Earth News Bulletin 21(67), International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)
13-25 MARCH 2010

ELEPHANTIDAE: Loxodonta africana: On Monday, 22 March, the Secretariat
introduced a document on monitoring of illegal trade in ivory and other
elephant specimens (CoP15 Doc.44.1 (Rev.1)). He highlighted the lack of
resources to implement the action plan on the control of trade in
elephant ivory and recommended, inter alia, that: the action plan be
amended and parties second enforcement officers to support the
Secretariat’s work. He also underscored new laser techniques for the
marking of ivory. The US underscored that Nigeria, Congo and Thailand
require urgent attention and expressed concern that countries seeking
the one-off sale are implicated in large-scale seizures. Malaysia,
China, South Africa and others welcomed the report. IUCN expressed
concern for the little progress achieved on regulating domestic markets
and curbing the increase in large syndicated operations. Committee I
agreed to the proposed recommendations.

The Secretariat also introduced in Committee I reports on the monitoring
of the illegal killing of elephants (MIKE) project (CoP15 Doc.44.2
(Rev.1) and CoP15 Inf.41). TRAFFIC presented the report on the elephant
trade information system (ETIS) data for the 37 African and 13 Asian
elephant ranges states and the links between ETIS and MIKE (CoP15
Inf.53). Committee I noted the reports.

Tanzania Proposal: Tanzania introduced a proposal (CoP15 Prop.4 (Rev.1))
to transfer the population of the African elephant of the United
Republic of Tanzania from Appendix I to Appendix II for specific
purposes. He recalled the acknowledgment by the Panel of Experts and the
Secretariat that Tanzania’s elephant populations no longer meet the
criteria for Appendix I, and offered responses to the concerns raised
about inadequate anti-poaching efforts, verification of ivory stocks and
cross-border trafficking. He asked Committee I to consider the proposal
in two parts, namely whether to allow the transfer for the exclusive
purpose of: allowing trade in hunting, trade in raw hides and trade in
live animals under the conditions set forth in the proposal (first
part); and trade in registered ivory subject to the conditions set forth
in the proposal (second part). Committee I accepted the division by
secret vote, with 76 in favor, 37 against and 15 abstentions.

Japan expressed support for both parts of the proposal, noting with
Botswana that the one-off sale helps conservation. Uganda noted that the
proposal is an example of good management for other range countries.
Qatar, China, Saudi Arabia and Malawi expressed support for both parts
as well. The US and the EU stressed that is critical to allow time for
monitoring programmes to be established to gain an understanding of
whether there is a correlation between one-off sales and an increase in
poaching of elephants. Tunisia and Rwanda emphasized that elephants need
a resting period. Liberia, India, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of
Congo and WWF spoke against both parts of the proposal. Committee I
rejected the first part of the proposal by secret vote, with 57 in
favor, 45 against and 32 abstentions. Committee I also rejected the
second part of the proposal by secret vote, with 59 in favor, 60 against
and 13 abstentions.

On Thursday, 25 March, in plenary, Tanzania moved to vote by secret
ballot to re-open the debate on part of the proposal (downlisting for
the exclusive purpose of trade in hunting trophies for non-commercial
purposes, raw hides and live animals), noting that the Committee I
debate was influenced by different interpretations on the nine-year
resting period, emphasizing that CoP14 documents and records show that
the resting period applies only to countries already in Appendix II. The
debate was re-opened, with South Africa, Senegal, Botswana and Uganda
supporting the proposal as amended, citing that criteria for downlisting
are met. Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda opposed the proposal, with Rwanda
highlighting the negative impacts on smaller elephant populations. The
CoP rejected the proposal by secret ballot, with 55 in favor, 55 against
and 34 abstentions.

Zambia proposal: Zambia introduced an amended proposal (CoP15 Prop.5) to
transfer the elephant population to Appendix II for the exclusive
purpose of allowing trade in hunting trophies, trade in raw hides and
trade in live animals under the conditions set forth in the proposal.
The amended proposal did not include the one-off sale of ivory.
Zimbabwe, Norway, the US, Japan and South Africa supported the proposal.
Uganda said Zambia is an example of a well-managed population. Mali,
Rwanda and Kenya opposed the proposal as they felt that it betrayed the
spirit of the consensus reached at CoP14 that all range states should
respect the nine-year resting period, and inadequate enforcement and
illegal trade remained a serious concern. Ghana did not support the
proposal as local communities would not benefit from it. The EU believed
the evidence provided could justify the transfer to Appendix II. The
amended proposal was rejected in a secret ballot, with 55 votes in
favor, 36 against and 40 abstentions.

On Thursday, 25 March, in plenary, Zambia moved to vote by secret ballot
to re-open the debate on the amended proposal. The debate was re-opened,
with Uganda, Malawi, Japan and Zimbabwe supporting the amended proposal;
and Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone opposed. The
CoP rejected the amended proposal, with 59 in favor, 47 against and 38
abstentions.

Kenya Proposal and Draft Resolution: In an effort to promote consensus,
Kenya introduced a draft decision for adoption, in place of the
moratorium proposal (CoP15 Prop.6), should the draft decision not be
agreed to. Kenya, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone, Togo, the
Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, on behalf of the 23 African
range states, urged that African range states not propose or adopt
further proposals to amend the existing listings of African elephants on
the CITES Appendices including amendments to existing annotations for a
period of nine years from the single sale that took place in 2008.
Algeria, Tunisia, Nigeria, Liberia and Burkina Faso supported the
proposal. Uganda, Botswana, Tanzania, China and the EU did not support
the proposal. The proposal was defeated during a secret vote, with 38 in
favor, 76 against and 21 abstentions. Kenya, emphasizing that “we need
to take this debate on ivory back to the African continent,” withdrew
the proposal for a 20-year moratorium.

Final Outcome:The CoP:

•  took note of the MIKE and ETIS reports (CoP15 Doc. 44.2 (Rev.1),
CoP15 Inf.41 and CoP15 Inf.53);

•  urged, inter alia, parties to second enforcement officers to support
the Secretariat’s work (CoP15 Doc. 44.1);

•  rejected the revised Tanzania proposal (CoP15 Prop.4 (Rev.1));

•  rejected the revised Zambia proposal (CoP15 Prop.5); and

•  did not discuss the Kenya proposal as it was withdrawn.