Since Bangladesh and India share a tiger and leopard habitat, Environment Minister Md Shahab Uddin emphasized the importance of bolstering transboundary cooperation with India for the conservation of tiger and leopard.
Considering the conservation importance of seven big cat species on earth and two critically endangered big cat species in Bangladesh," he said adding that we in principal support the creation of the International Big Cats Alliance (IBCA) with a membership of the range of countries harboring these species.
The minister made this statement during an event hosted on Sunday at Mysuru University in Mysuru, Karnataka, India in honor of the International Conference on Tiger Conservation and 50 years of Project Tiger. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi had inaugurated the event.
He added that the government has undertaken various outstanding initiatives for the conservation of the national animal and other wild animals, and expressed optimism that wild tiger populations are beginning to trend upward.
According to Sahab Uddin, the Bangladeshi government is working hard to achieve a zero poaching aim while actively involving the local population in order to treble the number of wild tigers.
In order to ensure the protection and conservation of the Sundarbans and Royal Bengal Tiger, Shahab Uddin stated that the Bangladeshi government is putting into action the National Tiger Recovery Program (2022 to 2034) and second-generation Bangladesh Tiger Action Plan (2018–2027).
These programs include tiger surveys, genetic studies, smart patrolling and monitoring by drone inside the Sundarbans, as well as capacity building programs for frontline staff members of the Forest Department as well as local community members.
According to the minister, Bangladesh and India signed a memorandum in 2011 to increase cooperation in the effort to conserve the Royal Bengal Tiger in the Sundarbans.
