Source: DD News
Subject: Environment
Context: India announced that it will host the Global Big Cats Summit in New Delhi in 2026, reaffirming global leadership in wildlife conservation.
About Global Big Cats Summit:
- What it is?
- A high-level international summit dedicated to strengthening global cooperation, policy coordination, and scientific collaboration for the conservation of big cat species across continents.
- Host: India, in New Delhi.
- Key Features:
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- Brings together big-cat range countries, global experts, scientists, conservation NGOs, and policy leaders.
- Focus on tiger recovery models, lion conservation, snow leopard landscapes, cheetah translocation lessons, and global best practices.
- Strengthens global partnerships to protect big-cat habitats that support carbon sequestration, watershed protection, climate resilience, and sustainable livelihoods.
About International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA):
- What it is?
- A global, multi-country, multi-agency coalition dedicated exclusively to the conservation of the world’s seven major big cats — Tiger, Lion, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Cheetah, Jaguar, and Puma.
- Launched In: 9 April 2023, during 50 years of Project Tiger celebrations at Mysuru, Karnataka.
- Headquarters: India (as approved by Union Cabinet on 12 March 2024).
- Aim:
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- To create a unified global platform to protect and recover big cat populations.
- To pool scientific knowledge, technology, funding, and successful practices among 95 range & non-range countries.
- To fill global gaps in capacity building, financing, technology, and scientific expertise for big cat conservation.
- Key Features:
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- Global coalition of 95 countries, conservation partners, scientific institutions & corporates.
- Acts as a central repository of best practices, research data, and conservation models.
- Focus on capacity building, training, funding access, and technology transfer for big cat range countries.
- Addresses poaching, illegal wildlife trade, habitat loss, prey depletion, and ecological degradation.
