Namibia seeks exception to international ivory trade ban

GENEVA – Namibia has requested permission to loosen a global ban on ivory sales, Japan wants to ease restrictions on trade in whales, and Australia is seeking protection for the great white shark, a United Nations body said yesterday.

The proposals are among more than 50 submitted to the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or Cites, ahead of a conference later this year. Every two years, Cites reviews the global list of endangered species, which offers varying degrees of protection to some 30 000 plant and animal species.The 166 countries in the convention will decide which of the proposals to approve, reject or modify when they meet in Bangkok, Thailand, in October.The disclosure of proposals traditionally starts months of campaigning by governments and conservation organisations.Even after commercial fishing and the timber industry are set aside, the international trade in wildlife is big business, estimated to be worth billions of dollars annually and to involve more than 350 million plant and animal specimens every year, Cites said.”Unregulated international trade can push threatened and endangered species over the brink, especially when combined with habitat loss and other pressures,” it added.The African elephant is a regular feature at Cites meetings.African governments are deeply split over the ivory trade, which has been banned since 1989.Five southern African countries – South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia – all have huge elephant herds that are in some cases destroying the environment.The countries have argued that each year they should be allowed to sell a set amount of ivory from elephants that have died naturally or were culled under government-supervised programs.In 2002, Cites voted to allow Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe a one-time sale of a collective 60 metric tons of ivory.Although none of the countries has yet held sales under the 2002 deal, pending in-depth surveys of elephant numbers, Namibia is seeking an annual export quota of 2 metric tons.But countries such as Kenya, where the elephant population is still recovering from rampant poaching in the 1980s, are worried that such sales give cover to poachers who want to sell illegally obtained ivory.The illegal ivory trade is fuelled largely by the legal domestic ivory-working industry in Asian countries including China, Cites has said.Many Chinese traders duck controls by faking ivory carvings to look like antiques or claiming they use tusks stockpiled before 1989.Japan, which has been pushing hard for the lifting of the global ban on whaling imposed in 1986 by the International Whaling Commission, is asking for permission to trade in minke whales.Cites currently forbids any international trade in whale products.- Nampa-APEvery two years, Cites reviews the global list of endangered species, which offers varying degrees of protection to some 30 000 plant and animal species.The 166 countries in the convention will decide which of the proposals to approve, reject or modify when they meet in Bangkok, Thailand, in October.The disclosure of proposals traditionally starts months of campaigning by governments and conservation organisations.Even after commercial fishing and the timber industry are set aside, the international trade in wildlife is big business, estimated to be worth billions of dollars annually and to involve more than 350 million plant and animal specimens every year, Cites said.”Unregulated international trade can push threatened and endangered species over the brink, especially when combined with habitat loss and other pressures,” it added.The African elephant is a regular feature at Cites meetings.African governments are deeply split over the ivory trade, which has been banned since 1989.Five southern African countries – South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia – all have huge elephant herds that are in some cases destroying the environment.The countries have argued that each year they should be allowed to sell a set amount of ivory from elephants that have died naturally or were culled under government-supervised programs.In 2002, Cites voted to allow Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe a one-time sale of a collective 60 metric tons of ivory.Although none of the countries has yet held sales under the 2002 deal, pending in-depth surveys of elephant numbers, Namibia is seeking an annual export quota of 2 metric tons.But countries such as Kenya, where the elephant population is still recovering from rampant poaching in the 1980s, are worried that such sales give cover to poachers who want to sell illegally obtained ivory.The illegal ivory trade is fuelled largely by the legal domestic ivory-working industry in Asian countries including China, Cites has said.Many Chinese traders duck controls by faking ivory carvings to look like antiques or claiming they use tusks stockpiled before 1989.Japan, which has been pushing hard for the lifting of the global ban on whaling imposed in 1986 by the International Whaling Commission, is asking for permission to trade in minke whales.Cites currently forbids any international trade in whale products.- Nampa-AP