On the eve of World Environment Day (WED), Deputy Director of the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources (Rosprirodnadzor) and biologist Amirkhan Amirkhanov spoke with RIA Novosti about Russia's Amur Tiger Programme.

"We have prepared a five-year project worth $20 million for the Global Environment Fund (GEF). We will use this money to reform the hunting and forestry industries in the Far East. We submitted the application and expect it to be approved in November-December. Incidentally, Russia also contributes to this fund under its participation in the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)," Amirkhanov said.

He said that several public organisations will be involved in the work: the Wildlife Protection Centre and the national committees of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, to name but a few. The Russian Academy of Science will be in charge of the project and will hold bids under GEF rules.

"The aim of the project is to protect the tigers' niche in these ecosystems. We must take this into account when planning any undertakings in the hunting and forestry industries, or we won't be able to preserve the tigers. We also need support for all specially protected areas of the Far East. We will supply them with equipment and communications, and we are also planning to keep a count of tiger populations and fight poachers using drones. In addition, we'll support the initiatives of public organisations on preserving tigers," Amirkhanov said.