| The Indonesian island of Sumatra contains some of the world's greatest biodiversity with plants and animals found nowhere else on the Earth. A report by WWF-US reveals that these forests are the only place in the world where tigers, elephants, rhinos and orangutans co-exist. Pitiably, since 1985, more than half of this forest cover has been lost.
And the shocking information is that most of this deforestation ends up as tissue papers marketed by global corporations. So the next time we see a tissue paper, let us remember that, perhaps the tissue paper has caused the death of one more of the remaining 400 or less of the Sumatran tigers in the world. Remember to use only tissue papers that are 100% ForestStewardship Council certified are 100% recycled.
World tigers are less than 3200. One tiger needs to eat the equivalent of a medium size deer every week to survive. Anti-poaching efforts are required to care for the tiger as well as its prey. A serious contributing factor to the plight of the tiger is the widespread decline of its forest cover.
The Sumatran tiger was considered as a tiger subspecies of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It has been listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List in 2008.The Sumatran tiger is the only surviving member of the Sunda Islands' group of tigers that included the now extinct Bali tiger and Javan tiger.
"Without protecting the tiger's prey from poaching and forest degradation, achieving the target of doubling wild tiger numbers by 2022 is impossible," as per Mike Baltzer, Leader of WWF's Tigers Alive Initiative. The survival of the prey is key to the survival of the tiger.
On the occasion of Global Tiger Day on 29 July 2012, WWF has released a short film 'Confessions of an ex-poacher' that highlights the destructive trade. The film also discusses steps needed to tackle poaching. One of these is to provide those at the frontlines protecting tigers – rangers, protected area officials and local communities – with the right tools to eradicate poaching. The film can be viewed using the link http://youtu.be/p0J3IXc-aSk
Global efforts are continuing to save the tigers and let us do our share by ensuring products of tiger / tiger's prey origin as well as products from erosion of forest cover are shunned by one and all. | 
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2 Comments
Hi, Neha! Thank you for your report on deforestation caused by tissue paper and endangered tigers. I think this is a very important topic, as it is easy to forget that everyday items like tissue paper are consistently damaging the environment. Deforestation has a critical effect on Earth causing a decrease in trees that can lower levels of CO2, losing the cooling effects of respiration, depriving various species of their natural habitat, and leading to other problems such as soil erosion and desertification. It's especially saddening to hear about the wild animal species - such as the Bali tiger and Javan tiger - that have gone extinct because of human activities, including deforestation. We must do our part to stop more animals from becoming endangered. I'll also participate, trying to save tissue paper and to use recycled tissue products. Nice work!
Posted 22-09-2017 11:55
Hi, Neha! I'll try my best to follow your recommendation of using 100% ForestStewardship Council certified tissue paper in daily life thinking of Sumatran tigers in the world. Not only the people living on the Indonesian island of Sumatra but also the people all around the world have an identical responsibility to protect its eco-system. Thanks for letting us approach this serious problem easily with your explanation. Great report!
Posted 18-09-2017 00:11