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| Kenya Wildlife Service |
| An elephant killed for ivory by poachers. |
In June, the more than 170 countries that have signed the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora will meet in The Netherlands to discuss trade protections for dozens of species of animals and plants.
Three of the proposals that will be considered relate to international trade in African elephant parts and products, ivory in particular. Elephants have been the victims of an intense international tug-of-war over ivory trade, and the outcome of the June proposals will mean life or death for tens of thousands of elephants.
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UPDATE |
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On June 14, 2007, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe agreed at a United Nations meeting in The Hague not to propose additional ivory trade from their countries for at least nine years, or 2016 at the earliest. more>> |
Until 1990, the legal international trade in African elephant ivory flourished, despite attempts by CITES countries to regulate the trade. Entire elephant families were gunned down by poachers, their ivory funneled into the legal and regulated trade. In the decade between 1979 and 1989, the number of African elephants plummeted from approximately 1.2 million to about 600,000.
When the CITES countries gave African elephants Appendix I protections in 1989, they effectively banned the international trade in African elephant ivory. The decline of elephant numbers in the wild halted, and many populations stabilized.
The early successes of the ban eroded, however, as poaching and the illegal trade in ivory took an upswing and added to pressures on elephant populations caused by habitat loss and conflict with humans. Today there may be as few as 402,067 African elephants in the wild.
Now, illegal ivory trade and elephant poaching are at their highest levels since the 1989 ban was established. Humane Society International says immediate strong action is needed to bring poaching and illegal trade under control. A ban without exception on international ivory trade and the closure of domestic markets for ivory are needed to protect elephants.
One of the proposals to be considered in June, made by Kenya and Mali, would take a step in the right direction with a 20-year moratorium on international ivory trade and a ban on domestic sales of ivory (unless the ivory can be demonstrated to be of legal origin, such as antiques).
The more dangerous proposals come from southern African countries that have consistently objected to the ban. They aim to wring concessions from CITES like those that have reduced protections for elephants in some countries and allowed a mass export of stockpiled ivory to Japan.
Botswana and Namibia have proposed that Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe be allowed to export ivory every year, and that Botswana be allowed to export up to 40 metric tones of stockpiled ivory in 2007.
