IEG Review of 20 World Bank-Funded Projects in Tiger Landscapes
Biodiversity is critical to maintaining the integrity of ecosystems and the ecological processes that support species and human well-being. The world is facing an unprecedented rate of species extinction: one in eight bird species, one in four mamm...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Publication |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Washington, DC: World Bank
2012
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000386194_20110817023034 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2344 |
| Summary: | Biodiversity is critical to maintaining
the integrity of ecosystems and the ecological processes
that support species and human well-being. The world is
facing an unprecedented rate of species extinction: one in
eight bird species, one in four mammals, and one in three
amphibians are threatened. Species can recover with
concerted conservation. As a charismatic endangered species,
tigers have become a powerful symbol of biodiversity loss
globally, as their numbers have dropped from 100,000 at the
turn of the 20th century to an estimated 3,000-3,500 tigers
in the wild today. The need to protect tigers has taken on
great urgency, and international efforts are attempting to
pull them back from the edge of extinction. From November 21
to 24, 2010, the Russian Federation hosted leaders from 13
tiger range countries at a conference in St. Petersburg. The
goal was inter alia to eliminate illegal trade in tiger
parts while protecting tiger habitats and to double the
tiger population by 2022. The World Bank has provided strong
leadership and support for the initiative. Biodiversity
interventions can have potentially large co benefits:
biodiversity conservation, climate change stabilization,
food and water security, and poverty reduction. The World
Bank has been the largest financier for biodiversity, with
commitments of more than $2 billion over the last two
decades and substantial leveraging of co financing. However,
the number of new projects approved that contain
biodiversity activities has dropped considerably since the
mid-2000s. At present, the Bank is according importance to
biodiversity by taking a leading role in strategic
partnerships, such as the Global Tiger Initiative (GTI), the
Critical Ecosystems Partnership Fund (CEPF), and the Save
Our Species (SOS) program. By prioritizing such initiatives,
the Bank aims to bring crucial attention and funding to
ecosystem and biodiversity conservation. It is also crucial
at the same time to integrate conservation in development
projects in sectors such as infrastructure and rural
development, which can have negative effects on biodiversity
without adequate mitigating actions. This review has shown
that as important as these targeted biodiversity efforts is
the need for the Bank, countries, and partners to strengthen
efforts to integrate biodiversity conservation into projects
in sectors where they can have negative biodiversity impacts
without mitigating actions, such as rural transport,
watershed management, or integrated rural development. |
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