Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said India has a long standing and successful track record of protecting its tigers.
Prime Minister Modi said tiger conservation is a collective responsibility of the Government of India and states.
"I also compliment the state governments for their efforts," he said in his address after inaugurating the third Asia Ministerial Conference on the tiger conservation.
He said tiger conservation or conservation of nature is not a drag on development, adding both can happen in mutually complementary manner.
Prime Minister Modi said the tiger has brought all of us together here.
"By protecting the tiger, we protect entire ecosystem and ecological services, which are equally crucial for the well-being of human beings," he added.
The Prime Minister said the benefits from tiger conservation are enormous but intangible.
"We cannot quantify this in economic terms," he added.
Prime Minister Modi also mentioned the great effort made by Russian President Vladimir Putin in convening the Tiger Summit in 2010.
He said forests are inseparable from wild animals, adding both are mutually complementary.
"Destruction of one leads to destruction of the other. We consider the earth as our mother. In India, the majority of the population respects trees, animals, forests, rivers and other elements of nature like the sun and the moon," he said.
The Prime Minister further said India as a country having more than 70 percent of global tiger population is committed to complement initiatives of other Tiger Range Countries.
More than 700 tiger experts, scientists, managers, donors and other stakeholders from all Tiger Range Countries will discuss issues related to tiger conservation and anti poaching strategies during the three-day event.
The ministers and government officials from all Tiger Range Countries, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, India, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russian Federation, Thailand, Vietnam, besides Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan, having ranges of Snow Leopard are also participating in the conference.
While several Tiger Range Countries like India, Nepal, Russia and Bhutan have registered an increase in tiger population, the status of Tiger remains "endangered". Tiger population has decimated to non-viable level in some range countries, which is a cause for concern.
Minister of State for Environment and Forests Prakash Javadekar has said the government has allotted 380 crore rupees to Project Tiger in the current fiscal year, which is an all-time high.
He said India is committed to the conservation of Tiger, which is the national animal.
Javadekar also said due to the concerted efforts of the government and other stakeholders, more than 70 percent of the global wild tiger population is in India.
The conference is the latest step in the Global Tiger Initiative process that began with the Tiger Summit in Russia in 2010. At the Global Tiger Summit at St. Petersburg held in 2010, range countries committed to double the tiger number by 2022 and adopted the Global/National Tiger Recovery Programme.
This conference is being co-organized by Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, National Tiger Conservation Authority, Global Tiger Forum, Global Tiger Initiative Council, Wildlife Institute of India, WWF and Wildlife Conservation Trust.
