Myanmar - Global Tiger Initiative

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSA vast number of people made this project possible. Firstly, the Minister of Forests, Director-Generals U Soe Tint, U Shwe Kyaw, and former D-G U Kyaw Tint, and U Khin Maung Zaw,Director of the Nature and Wildlife Conservation Division. Territorial staff of the ForestDepartment, the Local Commander of Taninthayi Division, and U Tun Paw Oo, Director ofthe Taninthayi Forest Department. U Aung Than wrote the first NTAP in 1996. In 1998 atthe Saving the Tiger Conference in Dallas, Texas, he and U Uga made the call for a revisedNTAP. The field assessments were carried out by U Saw Htoo Tha Po, U Myint Aung, UMyint Maung, U Kyaw Thinn Latt, U Tin Mya Soe, U Sein Aung Min, U Thein Lwin, UKhin Maung Htay, U Tun Tun Lwin, U Moe Myint Aung, U Zaw Naing Tun, Daw MyintMyint Oo and Daw Khin Htay. U Kyaw Thinn Latt assisted with data management andanalysis. U Saw Tun Khaing and U Than Myint coordinated with the Forest Department toinitiate and guide the project. Drs Alan Rabinowitz, Joshua Ginsberg, Madhu Rao of theWildlife Conservation Society provided advice on project design and implementation. Theyand Drs Tim O’Brien and Dale Miquelle (WCS) provided comments on this Plan. Workshopswith WCS tiger workers in New York (1999) and Thailand (2001) inspired some of theconsiderations for conservation action described in this report. Thanks to Dr Alan Rabinowitzfor helping us see the big picture of tiger conservation, and to Dr Ullas Karanth who showedus how tigers can recover from the seemingly most impossible situations. Finally, the projectwas made possible with a generous grant from the “Save The Tiger Fund,” a joint project ofthe US National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and ExxonMobile Corporation, and fromthe Michael Cline Family Foundation. Initial funds for implementation of this conservationstrategy are being made available by USFWS, the Nancy Abraham Conservation Fund andthe “Save The Tiger Fund”.I