India will host the first-ever International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) summit on June 1 in New Delhi, bringing together world leaders, experts and stakeholders to shape a coordinated international response for protecting threatened species, Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav has said.
The summit, themed “Save Big Cats, Save Humanity, Save Ecosystem”, will see participation from heads of 25 member countries and four observer countries, and will bring together over 400 stakeholders, including policymakers, scientists, financial institutions, corporates and community representatives.
The IBCA, launched in 2023 under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is a first-of-its-kind intergovernmental alliance focused on conserving seven big cat species—lion, tiger, leopard, snow leopard, cheetah, jaguar and puma—across their global ranges.
Yadav, while launching the website and logo for the summit, said the summit would mark a “defining moment” in conservation diplomacy, aimed at strengthening international partnerships and promoting South-South cooperation.
He stated that a key outcome of the summit would be the adoption of the first-ever global declaration on big cat conservation, titled the ‘Delhi Declaration’, which will articulate shared priorities, strengthen transboundary cooperation, and promote a landscape-based approach to conserving big cats and their habitats.
