Friday, June 29, 2007
Nylaugwe game scouts caught poachingin the Lower Zambezi National Park...
The Nyalugwe Community Resource Board reports that some of their scouts were recently apprehended poaching in the Zambezi National Park by ZAWA Wildlife Police Officers . When questoned they reportedly said they had been sent there to obtain meat by the ZAWA Sector i/c, Collins Chibeka, based in Nyimba. Recently Chibeka organized a poaching foray by ZAWA WPOs and village scouts in the West Petauke GMA (see www.zambiaeletimes.blogspot.com). He and other ZAWA WPOs and Luembe village scouts are being investigated for their part in the killing of elephant and the removal of meat and ivory.
Ivory cache found in Nyimba, Zambia.
Nyimba Police informed me on 24 June that a few days previously, the Zambia Wildlife Investigations Unit had raided the house belonging to the former FDD member of Parliament for Nyimba, Mr Grey, and had confiscated 24 elephant tusks. A woman who had been trying to sell the tusks to a ZAWA officer, and who had recieved a downpayment of 7 million kwacha, was being held in custody. Mr Grey let it be known that another 1 ton of ivory was available for sale.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
PR man for Zambia Ministry of Tourism issues statement of dubious ecological clarity...
Five Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries have struck a nine-year waiver deal for a one-off sale of ivory, ZANIS reported on Sunday. This follows successful negotiations for the sale of ivory at the just ended 14th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in the Hague, Netherlands. Bwalya Nondo, spokesman for Zambia's Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources, said in a statement that the decision to sell ivory was in view of the ecological need to strike a balance between animal conservation and protection of the environment. "Zambia's desire to offload ivory on the market is keeping with the need not to threaten the carrying capacity of the environment against a growing population of elephants," he said. He said international ivory trade was an important source of revenue to support conservation and promotion of rural livelihood. He explained that Zambia and other SADC countries where elephant populations have already run beyond the CITES qualification for conditional international ivory trade pressed hard to amend the current trade ban in endangered animals. Other SADC countries that joined Zambia in negotiating for the sale of ivory are Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Zambia became a signatory to CITES in 1980.
Source: Xinhua
Source: Xinhua
Sunday, June 17, 2007
The CITES ivory quid pro quo...I.P.A. Manning
While it is good news that official ivory trading was banned at CITES COP 14 for nine years, to hear that the quid pro quo for this was to allow Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa to sell all their ivory registered before 31 January of this year, an amount unknown to CITES, is not good news; for it might, as was suggested at COP 14, be double the 70 tons which these countries had first applied to export. No one can control and regulate the ivory business in Japan and the flow of illegal ivory will join the legal. I predict that our hippo and elephant populations will, in some areas, now face eradication in the short term. From the field in Zambia, I can report a massive assault on our elephant and hippo; and elephant sport hunting of 20 bulls a year is allowed here, recently accounting for a 72 pounder, an animal of massive value to our tourist industry. Government intend increasing this number, as well as allowing the annual 150 or so animals shot on crop protection to be taken instead by sport hunters. All efforts to stop this have failed.
The only way we are going to see matters improve is if conservation and development money goes directly to villagers who share the elephant range. In some of these areas are trusts and associations which can care for the funds and see that it is not stolen. We need to support village schools, clinics and conservation agriculture as a start to encourage villagers to the view that destroying their wildlife resources will only make them poorer and more dependent on food aid. We need to make a direct connection between the conservation of elephant and hippo and development assistance. We need to prosecute the poachers. We need villagers to take responsibility for their land and natural resources.
Inquiries on conservation trusts, which are responsibly managed, may be addressed to gamefields@zamnet.zm
The only way we are going to see matters improve is if conservation and development money goes directly to villagers who share the elephant range. In some of these areas are trusts and associations which can care for the funds and see that it is not stolen. We need to support village schools, clinics and conservation agriculture as a start to encourage villagers to the view that destroying their wildlife resources will only make them poorer and more dependent on food aid. We need to make a direct connection between the conservation of elephant and hippo and development assistance. We need to prosecute the poachers. We need villagers to take responsibility for their land and natural resources.
Inquiries on conservation trusts, which are responsibly managed, may be addressed to gamefields@zamnet.zm
Saturday, June 16, 2007
A Trojan Horse...
Happy Faces all around the Conference Center
The International Fund for Animal Welfare's Lynn Levine is on the ground at CITES in the Hague...she filed this story about the situation in committee with elephants yesterday...
June 14 - E-Day
At the end of the day yesterday, the African elephant range states met once again to try and hammer out an agreement. Later in the evening, a representative from Chad flew in and deliberations continued well into the night (some have heard up until the morning). From these meetings, a new proposal, jointly submitted by Chad and Zambia (!) incorporating a significant amount of the philosophy of the pro-conservation range states, emerged. The accord calls for a nine-year suspension of all trade in ivory. It also states that there will be no discussions on ivory trade until the nine-year period has ended. Another element that proponents of the original Kenya and Mali proposal were pushing for was cross-border cooperation among all range states plus an African Elephant Action Plan. The concession for gaining this suspension was the release of additional stockpiles from South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Botswana, but only ivory which was already part of the officially registered government stockpile by January 31, 2007. The quantities are somewhat unclear: several African delegates have stated that these additional stockpiles total around 70 tonnes, but the Secretariat announced in its press conference earlier today that it was more than double. Such a higher number than expecting could be worrying, but everyone is still feeling positive that 1) all four of these countries wanting to dump their stockpiles must pass CITES scrutiny before the clock starts ticking on the nine years, so the resting period could actually be much more than just the stated nine years and 2) this is a great day for both the elephants and the African countries that support conservation efforts on their behalf.
Everyone here is not surprisingly, exhausted. Still, we're off to celebrate!
Lynn
The International Fund for Animal Welfare's Lynn Levine is on the ground at CITES in the Hague...she filed this story about the situation in committee with elephants yesterday...
June 14 - E-Day
At the end of the day yesterday, the African elephant range states met once again to try and hammer out an agreement. Later in the evening, a representative from Chad flew in and deliberations continued well into the night (some have heard up until the morning). From these meetings, a new proposal, jointly submitted by Chad and Zambia (!) incorporating a significant amount of the philosophy of the pro-conservation range states, emerged. The accord calls for a nine-year suspension of all trade in ivory. It also states that there will be no discussions on ivory trade until the nine-year period has ended. Another element that proponents of the original Kenya and Mali proposal were pushing for was cross-border cooperation among all range states plus an African Elephant Action Plan. The concession for gaining this suspension was the release of additional stockpiles from South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Botswana, but only ivory which was already part of the officially registered government stockpile by January 31, 2007. The quantities are somewhat unclear: several African delegates have stated that these additional stockpiles total around 70 tonnes, but the Secretariat announced in its press conference earlier today that it was more than double. Such a higher number than expecting could be worrying, but everyone is still feeling positive that 1) all four of these countries wanting to dump their stockpiles must pass CITES scrutiny before the clock starts ticking on the nine years, so the resting period could actually be much more than just the stated nine years and 2) this is a great day for both the elephants and the African countries that support conservation efforts on their behalf.
Everyone here is not surprisingly, exhausted. Still, we're off to celebrate!
Lynn
Friday, June 15, 2007
AT LAST; GOOD NEWS OUT OF AFRICA!
GLOBAL IVORY TRADE SUSPENSION APPROVED
IS THE FUTURE SECURE FOR AFRICA’S BELEAGURED PACHYDERMS?
THE HAGUE, The Netherlands, June 14, 2007 --/WORLD-WIRE/-- Government delegates today approved a compromise document to deal with the highly contentious continent-wide debate over the future of elephant conservation and the international sale of elephant ivory. After two weeks of intense deliberations, closed-door meetings, and Ministerial interventions, Parties accepted a plan to allow sale of current ivory stockpiles from Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, while instituting a moratorium on further ivory trade for a period not less than nine years following the sale.
"The message must be heard across the planet today—by ivory poachers and profiteers alike—that CITES decision-makers have tired of the divisive debate over elephant ivory," said Will Travers, CEO of the Born Free Foundation and Chairman of the Species Survival Network. "Although we’re surely disappointed that the controversial stockpile sales have been allowed, we are thrilled that the Parties listened to the dozens of African elephant Range States, united under Kenya’s and Mali’s strong leadership, and have finally agreed to an ivory trade moratorium."
The deal, struck in middle of the night Wednesday, opens a new chapter in the ongoing, decades-long ivory debate under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The ivory trade ban, which achieved such significant improvements in the security of elephants in the early 1990's has been the subject of sustained, deliberate long-term erosion for the last decade. Travers, commenting on the discussions, said, "Negotiations have been protracted and relentless and, while both sides can claim success, the acid test will be the impact on Africa’s most fragile elephant populations."
Notwithstanding the efforts of various African Elephant Range State Dialogue Meetings to reach consensus, the debate thus far has divided Africa with a small number of the most highly developed African elephant Range States strongly arguing for relaxations in the trade ban, and a large number of under-resourced African elephant Range States with vulnerable elephant populations arguing for sensible continent-wide conservation programs.
Parties have broadly agreed since 1997 to maintain the global prohibition on a continuous legal ivory trade, yet have relented under significant pressure to allow limited sales from verified ivory stockpiles. Members of the Species Survival Network, however, expressed continued concern over these stockpile sales, as it is hard to say exactly what the cumulative impact of the approved trade has been and will be on elephants.
Mary Rice of the Environmental Investigation Agency asked, "Will the stockpile sales approved at this COP be a green light to the poaching community and organized crime, or will the resting period truly deliver to Africa’s elephants an era of stability and security and increased wildlife law enforcement?"
However, it remains unclear as to what the "resting period" will mean in reality over these nine years. The compromise document states there will be no consideration of proposals for trade from countries with elephant populations already on Appendix II of the Convention. This, therefore, only applies to Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. SSN wonders whether this means that any of the other 30 or more African countries with elephants can continue to apply to have their population downlisted to Appendix II and submit ivory trade proposals.
"Sadly," Travers concluded, "I have a sinking feeling that we shall still be debating ivory trade proposals throughout the resting period—despite what I believe to be the intention of Parties that this should not be the case. However, we hope that the countries with elephants still on Appendix I will respect the spirit of the decision taken today by the Parties and resist the temptation to seek ivory trade."
The SSN and its members nevertheless will continue their commitment to respond positively to the needs of African Elephant Range States and the elephant conservation challenges they face. It must be hoped that the resting period, so many have worked so hard to achieve, is full of elephant conservation action to the benefit of real conservation.
CONTACT:
Adam M. Roberts
Press Officer
Species Survival Network
In The Hague: 31-06-5213-6798
Globally: 1-202-445-3572
IS THE FUTURE SECURE FOR AFRICA’S BELEAGURED PACHYDERMS?
THE HAGUE, The Netherlands, June 14, 2007 --/WORLD-WIRE/-- Government delegates today approved a compromise document to deal with the highly contentious continent-wide debate over the future of elephant conservation and the international sale of elephant ivory. After two weeks of intense deliberations, closed-door meetings, and Ministerial interventions, Parties accepted a plan to allow sale of current ivory stockpiles from Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, while instituting a moratorium on further ivory trade for a period not less than nine years following the sale.
"The message must be heard across the planet today—by ivory poachers and profiteers alike—that CITES decision-makers have tired of the divisive debate over elephant ivory," said Will Travers, CEO of the Born Free Foundation and Chairman of the Species Survival Network. "Although we’re surely disappointed that the controversial stockpile sales have been allowed, we are thrilled that the Parties listened to the dozens of African elephant Range States, united under Kenya’s and Mali’s strong leadership, and have finally agreed to an ivory trade moratorium."
The deal, struck in middle of the night Wednesday, opens a new chapter in the ongoing, decades-long ivory debate under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The ivory trade ban, which achieved such significant improvements in the security of elephants in the early 1990's has been the subject of sustained, deliberate long-term erosion for the last decade. Travers, commenting on the discussions, said, "Negotiations have been protracted and relentless and, while both sides can claim success, the acid test will be the impact on Africa’s most fragile elephant populations."
Notwithstanding the efforts of various African Elephant Range State Dialogue Meetings to reach consensus, the debate thus far has divided Africa with a small number of the most highly developed African elephant Range States strongly arguing for relaxations in the trade ban, and a large number of under-resourced African elephant Range States with vulnerable elephant populations arguing for sensible continent-wide conservation programs.
Parties have broadly agreed since 1997 to maintain the global prohibition on a continuous legal ivory trade, yet have relented under significant pressure to allow limited sales from verified ivory stockpiles. Members of the Species Survival Network, however, expressed continued concern over these stockpile sales, as it is hard to say exactly what the cumulative impact of the approved trade has been and will be on elephants.
Mary Rice of the Environmental Investigation Agency asked, "Will the stockpile sales approved at this COP be a green light to the poaching community and organized crime, or will the resting period truly deliver to Africa’s elephants an era of stability and security and increased wildlife law enforcement?"
However, it remains unclear as to what the "resting period" will mean in reality over these nine years. The compromise document states there will be no consideration of proposals for trade from countries with elephant populations already on Appendix II of the Convention. This, therefore, only applies to Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. SSN wonders whether this means that any of the other 30 or more African countries with elephants can continue to apply to have their population downlisted to Appendix II and submit ivory trade proposals.
"Sadly," Travers concluded, "I have a sinking feeling that we shall still be debating ivory trade proposals throughout the resting period—despite what I believe to be the intention of Parties that this should not be the case. However, we hope that the countries with elephants still on Appendix I will respect the spirit of the decision taken today by the Parties and resist the temptation to seek ivory trade."
The SSN and its members nevertheless will continue their commitment to respond positively to the needs of African Elephant Range States and the elephant conservation challenges they face. It must be hoped that the resting period, so many have worked so hard to achieve, is full of elephant conservation action to the benefit of real conservation.
CONTACT:
Adam M. Roberts
Press Officer
Species Survival Network
In The Hague: 31-06-5213-6798
Globally: 1-202-445-3572
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