29 July, Thailand. Echoing the voice on the necessity of conserving the tigers, their natural habitat and combatting illegal wildlife trade, Global Tiger day is celebrated in Thailand. 

Amidst the event hosted together with The Department of National Parks, Wildlife & Plant Conservation in collaboration with the faculty of Forestry of Kasetsart University, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), WWF-Thailand, Wildlife Conservation Society-Thailand Program (WCS-Thailand), Seub Nakhasathien Foundation, Freeland Foundation, and Panthera Thailand celebrated Thailand’s early achievement of increasing more than half of Indo-Chinese tiger population by 2022.

Observed annually on 29 July, International Tiger Day seeks to promote the protection and expansion of wild tiger habitats and to gain support through awareness for tiger conservation. It was created in 2010 at the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit. In the same year, Thailand organized  first Asia Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation in Hua Hin, Thailand with the representatives from all 13 tiger range countries including Russia, China, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Lao PDR, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The Hua Hin Declaration reflected agreement among all the 13 countries on tiger recovery plans, with the aim to double wild tiger numbers by 2022.

Speaking at the event, Thailand's Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Varawut Silpa- said: “It is an honour to have the Department of National Parks Wildlife and Conservation together with all partner organizations to organize this World Tiger Day 2020 and we continue our work for the protection of the tigers and conservation of their natural habitat.

The Thai government embraces the value of tigers as an extremely important and integral part to functioning ecosystems and as an “Umbrella species”.  Forests in which tigers live, must also have rich and diverse biological resources and flora and fauna.

As of 2020 Thailand has approximately 160 wild tigers, up from 60-80 in 2013.  This shows clearly that Thailand has succeeded in restoring the tiger populations .

Mr. Thanya Netithammakun, Director General of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Director General of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, said “The Global Tiger Day event is to raise awareness on the importance of tigers, as an endangered species of the world and to promote the efforts of Thailand’s DNP in collaborating with partner organizations on tiger conservation, including academic work, law enforcement, sustainable finance, building capacity for protected area staff, and the use of modern technology in conservation.  Moreover, it is hoped this event encourages a new generation in the conservation of tigers and other natural resources”.

The event was followed by the discussion on the campaign of “Roar for Thai Tigers”, tiger talk under the topic “The future of Thai tigers, the future of the world’s tigers”. Moreover, the photo exhbition was also organized from 25 July - 2 August 2020.