The first day of the Kathmandu Tiger Workshop got off to a fun start with a burst of energy from Nepal’s youth. Junior high students from 30 of Nepal’s schools rallied and marched through the center of town carrying banners and signs of support for conservation and habitat protection. Hundreds of students along with some government officials carrying signs and wearing tiger outfits at the break of day. The Minister of Forests and Soil Conservation of Nepal, Deepak Bohara, spoke to the crowd, thanking and encouraging the students to be active, as it will soon be up to them to take responsibility for Nepal’s natural resource problems, and they will determine the country’s future.

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A few of the participants and delegates to the Tiger Workshop are starting to show up. Huge tiger billboards and posters greet arrivals at the Kathmandu International Airport and the main thoroughfares in the city. Organizing teams at the Government of Nepal’s Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation and the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation are hard at work with logistical preparations.

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Just heard news that the world-reknowned media company and global advertising agency PUBLICIS will be attending the Kathmandu Tiger Workshop and will be presenting their innovative “contagious” ideas about how to address the huge demand for illicit tiger parts in Asia. Also, experts in infrastructure from the World Bank are going to present their newest ideas on “Smart Green Infrastructure” next Wednesday. The presentation is entitled “Arresting Habitat Deterioration: Smart Infrastructure and Land Use.”

Upon arrival in Kathmandu a few days ago to prepare for the Kathmandu Global Tiger Workshop, my first impressions were of a city going about its business at an almost leisurely pace. I should have known – it was the last few days of Tihar – a five day Hindu holiday celebrated in Nepal (the festival of lights). Since then, the streets have crowded, the horns are honking, and the bikes are spewing dust. Power outages are a daily occurrence – only the government and luxury hotels with generators seem to be able to go along with their business without the delays incurred by electricity shortages. Over the next few days, a trickle of wildlife conservationists and government delegations will turn into a downpour. The Global Tiger Initiative and Kathmandu Tiger Workshop will be moving into full ‘war room’ mode. There is a lot at stake here – it’s going to be interesting.

Due to the nature of the beasts (nocturnal and shy by nature), one of the most difficult and controversial points upon which wildlife scientists and tiger conservationists continuously debate is the status of tiger populations in specific tiger conservation landscapes. Numbers vary widely, but there is one area of consensus. In virtually all the identified conservation landscapes across Asia and the Russian Far East, numbers are declining and the news is worse and worse. A total estimate of 3,000-3,500 is being bandied around these days, but with poaching a major issue in India, a new census in Nepal, and bad news from Russia, this estimate is looking increasingly optimistic.