The Organizing Committee for the 2nd International Tiger Conservation Forum held a meeting in Moscow chaired by Russian Minister of Justice Konstantin Chuychenko. The Forum will take place in Vladivostok on 5 September, the opening day of the Eastern Economic Forum 2022 (EEF 2022).
“At the initiative of the Russian government, St. Petersburg in November 2010 hosted the first international forum on problems related to tiger conservation on Earth. Since 2010, positive results have been seen in terms of restoring the tiger population, primarily in Russia. The Global Tiger Recovery Programme is being successfully implemented. In 2022, the time has come to take stock of the work that has been done over the past 12 years,” Chuychenko, who serves as chairman of the Forum’s Organizing Committee, said in his opening speech.
The Organizing Committee set the key dates for preparing for and holding the Forum as well as the work of its exposition, which will be open to the public throughout the EEF 2022. The committee members also discussed the issue of foreign leaders participating in the Forum, including via videoconference. A decision on this issue will be taken based on the epidemiological situation in the world at that time.
“A priority of the Forum is the health and safety of its participants, so we will take the appropriate measures to ensure preventive and anti-epidemiological measures in preparation for this event together with [the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing] and taking into account WHO requirements. In addition, upon conclusion of the Tiger Forum, a memorandum will be adopted, which will include the decisions taken during the Forum to continue work on tiger conservation,” Advisor to the Russian President Anton Kobyakov said.
“The Tiger Forum will be a major event for all participating countries. In 2010, 13 states agreed to conserve and restore tiger populations in their territories and developed their own national programmes and strategies to conserve the predator. In September, we will collectively recap the results of these many years of work as well as shape a new global agenda for the next period. Also, by September, the results of a thorough census of the Amur tiger, which is currently underway in the Far East, will be ready. I think it will be very symbolic to announce data on the number of tigers in Vladivostok, the capital of the Primorsky Territory,” Russian Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Alexander Kozlov said.
The Organizing Committee members also discussed the possibility of expanding the range of cultural and entertainment events that aim to raise public awareness about the upcoming Forum. “I propose having a thematic section dedicated to the Amur tiger at the International Biennale of Visual Arts, which will be held this year in Vladivostok and Khabarovsk, and timing it to coincide with the Year of the Tiger and the International Tiger Conservation Forum. I am certain that creative people – artists, sculptors, and entertainers – will be inspired by the Far East and will be able to explore the tiger theme, which is popular in our land, in vivid and interesting formats,” Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic Alexey Chekunkov said.
The Amur Tiger Centre presented a separate programme of events dedicated to the Year of the Tiger and the upcoming Forum.
A roadmap will be drawn up in the near future on preparations for and holding the Forum as well as the celebration of Tiger Day in Vladivostok in late September 2022.
