Before coming to Columbia to do my MBA, I spoke with various alumni in Argentina and they all agreed on two things: I was going to have the time of my life and I should get involved in as many extracurricular activities as my schedule could accommodate. I started my first semester with the intention of making it memorable. I applied for numerous club positions and have been to every happy hour and party I've heard of through the Columbia network. Nevertheless, that was not enough from me, which is why I submitted an application to be part of the 2005 Managers for International Development (MIDI) projects. I know nothing about wildlife - even though my mother is a biology professor - and to tell the truth I've never thought a lot about global warming or conservation issues. However, I found the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) project appealing. Not only was it was exotic, but it would provide me with an interesting and unique experience to talk about during summer internship interviews.
Wanting to know more about the procedure and the project itself I met Lucia Dario (who was in charge of matching people to the different MIDI projects as well as identifying potential pro bono consulting opportunities), and asked her to help me prepare my cover letter. To be honest, I had never done a project like this before and without much hope I filled out the application form. To my surprise I was chosen to be part of a great team (with Rageev Garg and Anna Sherbakova) and we started working on the project which aims to "link economic development and biodiversity conservation in the Russian far east through tiger friendly certification."
The entire forested ecosystem in southern Russian Far East is about 185,000 square kilometers. It must be retained to insure biological functionality and integrity, and to conserve its top predator: the Siberian tiger. Yet strict protection is impossible, as these lands must also provide economic sustenance to local people. To meet these dual objectives, incentives for economic development must be linked to conservation objectives. The rich flora of the RFE forests includes a variety of non-timber forest products (NTFP) including: medicinal herbs, such as schizandra, eleutherococuss, aralia; berries including rosehips and low bush cranberries; boletus mushrooms and pine nuts which are desired by Western markets. Harvest of these products is traditionally organized by Wildlife Management Leases (WMLs). In addition to NTFPs, there is a growing ecotourism industry in the region. Both types of local economic activities could boost revenues of both WMLs and people from nearby communities WCS intends to use Siberian tigers as a biological indicator of ecosystem integrity and as a marketing tool for sale of NTFPs on lands certified as "Tiger Friendly." Tigers are at the pinnacle of the food chain and their presence provides a good indicator of ecosystem functionality. Due to their habitat needs for large land areas, tiger conservation can act as an "umbrella" to protect a host of other wildlife and plant species. In addition, the charismatic appeal of tigers also represents a valuable marketing tool.
WCS intends to certify WMLs as Tiger Friendly if communities managing the land can retain adequate numbers of tigers and their prey (other wildlife), effectively control poaching, and sustainably harvest NTFPs. In addition, WCS wants to help educate local communities, promote their involvement in conservation and ensure a fair distribution of revenue. Tiger Friendly Certification will provide local, community-based WMLs access to markets for NTFPs (and opportunities to increase international ecotourism) with greater profit margins than other outlets, which will help decrease the need for over-harvesting of the land. Unlike other certification programs, such as in the organics industry, Tiger Friendly certification applies to the land base, and not just the product itself. Therefore, by purchasing products derived from Tiger Friendly lands, consumers are assured that they are, in essence, conserving habitat for tigers and other wildlife. Producers derive direct benefits, such as access to markets and increased profit margins, which are unavailable to uncertified producers by ensuring tigers and their ecosystem are retained.
Tiger Friendly certification achieves multiple objectives as it: 1) links wildlife conservation and poverty alleviation in rural communities; 2) provides incentives to conserve ecosystem processes (through conservation of a top predator) on multiple-use lands; 3) provides employment opportunities for local communities, including women, traditional gatherers of NTFPs; 4) enables access to Western markets that seek high quality products and services from sustainable sources; 5) provides an alternative to unsustainable extraction; 6) eliminates over-harvesting of NTFPs by setting sustainable harvest quotas; 7) creates a high profit-margin product with international appeal by using tiger conservation as a motivation for green consumerism; 8) guides design of a production line that relies on local harvesters, thus ensuring adequate profit sharing; and 9) increases the interest of WMLs as local managing entities to conserve tigers and their habitat and to control poaching.
Our group main objective for this MIDI project is the development of business, marketing and communication plans that can be used by Wildlife Management Leases, as well as WCS, in developing the Tiger Friendly Certification Program and sales of non-timber forest products to international markets. As part of the project we were invited to fly to the Russian Far East - Vladivostok - to better understand the forest situation and to meet the people that are going to be affected by the implementation of the Tiger Friendly certificate. For various reasons, neither Rageev nor Anna were able to go to Russia, but I couldn't think of a better place to spend my first Thanksgiving holidays than Siberia!!!
The Social Enterprise Program through its International Development Consulting Project Travel Fund provided support for travel costs for this project, so I got my Russian visa and bought a 20 hour plane ticket for a flight to the other side of the world. The weather was getting colder over Thanksgiving in Vladivostok - around minus 6 to minus 8 degrees Celsius in the mornings and minus 2 to 0 degrees in the afternoon. After arriving there I traveled north to Khabarovks (a 13 hour journey by train), where the temperatures were even lower than that. In the mornings it dropped to minus 20 degrees Celsius and warmed up to around minus 10 to minus 15 degrees during the day. After a couple of meetings at Khabarovks, I traveled to the Russian Far East Forest -where the Siberian Tiger lives - to meet with WML and local communities. I visited two hunting leases at Chin Sun and Kavalero. My time with local people that I met was fascinating and it was apparent that the people care very much about wildlife and were pleased to have visitors. They shared their food and allowed me to stay with their families. The Russian diet is quite heavy on meat, fish and rich foods. Parties never go without a drink and in most cases it would be vodka. According to the Russian tradition, people are meant to encourage you to drink. It was difficult to keep up, despite my practice since I arrived at Business School. In Kavalero, we went into the forest to find non timber forest products. You can see me in the photo to the left with Siberian Ginseng. During the walk we were able to see Tiger tracks which indicated that a tiger was recently in the area. "Unfortunately" we were not able to see the tiger, but knowing it was around made me wonder why I was walking around there. To sum up, I had a great experience in Russia, met lots of diverse people that are working hard to keep the biodiversity and ecosystem balanced while helping local communities improve their quality of living. Now it is time to finish working on this MIDI project in order to help them be successful.
If you're interested in this particular project or want to help the Wildlife Conservation Society, you can visit their web site and see their Asia/Russia pages at: www.wcs.org.