CII-World Bank tiger conservation

    Ms. Indrani Kar, Deputy Director General, CII and Mr. Robert Zoellick, President, The World Bank sign an agreement on establishing an India Wildlife Business Council.

The Confederation of Indian Industry and the World Bank Group has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), to establish the India Wildlife Business Council (IWBC). The objective of the IWBC is to promote tiger and biodiversity conservation in the context of sustainable development and to improve the dialogue between business, conservation stakeholders as well as decision-makers.

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) – which comprise the “World Bank Group” – and CII will work together to create and support the IWBC, which will serve as an institutionalized platform for collaboration.

The IWBC has a four-fold agenda:

• To raise awareness among business leaders of biodiversity conservation and its impact for long term survival of businesses and catalysing consensus in pursuing eco friendly business practices.
• To champion biodiversity-friendly policies with national and global policymakers at all levels.
• To share knowledge and expertise on emerging practices that provides win-win solutions through biodiversity-friendly product development and supply chain management.
• To engage the community, sensitize the youth and consumers for promoting the entire concept.”

Its objective will be to reverse the massive dwindling of the tiger population owing to rapid industrialisation, habitat fragmentation, poaching and illegal trade.

iger population has dwindled massively, a mere 3000 tigers remains in the wild today, confined to only 7% of their historical geographic presence. Beyond the tiger’s iconic value as India’s national animal, tiger conservation and the protection of their habitat is paramount for maintaining biodiversity, which is the natural capital that has helped drive economic growth and prosperity in India. Conservation and sustainable development will also have a profound ripple effect on India’s poverty alleviation, watershed protection, natural hazard regulation, food security and agricultural services, medicinal and recreation and tourism.

IWBC will promote green growth models, aligning business strategies focusing on a triple bottom line approach – on profits, people and planet.