VZCZCXRO0177
RR RUEHAST RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD RUEHTM
DE RUEHNE #2089/01 2131000
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 311000Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2845
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 2362
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 2549
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 3291
RUEHC/DEPT OF INTERIOR WASHDC
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 002089 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR OES/FO, OES/PCI, OES/ENRC, OES/ENV, AND SCA/INS 
INTERIOR FOR FRED BAGLEY AND MINI NAGENDRAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV IN
SUBJECT:  INDIA SNUBS WORLD BANK TIGER CONSERVATION INITIATIVE 
 
NEW DELHI 00002089  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (U) SUMMARY:  The World Bank Tiger Conservation Initiative, 
announced in June 2008, was met with great controversy in India with 
major newspapers such as the Times of India and the Indian Express 
running multiple stories on how the Government of India snubbed the 
World Bank's offer for a loan as well as how the initiative sparked 
outrage amongst Indian conservationists.  EmbOffs discussed the 
initiative with GOI, NGO, and World Bank officials and learned that 
not only does India have no interest in World Bank assistance for in 
situ tiger management, but also that four major tiger conservation 
NGOs have pulled out of the International Tiger Coalition in 
protest.  India's rancor towards the World Bank on the issue appears 
to be driven by animosity over past Bank conservation projects, 
pride in India's ability to conserve its own tigers, and lack of 
consultation prior to the initiative's announcement.  END SUMMARY. 
 
------------------------- 
THE WORLD BANK INITIATIVE 
------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) On June 9, 2008, the World Bank held a gala event to 
announce it's new Tiger Conservation Initiative designed to help 
conserve the world's remaining wild tiger population.  The 
initiative encompasses an action plan designed to create a more 
sustainable and effective model of tiger conservation by addressing 
four broad areas including:  creating and implementing a 
conservation paradigm that enlists incentives; providing adequate 
financial resources; creating biodiversity-friendly infrastructure; 
and tackling illegal trade to control poaching.  A major premise of 
the initiative, as stated on the World Bank website, is "actions by 
any country in isolation will not be adequate to save tigers and a 
genuine commitment and partnership is needed to achieve this goal." 
 
 
¶3.  (U) A crucial partner in the World Bank's initiative is the 
International Tiger Coalition (ITC) which, prior to the announcement 
of the initiative, was an alliance of 35 organizations which came 
together to combat the illegal trade in tiger parts and products. 
EmbOffs have confirmed that four Indian members of the ITC, the NGOs 
Aaranyak, Ranthambore Foundation, Corbett Foundation, and the 
Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), who are among the most 
important players in Indian tiger conservation, have all pulled out 
of the ITC in protest against the World Bank initiative. 
 
--------------------------- 
THE REASONS BEHIND THE SNUB 
--------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) EmbOffs met with Belinda Wright, the world-renowned tiger 
conservationist and Executive Director of WPSI, who explained that 
the World Bank had a poor history of tiger conservation in India, 
didn't understand the Indian situation, and didn't properly engage 
with India prior to the announcement of the initiative.  She noted 
the Indian conservation community still had a great deal of 
animosity towards the World Bank for its 1996 to 2004 Ecodevelopment 
Project which, among other issues, became mired in controversy for 
it's alleged misuse of funds and destruction of forest cover in 
Nagerhole National Park.  She said the World Bank believes every 
problem can be solved by throwing money at it and didn't realize 
infusions of capital into rural areas of India often caused more 
problems than it solved due to lack of understanding of the impact 
large sums have on rural communities, lack of controls, and 
corruption.  She also stated the World Bank tried to induce Indian 
participation in the tiger conservation initiative by going directly 
to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's office with an offer for a loan 
without consulting the Bank's putative partners, the Indian NGOs. 
She said the lack of consultation was especially bothersome because 
what became the current initiative had originally started out as an 
Indian request to the Bank to prepare a study on the cross-border 
illegal wildlife trade.  When asked what she thought the future held 
for the initiative in India, she said the World Bank knows it cannot 
succeed without India and that she expected the Bank to put a great 
deal of pressure on the GOI to collaborate in some fashion in order 
to save face.  She concluded by noting the pensions of several 
officials in the Prime Minister's Office were funded by the World 
Bank and that she wouldn't be surprised if the GOI in the end agreed 
to cooperate in some fashion. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) In a meeting with Ministry of Environment and Forests 
(MoEF) officials Dr. R.B. Lal, Inspector General of Forest, 
Wildlife, and Mr. M.B. Lal, Additional Director General, Wildlife, 
EmbOffs were told the World Bank had bypassed the MoEF taking its 
initiative directly to the Prime Minister's Office in the form of an 
offer for a loan.  When asked what they thought of the initiative, 
Dr. R.B. Lal responded by questioning what the World Bank had to 
offer stating that India had far greater expertise in tiger 
 
NEW DELHI 00002089  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
conservation than the Bank and that India didn't need the Bank's 
money considering it had recently allocated $153 million for tiger 
conservation.  Mr. M.B. Lal took a slightly softer line stating the 
GOI would be happy to cooperate internationally on enforcement and 
capacity building but did not need assistance with in situ tiger 
management claiming the World Bank should stick to infrastructure. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) EmbOffs also met with WWF-India Secretary General Ravi 
Singh, who noted he was the only Indian NGO attendee at the World 
Bank's announcement of the initiative held at the National Zoo in 
Washington, D.C.  He said he "got hell" from the other Indian NGOs 
for attending the event but credited the Bank for shining a 
spotlight on tiger conservation and particularly praised the Bank's 
enlistment of Hollywood celebrities Harrison Ford, Bo Derek, and 
Robert Duval, who helped garner much of the media attention.  He 
confirmed a great deal of what Ms. Wright had said regarding Indian 
animosity towards the Bank for its past conservation efforts but 
noted a lot of the ire was inspired by the Bank's failure to consult 
with the Indian NGOs.  He stated he had been present at a meeting of 
the NGOs in Kanha National Park where the initiative had been 
discussed and one of the concerns was perceived arrogance on the 
part of the Bank.  He stated it was at this meeting that several 
Indian ITC members had decided to withdraw from the coalition.  When 
asked about the future of the initiative in India, Singh stated the 
Bank needed to clearly communicate how it could assist India and 
that offers for a loan or expertise would not suffice. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) In a meeting with Charles Cormier, Team Leader, 
Environment and Water Resources, the Delhi-based World Bank official 
with direct responsibility for conservation issues, EmbOffs were 
told the Bank had not made a proposal to the GOI regarding tiger 
conservation and that media reports the Bank had offered India a 
loan were false.  Mr. Cormier stated he had spent a great deal of 
time trying to set the record straight and candidly informed EmbOffs 
the Bank understands India is not interested in its assistance for 
tiger conservation.  He did note the Delhi office of the Bank was 
not the prime driver of the initiative and that any future movement 
in India would be coming from the Bank's headquarters in Washington. 
 
 
¶8.  (U) COMMENT:  Considering India is home to the world's largest 
population of wild tigers, the World Bank needs India's 
participation in the Tiger Conservation Initiative for it to have 
any long-term impact.  Although India's tigers are under great 
threat, Indian NGOs, the GOI, and the state governments take great 
pride in their conservation efforts which, since 2005, is reasonably 
justified.  India no longer needs outside money to conserve tigers, 
another source of pride, and considers offers of expertise on in 
situ tiger management, especially from countries that do not have 
wild tiger populations, insulting.  That said, the distinction 
between managing tigers within reserves and overall tiger 
conservation, especially combating the illegal wildlife trade which 
the GOI has recognized as a legitimate area for international 
cooperation, is an important one that should be properly addressed. 
END COMMENT. 
 
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