Exxon Leads The Fight to Save the Tiger
Pledges $5 million to tiger conservation
By: Staff Date: 01/13/2012 Category: | Wildlife Journal |
In 1995, the Exxon Corporation put its money behind it's corporate logo and pledged $5 million to tiger conservation. The money was to be given over five years and administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
In 1998, the Year of the Tiger, the company doubled its annual contribution, bringing the total over five years to $6 million dollars.
Projects in the fund fall into five categories:
- Tiger range conservation projects focus on saving the tiger in the wild through field studies, habitat protection, and anti-poaching measures.
- Tiger range support projects include efforts aimed at reducing trade in tiger parts, zoo and captive breeding aide, educational and outreach activities, etc.
- International education projects to increase world-wide understanding of the tiger's plight and generate support for conservation efforts.
- Fundraising and promotional projects raise money to supplement the Exxon donations. More than $650,000 has been raised from public donations.
- Other tiger projects supported by NFWF in partnership with Exxon.
While the STF concentrates on conservation of the big cat, it does so in recognition of the need for support from and concern about local people in living with these powerful predators.
"The people who have to live with tigers day in and day out will ultimately be the ones who decide the tiger's fate, and this human side of the equation must be a component of conservation efforts," according to the STF. "From the forest of southern India to the alluvial grasslands of Nepal to the jungles of Sumatra, numerous STF projects focus on community-based conservation initiatives. "STF has funded anti-poaching efforts in India and Russia to reduce pressure on tiger populations. The efforts in Russia have been successful, the STF reports: "Rather than facing extinction by the year 2000, with proper management and protection, the Siberian (Amur) tiger will roam the forests of the Russian Far East far into the future."
More about NFWF
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is a non-profit corporation established by the US Congress in 1984 to improve conservation efforts and promote sustainable use of natural resources.
The foundation goals are conservation education, natural resource management, habitat protection, ecosystem restoration, and public policy development through public/private partnerships.
The foundation receives some federal money, but it must match that money dollar for dollar with donations from its project partners, a requirement it has met or exceeded for 11 consecutive years. From 1986 until mid-1998, the federal government gave NFWF $100 million and the foundation added $200 million and awarded more than 2500 grants for conservation projects.
NFWF projects fall into six categories: education, fisheries conservation and management, migratory bird conservation, wetland and private lands, wildlife habitat, and conservation policy.
Shell
Not to be outdone by Exxon, Shell Oil Company has pledged $5 million to marine conservation in the Gulf of Mexico. Like the STF efforts, the Shell Marine Habitat Program will be administered by NFWF. The money will be spread over five years and will be used to fund Gulf Coast marine management research, habitat protection, and environmental education projects.
Golf
NFWF partners also include the US Golf Association, which donates $200,000 annually to the study of wildlife on the golf course.
More than 15,000 golf course provide more than 1.5 million acres of habitat. The projects funded since the program's inception in 1996 include a manual for golf course architects and managers to improve habitat for birds developed by the Colorado Bird Observatory; a handbook of wetlands habitat management for golf courses; an Audubon project to develop a database for wildlife habitat on golf courses; a Xerxes Society study to determine the potential for golf courses to become sanctuaries for butterflies and other insects; two university studies to test the effect of golf course management on amphibians; and a university study to determine the extent of runoff from golf course use of pesticides.
About The Author
All Authors Of This Article: | Norma Bennett Woolf |
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