This Thailand Tiger Action Plan 2010-2022 is a sectoral policy document at the national level. Tigers face a very real threat of extinction as a result of a variety of factors ranging from habitat loss and prey depletion to poaching. The vision of the plan is: By 2022 tigers have recovered and thrive in the priority landscapes managed under high standard interventions and monitoring systems, and Thailand has become a strong support for international collaborations on tiger and wildlife conservation and protected area management in Southeast Asia. The goal is to increase the tiger population by 50 percent in priority landscapes together with other landscapes in Thailand by 2022.
The Plan considers that enhancing and saving the natural ecosystems required by tigers provides many benefits, including: Water delivery for agriculture and household use Maintenance of forest cover to moderate climate change and maintain local climate regimes Preservation of biodiversity to enhance long-term ecosystem stability. There are many challenges and threats to the tigers. The most important threats are poaching of the tiger and their prey in the national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, habitat destruction, and illegal wildlife trade. To reach the goal of the Plan, 19 objectives are identified in the 5 priority action areas: 1) Strengthening direct conservation action and enforcement 2) Building capacity based on successful models 3) Strengthening monitoring, research, and information management 4) Promoting education, awareness, and public participation 5) Strategic financing for tiger conservation. 51 Activities are developed to achieve the objectives for each of the 5 priority actions. In particular, the Plan suggests: 1. Strengthen and standardize the MIST-based Smart Patrol System in protected areas of current tiger source and potential source sites, including Tenasserim WEFCOM and DP-KY; 2. Promote use of controlled burning in potential and manageable parts of priority landscapes to maintain grassland for ungulate recovery; 3. Prevent and suppress fires effectively in evergreen forest areas in priority landscapes to provide good cover and watersheds for tigers and wildlife; 4. Maintain natural and existing artificial water sources that benefit tigers and ungulates especially during drought periods in priority landscapes. 5. Establish a system to control invasive species (e.g., Lantana camara, Mimosa pudica) in priority landscapes; 6. Identify priorities for corridor and habitat restoration; 7. Link communities with agricultural science institutes and agencies to promote agro-forestry in buffer zone areas around priority landscapes to reduce collection of Non Timber Forest Products inside Protected Areas; Strengthen bi-lateral cooperation with Cambodia, Laos,Malaysia and Myanmar for transboundary enforcement and monitoring and research.