Our elephants at risk as China profits from ivory (Kenya)
Our elephants at risk as China profits from ivory (Kenya)
By Isaac Ongiri, The Standard
July 29, 2008
The decision by a global arbiter on endangered species to allow China to import backlog stock of ivory from Africa may be the death knell for Kenyan elephants.
The lives of the country’s more than 40,000 elephants spread across national parks is now on the line.
Sitting in Geneva, Switzerland, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) ruled that China and Japan would buy 108 tonnes of ivory stocks in Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana and Namibia.
Kenya watched in amazement as the forum decided the fate of Africa’s most exciting tourist attraction, the elephant.
Kenyan elephants are at risk after the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species to allowed the importation of 108 tons of ivory from four the southern Africa countries. Kenya, which has largest elephant population in Sub Saharan Africa, has opposed the move.
A decision to vote on the thorny issue saw Kenya’s lone-range attempt to keep the ban on ivory trade alive badly defeated.
"We tried to mobilise allies to support our position but we desperately lost the vote," says Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) biodiversity scientist Dr Charles Musyoka.
Cites ruling in favour of China and the four southern Africa countries will see Namibia sell 9,209Kg of ivory to the Asian country.
South Africa will sell 51,121kg, Botswana, 43,682kg and Zimbabwe 3755kg to the Chinese government.
According to Dr Musyoka, fear is rife that Africa could face an upsurge in poaching by unscrupulous people targeting the Asian market.
"We had in the past lost a good population of our elephants to poachers. We know that with such kind of decisions, there is need to strategise on to keep poachers out of our conservation areas," he told The Standard.
Musyoka says the decision in Geneva two weeks ago was setback to Kenya in her efforts to keep elephants safe.
However, he said, KWS will be keen on anti-poaching programmes in partnership with stakeholders in conservation.
Echoing Musyoka’s sentiments, Mr Brian Heath, the CEO of the Mara Conservancy in the Maasai Mara Game Reserve, said Kenya will not lose her battle against illegal hunting of wild game.
"We are opposed to the sale of ivory in any form, whether poached or stockpiles caused by deaths. We lost in Geneva, but we must win against the poachers at home," he says.
The organisation, he said, had arrested more than 1,300 poachers targeting the Mara ecosystem across the Kenya-Tanzania border in the last five years.
Musyoka says KWS expected heightened poaching activities, but adds they are ready to deal with.
And on the day Cites made the verdict, some Chinese poachers were not so lucky when they were allegedly arrested fleeing Kenya with processed elephant horns.
KWS public communications officer, Paul Udoto said the three, a woman and two men, were caught with 2.2kg of processed ivory at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
"In May, we also arrested 110.5kg valued at Sh416,000 destined to China, and we also pounced on another batch of smugglers with a luggage of 83.3kg also headed to Asia," Udoto says.
Kenya has been opposed to the trade in ivory for two decades since former President Moi led the country in burning a huge stock of ivory then valued at Sh60 million.
Kenya then enjoyed support from many countries across the world such as ivory Coast and Mali.
As the country ponders its next move, the effect of reduced elephant population is likely to affect tourism and the ecosytem negatively given their important role in the environment.
Article at the following link:
http://www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1143991153&cid=159
By Isaac Ongiri, The Standard
July 29, 2008
The decision by a global arbiter on endangered species to allow China to import backlog stock of ivory from Africa may be the death knell for Kenyan elephants.
The lives of the country’s more than 40,000 elephants spread across national parks is now on the line.
Sitting in Geneva, Switzerland, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) ruled that China and Japan would buy 108 tonnes of ivory stocks in Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana and Namibia.
Kenya watched in amazement as the forum decided the fate of Africa’s most exciting tourist attraction, the elephant.
Kenyan elephants are at risk after the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species to allowed the importation of 108 tons of ivory from four the southern Africa countries. Kenya, which has largest elephant population in Sub Saharan Africa, has opposed the move.
A decision to vote on the thorny issue saw Kenya’s lone-range attempt to keep the ban on ivory trade alive badly defeated.
"We tried to mobilise allies to support our position but we desperately lost the vote," says Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) biodiversity scientist Dr Charles Musyoka.
Cites ruling in favour of China and the four southern Africa countries will see Namibia sell 9,209Kg of ivory to the Asian country.
South Africa will sell 51,121kg, Botswana, 43,682kg and Zimbabwe 3755kg to the Chinese government.
According to Dr Musyoka, fear is rife that Africa could face an upsurge in poaching by unscrupulous people targeting the Asian market.
"We had in the past lost a good population of our elephants to poachers. We know that with such kind of decisions, there is need to strategise on to keep poachers out of our conservation areas," he told The Standard.
Musyoka says the decision in Geneva two weeks ago was setback to Kenya in her efforts to keep elephants safe.
However, he said, KWS will be keen on anti-poaching programmes in partnership with stakeholders in conservation.
Echoing Musyoka’s sentiments, Mr Brian Heath, the CEO of the Mara Conservancy in the Maasai Mara Game Reserve, said Kenya will not lose her battle against illegal hunting of wild game.
"We are opposed to the sale of ivory in any form, whether poached or stockpiles caused by deaths. We lost in Geneva, but we must win against the poachers at home," he says.
The organisation, he said, had arrested more than 1,300 poachers targeting the Mara ecosystem across the Kenya-Tanzania border in the last five years.
Musyoka says KWS expected heightened poaching activities, but adds they are ready to deal with.
And on the day Cites made the verdict, some Chinese poachers were not so lucky when they were allegedly arrested fleeing Kenya with processed elephant horns.
KWS public communications officer, Paul Udoto said the three, a woman and two men, were caught with 2.2kg of processed ivory at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
"In May, we also arrested 110.5kg valued at Sh416,000 destined to China, and we also pounced on another batch of smugglers with a luggage of 83.3kg also headed to Asia," Udoto says.
Kenya has been opposed to the trade in ivory for two decades since former President Moi led the country in burning a huge stock of ivory then valued at Sh60 million.
Kenya then enjoyed support from many countries across the world such as ivory Coast and Mali.
As the country ponders its next move, the effect of reduced elephant population is likely to affect tourism and the ecosytem negatively given their important role in the environment.
Article at the following link:
http://www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1143991153&cid=159