Under attack for not cracking down on use of body parts of tiger in Chinese traditional medicine, China on Friday agreed to share “actionable intelligence” with India besides nominating nodal officers for sharing of real time information against poachers.
An Indian environment and forests delegation, which held talks with their Chinese counterparts for the past five days, left for home on Friday on an optimistic note on Chinese seriousness in cracking down to end trafficking on tiger parts, officials here said.
“While acknowledging the poaching and illegal trafficking of wildlife products including tiger body parts as the biggest threat to wildlife conservation in the region, both the countries have shown willingness and agreed to share actionable intelligence besides nominating nodal officers for sharing of real time information,” an official statement issued at the end of the visit said.
China has shown considerable interest in joining the Global Tiger Forum, the only intergovernmental international body working for tiger conservation in the region, it said.
Indian officials believe that China’s support for tiger conservation is crucial as the demand for tiger parts, especially bones is believed to be the main reason for poaching of tigers in India and other parts of the world. Environment minister Jairam Ramesh had in January this year blamed the growing demand for tiger and leopard parts in China for poaching of big cats in India.
The two sides also stressed the need for collaborative investigation into the backward and forward linkages of wildlife crimes and deal with organised criminal syndicates operating in the region. —PTI