INSIDE: THE TIGER TRADE

Key activities: Investigations into illegal trade in tiger / leopard parts and derivatives, illegal trade in ODS, and into illegal mining in India. Tiger conservation strategy, policy, governance and history in India. CITES compliance and enforcement. Environmental crime generally.

Scottish-born, ‘flame-haired’, Debbie has had a life-long fascination of tigers and big cats and is now regarded as one of the world’s top authorities on tiger conservation.
With a BSc in Zoology and an MSc in Conservation, she first came to EIA as a volunteer in 1996 on the tiger campaign.

In November 1999 she took six months out from her role as Senior Campaigner to live in Venezuela. As an overseas consultant to EIA, Debbie continued to provide assistance and direction to EIA’s Tiger Campaign and led a campaign delegation to India in January 2000 and to the 11th Meeting of CITES in April 2000. Debbie returned to EIA in May 2000 as a Senior Campaigner working from EIA’s US office. She came back to EIA UK in March 2001 as a Senior Campaigner and Tiger Team Leader. As EIA’s Tiger Team Leader she is responsible for the development and implementation of the campaign strategy.

Debbie has participated in other EIA Campaigns since her time with the organisation, including Cetaceans and ODS. She is a member of the Board of the Species Survival Network (SSN) and the Chair of the SSN Tiger Working Group. She has trained five members of staff on the tiger campaign since 1999 and worked on projects and investigations in India, Nepal, China, Thailand, USA, Europe and Japan.