22nd January 2010

Kenya and Mali are leading an effort to block a proposal by Tanzania and
Zambia to change the endangered species status of elephants and sell off
stockpiles of ivory.

At a six-day meeting, kicked off today in Brussels, Kenya and Mali will
try to convince some 27 CITES member countries to vote against the proposal.

Tanzania and Zambia followed official procedures when they issued their
proposal for consideration at the Fifteenth Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Conference
of the Parties in March. But Kenya and Rwanda say that because Tanzania
proposed the one-off ivory sale without consulting neighbouring
countries that share elephant populations, they have betrayed the
‘spirit’ of conservation in the region.

The proposal, which was filed on 17 November 2009, seeks to “transfer
the population of the African elephant, Loxodonta africana, from
Appendix I to Appendix II” of CITES. Because Appendix I species are
considered to be “threatened with extinction,” trade is only permitted
in exceptional circumstances. However, if the African elephant is moved
to Appendix II – species that are not necessarily threatened with
extinction, but could be if trade is not controlled – avenues for trade
will likely be opened up.

China and Japan would likely be the sole bidding countries if the ivory
goes to auction, as the two countries have convinced CITES that their
domestic regulations are capable of ensuring the ivory is not
re-exported. These terms are similar to those that were used during a
rare 2008 CITES sanctioned ivory auction by Botswana, Namibia, South
Africa and Zimbabwe (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 31 October 2008,
http://ictsd.org/i/news/biores/32508/).

When Parties to CITES agreed to the 2008 auction at COP 14 in June 2007,
a nine-year moratorium on future ivory auctions was included in the
deal. Thus, several African countries – including Kenya, Rwanda, Congo,
Ghana, Liberia, Mali, and Sierra Leone – say the current proposal should
not be considered.

But Tanzania and Zambia are taking advantage of a loophole in the text,
which appears to bar only countries that have already participated in a
one-off ivory auction. In addition to the 2008 auction, an experimental
sale of 67 tonnes of ivory by Zimbabwe, Namibia, and South Africa to
Japan took place in 2007. Tanzania is proposing to sell 90 tonnes of
government stockpiles originating in Tanzania, while Zambia would like
to sell 22 tonnes.

The African Elephant Coalition, a group of 21 member states opposed to
the ivory trade, is arguing that the CITES panel charged with assessing
the risk posed to elephants is downplaying the fact that auctions such
as these can lead to increases in poaching.

The CITES secretariat is required to select an independent team of
experts drawn from fields such as elephant biology, wildlife trade, and
law enforcement to sit on the panel. However, the Coalition has been
critical of CITES’s selection process.

CITES COP 15 will take place from 13-25 March in Doha, Qatar.