VZCZCXRO7269
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHKT #0334/01 1130930
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 230930Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0079
INFO RUEAEPA/EPA WASHDC 0044
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEHC/DOI WASHDC
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 7235
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 2557
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 5279
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 2986
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 6918
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 3036
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 4570
RUEHLH/AMCONSUL LAHORE 0309
RUEHNEH/AMCONSUL HYDERABAD 0015
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 3999

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000334 
 
DEPT FOR OES/PCI, OES/ENRC, SCA/INS, SCA/RA 
USAID FOR ANE/SAA 
EPA FOR OIA FREEMAN 
INTERIOR FOR FWS BAGLEY 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: SENV TBIO ETTC ASEAN SAARC XC XD NP TH
SUBJECT: MOMENTUM BUILDS FOR THE GLOBAL TIGER INITIATIVE 
 
KATHMANDU 00000334  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. The World Bank-supported Global Tiger Initiative (GTI) 
significantly advanced diplomatic efforts to save the world's 
remaining endangered wild tigers at an April 10-12 workshop of the 
Association of Southeast Nations Wildlife Enforcement Network 
(ASEAN-WEN) in Pattaya, Thailand.  This workshop foreshadowed three 
upcoming meetings to promote 2010 as the Year of the Tiger.  The 
workshop drafted a manifesto, referred to as the Pattaya Pledges, 
which calls on Asian governments to move promptly to share expertise 
to prevent illegal poaching and trafficking of wildlife. 
 
A Forgotten Crisis 
------------------ 
 
¶2. The April 10-12 workshop titled, "A Forgotten Crisis: Arresting 
Wildlife Depletion in Asia Through Strengthened Regional Cooperation 
and Effective Partnerships," attracted a large contingent of World 
Bank officials as well as government and NGO representatives from 
India, Nepal, China, and Southeast Asian states.  The objective of 
the workshop was to build consensus on the nature of the "Forgotten 
Crisis" and how the world community should respond. 
 
¶3. The presence of many representatives from India and Nepal 
highlighted the wildlife concerns of these tiger range states, which 
are also home to other iconic endangered species.  The World Bank 
brought energy, strong personalities, and its convening power to 
bear at the workshop.  Its efforts led to positive statements from 
senior Thai officials and an offer from Thai Prime Minister Abhisit 
Vejjajiva to hold a ministerial-level conference in the autumn to 
advance the agenda of the World Bank's Year of the Tiger Summit, 
planned for 2010. 
 
¶4. World Bank President Robert Zoellick, the ASEAN Director General, 
and Prime Minister Abhisit were scheduled to address the workshop. 
The cancellation of the ASEAN Summit, also being held in Pattaya, 
prevented their participation but did not disrupt the workshop.  In 
a statement distributed at the workshop, World Bank President 
Zoellick noted the decline of tiger numbers over the last century 
from 100,000 to 4,000 and asserted our moral obligation to preserve 
wildlife for future generations. 
 
Pattaya Pledges 
--------------- 
 
¶5. The workshop produced a manifesto, known as the Pattaya Pledges, 
calling on all Asian governments to fight wildlife trafficking 
seriously.  The document argues that present trends spell the end 
for the tiger and is intended to spur governments into action.  The 
manifesto calls for implementation of a South Asian wildlife 
enforcement network, although an Indian delegate insisted that 
reference to the South Asian Cooperative Environment Program (SACEP) 
be dropped because she considered the South Asian Association for 
Regional Cooperation (SAARC) a more appropriate regional vehicle to 
support regional anti-wildlife trafficking efforts.  The manifesto's 
ultimate intent is that all Asian governments, including China, 
should cooperate in a pan-Asian wildlife enforcement network. 
 
¶6. The workshop also set the stage for a follow-on workshop for 
tiger range states to prepare for the 2010 Year of the Tiger summit. 
 The World Bank and the World Conservation Union (IUCN) are driving 
forces behind this workshop, which is tentatively set for late 
October in Kathmandu.  The Global Tiger Forum, which was represented 
in Pattaya by a retired Indian civil servant, was also present. 
 
¶7. In parallel to efforts to promote GTI, the officials from the 
Ministry of Forests in Nepal offered to host a South Asian Wildlife 
Enforcement Network (SAWEN) experts meeting later this year.  SACEP 
has made no tangible progress since SAWEN was created in Jaipur, 
India, in May 2008 and currently does not have a Director General in 
place.  The Government of Nepal (GON) officials understand the value 
of trans-boundary anti-trafficking cooperation and are eager to move 
 
KATHMANDU 00000334  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
ahead.  However, one World Bank official expressed concern that the 
vision of SAWEN could slip away with all the attention directed at 
the GTI. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8. The "Forgotten Crisis" workshop clearly advanced diplomatic 
efforts to deal with tigers whose present course is leading to 
extinction, a fate that would be tragedy for mankind.  The three 
meetings - the Kathmandu workshop in October 2009, the 
Thai-sponsored Ministerial-level conference, and World Bank's Year 
of the Tiger Summit - will maintain the GTI momentum but will not 
save tigers without concrete actions on the ground.  At the end of 
the "Forgotten Crisis" workshop, delegates were optimistic because 
of the Thai offer and the sense that the World Bank had leveraged 
the fate of tigers to the level of world leadership.  According to a 
senior Smithsonian ecologist at the workshop, who has worked on 
tigers for 30 years, "it doesn't get any better than this." 
 
¶9.  This cable was cleared by REO Bangkok. 
 
POWELL