Press Release
ANIMAL ACTIVISTS WITH BLOOD-COVERED HANDS CONVERGE OUTSIDE CITES MEETING TO PROTEST IVORY TRADE
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CITES update
The sustainable use and trade grouping has sadly been given the "green light" to the one-off sale of ivory from Botswana, Namibia and South Africa to Japan. Tension was reported to be very high during the tied vote on whether to designate China as a second trading partner for this sale. One observer wondered if the issue may be reopened at CoP14, while others, caught unawares by the decision, pondered how this would play off vis-à-vis the proposed 20-year moratorium on ivory trade by those who want to protect elephants and practice ethical conservation.
Scientists and environmentalists say the killing of elephants for their tusks, mainly in central Africa, has now reached levels not seen since 1989, as Asian-run organised crime gangs push the illegal ivory trade to unprecedented heights.
Last year alone, experts estimate as many as 23 000 African elephants were illegally killed.
Some environmentalists say that a CITES decision to allow a one-off sale of 50 tonnes of ivory from Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe in 1997 increased black market demand for ivory and put elephants in grave danger.
The convention allowed the 1997 exports on the ground that some southern African elephant populations had recovered and were well managed.
A second one-off sale was agreed in principle in 2002 but was made conditional on the compilation of up-to-date data on elephant poaching and population levels. The CITES Standing Committee agreed on Saturday that this had been done and the 60-tonne export of existing stocks to Japan could go ahead.
Botswana and Namibia want looser conditions on ivory sales from southern African countries, while Kenya and Mali seek a 20-year moratorium on sales from those countries to reduce poaching. - Reuters
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