090 - Transboundary cooperation for conservation of big cats in Northeast Asia
090 - Transboundary cooperation for conservation of big cats in Northeast Asia
RECALLING Resolutions 6.010 Conservation of Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) and Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) in Northeast Asia and 6.035 Transboundary cooperation and protected areas (both adopted in Hawai‘i, 2016);
FURTHER RECALLING Resolution 5.043 Establishing a forum for transboundary protected area managers and Recommendation 5.152 Enlarging and connecting transboundary protected areas for the Ecological Corridor of Northeast Asia (both adopted in Jeju, 2012);
ALSO RECALLING the Harbin Consensus adopted by the International Forum on Tiger and Leopard Transboundary Conservation (Harbin, China, 28–29 July 2019);
WELCOMING the efforts of the Species Survival Commission (SSC) and the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) in partnership with interested Members;
APPRECIATING State Members into development of transboundary conservation in Northeast Asia;
ACKNOWLEDGING that Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) and Far Eastern leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) are flagship species for biodiversity conservation of the Earth and sacred species for the peoples of Northeast Asia;
NOTING that an increase in the number of Amur tigers to 600 individuals and Far Eastern leopards to 120 individuals has occurred in the last four years (2016–2020);
DRAWING ATTENTION to the effectiveness of transboundary cooperation in the conservation of IUCN Red List species;
RECOGNISING IUCN’s role in providing scientific and conservation expertise and policy guidance in restoring big cat species populations; and
CONSIDERING the international experience of the SSC Cat Specialist Group and WCPA Transboundary Conservation Specialist Group, the Feline Research Center of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (China), as well as the WCPA/SSC Joint Task Force on Biodiversity and Protected Areas in the conservation of globally endangered species;
1. REQUESTS the Director General, SSC, WCPA and the Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM) to provide support to:
a. working with relevant government authorities, and within existing established agreements, create a Russian-Chinese Natural Reserve ‘Land of Big Cats’ including the Biosphere Reserve ‘Kedrovaya Pad’ (Russia), National Park ‘Land of Leopard’ (Russia) and North East National Park of Tiger and Leopard (China) for conservation of Amur tiger and Far Eastern leopard, as well as a number of other transboundary Russian-Chinese nature reserves in the Amur river basin;
b. develop mid-term action plans for established transboundary reserves; and
c. promote research and sharing of knowledge for conservation and rehabilitation of Far Eastern leopard populations in partnership with the SSC Cat Specialist Group, the Eurasian Center for Conservation of Far Eastern Leopards (Russia), the Feline Research Center of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (China), and other organisations with relevant scientific knowledge or capacity;
2. ASKS the World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL) to provide consultancy on the legal framework for establishing a system of bilateral transboundary protected areas;
3. URGES the governments of Russia and China, as IUCN State Members, and all interested components of IUCN, to foster transboundary cooperation towards the conservation of big cats; and
4. REQUESTS the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP/WCMC), in partnership with the SSC Cat Specialist Group, the Feline Research Center of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (China), the Eurasian Center for Conservation of Far Eastern Leopards (Russia) and other organisations with relevant scientific knowledge or capacity, to engage in consultations on gathering and compiling relevant data.
