Govt bars media from ivory sale

GOVERNMENT has banned all media from Namibia’s one-off ivory auction today.

The Ministry of Environment never made an official announcement about the international auction, which is held under the auspices of the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites). The UN body, which is based in Switzerland, made an announcement several weeks ago that Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa would have their ivory auctions on October 28 and 30 and November 3 and 6 respectively.According to well-placed sources, Chinese and Japanese bidders arrived in Namibia on Sunday and viewed the ivory stocks in Windhoek yesterday.”It is too late to change the Ministry’s strategy with regard to the ivory auction,” Deputy Environment and Tourism Minister Leon Jooste told media late yesterday, after the Ministry was inundated with requests from local and international media.The International Association for Animal Welfare (IFAW) was told two weeks ago by an MET official that the Ministry would refuse them observer status.”The official just flatly denied us the possibility,” Christina Pretorius, Programme Manager of IFAW Southern Africa, told The Namibian yesterday.At a previous ivory auction in Windhoek about nine years ago, where sales were made from a catalogue, the media could attend.At a meeting in Geneva in July this year, Cites allowed Namibia to trade in ivory with China and Japan.At the meeting, China requested Cites to buy more than 100 tons of elephant ivory from Namibia, Botswana and South Africa.At the 14th Cites Conference held in the Netherlands last year, Namibia was permitted to sell 9 tonnes of ivory, Botswana 44, South Africa 51 and Zimbabwe 4 tonnes.But the four countries were required by Cites’ Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants (Mike) programme to put strict conservation measures in place before such an auction was conducted.After the one-off auction, the four southern African countries will not be allowed to export ivory again for nine years.Between March and April this year, the Cites Secretariat visited the four countries and verified that the declared ivory stocks had been properly registered and that they were of legal origin.The four countries had previously sold ivory to Japan but with China also now cleared, they could achieve better prices.China will have to demonstrate enough control measures to ensure that ivory can be tracked and remains within domestic markets.Some environmental and conservation organisations still argue that any opening of ivory trade would encourage poaching.Elephant ivory is a booming black-market commodity, with tusks, jewellery and trinkets bringing in millions of dollars for smugglers and sellers after trade was banned by Cites in 1989.* Additional reporting by Absalom ShigwedhaThe UN body, which is based in Switzerland, made an announcement several weeks ago that Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa would have their ivory auctions on October 28 and 30 and November 3 and 6 respectively.According to well-placed sources, Chinese and Japanese bidders arrived in Namibia on Sunday and viewed the ivory stocks in Windhoek yesterday.”It is too late to change the Ministry’s strategy with regard to the ivory auction,” Deputy Environment and Tourism Minister Leon Jooste told media late yesterday, after the Ministry was inundated with requests from local and international media.The International Association for Animal Welfare (IFAW) was told two weeks ago by an MET official that the Ministry would refuse them observer status.”The official just flatly denied us the possibility,” Christina Pretorius, Programme Manager of IFAW Southern Africa, told The Namibian yesterday.At a previous ivory auction in Windhoek about nine years ago, where sales were made from a catalogue, the media could attend.At a meeting in Geneva in July this year, Cites allowed Namibia to trade in ivory with China and Japan. At the meeting, China requested Cites to buy more than 100 tons of elephant ivory from Namibia, Botswana and South Africa.At the 14th Cites Conference held in the Netherlands last year, Namibia was permitted to sell 9 tonnes of ivory, Botswana 44, South Africa 51 and Zimbabwe 4 tonnes.But the four countries were required by Cites’ Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants (Mike) programme to put strict conservation measures in place before such an auction was conducted.After the one-off auction, the four southern African countries will not be allowed to export ivory again for nine years.Between March and April this year, the Cites Secretariat visited the four countries and verified that the declared ivory stocks had been properly registered and that they were of legal origin.The four countries had previously sold ivory to Japan but with China also now cleared, they could achieve better prices.China will have to demonstrate enough control measures to ensure that ivory can be tracked and remains within domestic markets.Some environmental and conservation organisations still argue that any opening of ivory trade would encourage poaching.Elephant ivory is a booming black-market commodity, with tusks, jewellery and trinkets bringing in millions of dollars for smugglers and sellers after trade was banned by Cites in 1989.* Additional reporting by Absalom Shigwedha