-tiger range countries, provide additional insights into infrastructure practices that could benefit tiger populations. At the national level, government officials can use a range of regulatory and fiscal policies to promote tiger-friendly infrastructure development. Regulatory options for controlling impacts on tigers and their habitats include land-use and tiger-corridor planning, infrastructure permits such as licenses, transfer mechanisms, in the form of payment for ecosystem services schemes, and both environmental impact assessments and strategic environmental assessments. Environmental compensation policies and incentive programs can help drive investments in alternative livelihoods, as well as drive smart green infrastructure while preserving key habitat areas. |
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