Roads and railways are seen as the the way of progress. But they can also bring extinctions. According to the WWF, for example, in Asia the tiger is not only threatened by poachers, but also by massive infrastructure plans throughout the tiger landscapes that are putting at risk the recent gains in tiger conservation.
This is why WWF highlights the need of protecting tigers from Asia’s infrastructure development boom: around 11,000 kilometres of roads and railways are on the drawing board, along with new canals, oil and gas pipelines, and power lines. Part of a projected US$8 trillion in projected infrastructure spending across Asia from 2012 through 2020, this infrastructure would cut through every existing tiger habitat, increasing habitat fragmentation, poaching and conflict with communities.
In the last six years, tigers have shown signs of recovery from a population of 3200 individuals to 3,890 tigers in the wild. But the situation remains precarious. India has lost 76 tigers to poachers already this year, while China, Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia, with less than 500 tigers between them, could lose their tigers in the next decade, especially if poorly-designed infrastructure plans are given the green light.