Tiger conservation efforts in India received an important shot in the arm this week after the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the World Bank to improve the dialogue on sustainable development and conservation between business, conservation stakeholders and decision-makers in policy.

The new initiative to promote tiger and biodiversity conservation is called the India Wildlife Business Council (IWBC). As an institutionalised platform for collaboration, its objective will be to reverse the massive dwindling of the tiger population owing to rapid industrialisation, habitat fragmentation, poaching and illegal trade.