Enviro ministers snared by elephant debate at CITES

THE HAGUE – A fierce debate yesterday on whether to ban all cross-border trade in African ivory paralysed the UN body regulating wildlife trade and snared a sideline meeting of environmental ministers.

The issue of managing Africa’s elephants, whose numbers have been decimated by poaching from millions to several hundred thousand, has divided the continent and dominated the 171-nation Conference on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which ends tomorrow. More than 20 African nations, led by Kenya and Mali, have proposed a 20-year moratorium on all international commerce in ivory.They argue that limited trade simply encourages poaching and smuggling and point to sharp increases in illegal commerce since occasional sales of ivory resumed in 1997 after an eight-year ban.A smaller group from southern Africa, where elephants are far more numerous, are in favour of opening world trade.Siphoning money from one-off sales of government-held ivory stocks into conservation, they say, will help manage elephant populations and will benefit local communities.Representatives from both sides have been locked in negotiations for weeks, but have thus far failed to reach a compromise.Forty-one nature ministers from five continents had gathered yesterday to discuss ways to boost global biodiversity, but ended up being drawn into the elephant debate.”The elephant issue has been elevated to a ministerial level,” the chairman of the committee reviewing species proposals, Greg Leech, told surprised delegates.It was the first such ministerial meeting at CITES, which was set up in 1973 to protect threatened wildlife and meets every three years.If no compromise on the ivory trade is reached, the original competing proposals could come up for a vote, requiring a two-thirds majority.Another possibility is that all proposals could be withdrawn, leaving current rules in place.Some wildlife advocates say discussions should be focused more on how to halt poaching and illegal traffic rather than ivory sales per se.”They have been spending three weeks talking about the wrong thing,” said Susan Lieberman, Director for Global Species at the World Wildlife Fund.Illegal trade in ivory going to Asia has been linked with several African states, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Zimbabwe, according to TRAFFIC, a non-government wildlife monitoring group.Organised criminal networks run by Chinese nationals in Africa have also become involved, TRAFFIC said in a report.CITES banned international trade in ivory in 1989, but has since allowed several one-off sales of ivory stocks collected from dead animals.A sale of 60 tonnes was approved last week.Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe have said the would agree to shorter moratoriums on ivory trade in exchange for an additional 140 tonnes of sales from existing government stocks.Nampa-AFPMore than 20 African nations, led by Kenya and Mali, have proposed a 20-year moratorium on all international commerce in ivory.They argue that limited trade simply encourages poaching and smuggling and point to sharp increases in illegal commerce since occasional sales of ivory resumed in 1997 after an eight-year ban.A smaller group from southern Africa, where elephants are far more numerous, are in favour of opening world trade.Siphoning money from one-off sales of government-held ivory stocks into conservation, they say, will help manage elephant populations and will benefit local communities.Representatives from both sides have been locked in negotiations for weeks, but have thus far failed to reach a compromise.Forty-one nature ministers from five continents had gathered yesterday to discuss ways to boost global biodiversity, but ended up being drawn into the elephant debate.”The elephant issue has been elevated to a ministerial level,” the chairman of the committee reviewing species proposals, Greg Leech, told surprised delegates.It was the first such ministerial meeting at CITES, which was set up in 1973 to protect threatened wildlife and meets every three years.If no compromise on the ivory trade is reached, the original competing proposals could come up for a vote, requiring a two-thirds majority.Another possibility is that all proposals could be withdrawn, leaving current rules in place.Some wildlife advocates say discussions should be focused more on how to halt poaching and illegal traffic rather than ivory sales per se.”They have been spending three weeks talking about the wrong thing,” said Susan Lieberman, Director for Global Species at the World Wildlife Fund.Illegal trade in ivory going to Asia has been linked with several African states, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Zimbabwe, according to TRAFFIC, a non-government wildlife monitoring group.Organised criminal networks run by Chinese nationals in Africa have also become involved, TRAFFIC said in a report.CITES banned international trade in ivory in 1989, but has since allowed several one-off sales of ivory stocks collected from dead animals.A sale of 60 tonnes was approved last week.Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe have said the would agree to shorter moratoriums on ivory trade in exchange for an additional 140 tonnes of sales from existing government stocks.Nampa-AFP