How effective are tiger conservation areas at managing their sites against the conservation assured | tiger standards (Ca|ts)?

Abstract

A global pledge to double wild Tiger populations by 2022 has focused attention on the need for effective conservation management. Conservation Assured | Tiger Standards (CA|TS) was established to identify good management standards for Tigers and promote these within Tiger conservation areas (TCAs). The study reported here assessed TCA management against a simplified version of CA|TS to uncover potential shortfalls in management and provide recommendations for future practices. From 11 Tiger range countries (TRCs), 111 TCAs were surveyed on their implementation of 40 strategic Tiger management activities, making it the largest Tiger management study to date. The study found that over a third of TCAs have major management deficiencies, threatening the survival of wild Tigers, biodiversity and natural resources. These deficiencies are especially prominent in South East Asian countries compared to other TRCs. Non-South East Asian countries had a significantly higher percentage of TCAs that had fully implemented the activities outlined in the survey. The lowest scoring elements of management, excluding tourism since that did not apply to all TCAs, were infrastructure, equipment and facilities, protection, and community relations. Recommendations include increased government funding, capacity building, and the implementation of CA|TS to secure the future of wild Tigers.