The WWF Greater Mekong Programme Office is active in 4 out of the 13 tiger range states (Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam). These countries contain the largest combined area of tiger habitat in the world.
Our regional work contributes to WWF’s global targets for saving tigers:
- To double the number of wild tigers by 2022
- To ensure that tigers roam in at least 20% of their former range by 2020
- To ensure that tiger conservation becomes political priority and leads to significant action by 2015
- To eliminate trade in tiger parts by 2020
How is WWF protecting tigers in the Greater Mekong region?
- Carrying out research and surveys to identify tiger habitat, tiger prey and tiger population numbers
- Improving habitat conditions so that both tigers and their prey populations will naturally increase
- Training protected area personnel and rangers to carry out surveys, and to effectively manage protected areas where tigers are found
- Actively seeking the establishment of formal protection in areas where tigers are found but where they still lack effective protection
- Engaging with local authorities and communities living in proximity to tiger areas so that people and tigers can coexist
- Public awareness-raising across the Greater Mekong’s tiger range states about tigers and the threats they face
Impacts of WWF's tiger conservation work
In Thailand:
- Prey numbers in WWF-supported project areas have risen steadily in recent years
- Local residents now play an important role in tiger conservation through their involvement in survey and monitoring work, habitat and prey restoration, and the establishment of tiger-oriented school education programmes.
In Cambodia:
- Prey (e.g. banteng) and some carnivore species (e.g. leopard) numbers in WWF-supported project areas have increased in recent years
