Legalising International Trade in Rhino Horn ???

[Flutterby]

Money is always the problem nan.

[H. erectus]

Nan, there's more to this than what meets the eye!!!
So unfortunate that you need to experience this,....

[Richprins]

Here's a reply from Dave Cook, a veteran KZN rhino conservationist:


May I make the following points in response to yours;



1. Your account of a discussion with an influential Asian person is at odds with what Michael Eustace has so succinctly explained in his short analogy using watches. We note also that the Economists at Large Paper has IFAW mentioned as a client . I have no problem with that but as far as impartiality is concerned, well, it may require a stretch of the imagination .Then again we must remember that economics is an inexact science that requires implementation( and possibly adaptation) of a theory in order to achieve an objective conclusion worthy of its claims. We have always been forthright in stating that if trade in horn fails to reduce poaching it will be stopped.



2. While I personally favour any kind of attempt to weld together the widening divisions in the Southern African conservation community over how best to combat poaching of rhino , the fact remains that all orthodox measures taken to prevent such a scourge have failed – in spite of the full might of CITES and the AR movements bid to educate and implement demand reduction in the consumer countries. Your Plan B basically asks us to sign up to carrying on repeating what has been going on for 35 years – a complete ban ( failed spectacularly) on all trade. That is unacceptable ; the rhino’s economic value must be used rationally in order to save it from extinction. That is our point of departure.



3. Anti-trade has had a monopoly on the rhino conservation arena for a long time and has failed so much so that a species survival is now at stake ( for the second time in Dr Ian Players lifetime ). Is it too much to ask that we be allowed to change tactics in a controlled fashion to try a new approach ? And to close it down if it too fails to produce a reduction in poaching. I ask you in all earnestness, is this not a reasonable option under the circumstances



4. In so far as on- the- ground defence strategies such as is being implemented in KNP and the wealthier private protected areas are concerned , I have to remind you that overall the stats. prove that we have reached the end of our capacity to control what remains a testimony to the old adage that a scarce commodity will find its way to the market and the consumers regardless of any preventative and legislative control measures . All indications are that with over 600 rhino poached in KNP in 2013 ( part of a 50% increase over the 2012 tally) alone measured against the professional, most well equipped defensive tactics in the history of conservation under Gen. Jooste, it takes a myopic optimist to reach any conclusion other than it remains a battle fought and lost. Some of the comments reaching us from KNP reveal a sense of defeat setting in as fatigue and an ever more aggressive foe takes its toll. All the Generals Jooste and their armies and SWAT teams available to mankind are not going to cancel the value placed on the horn by criminals. God help the smaller agencies and private owners who can’t afford security – they will end up by disinvesting to the detriment to conservation as a whole.



I know of no one on the pro -trade side of the debate who does not acknowledge that strong and effective anti- poaching measures are an indispensable component of wildlife conservation management. All we ask is the opportunity to put to the test an economic solution while we still have the time to do so.

You mention “intensive protection zones” but that is precisely what our protected areas are! As for the Okavango Delta well I was personally involved in getting the first breeding group of WR there via the Okavango Wildlife Soc. back in the 1970’s – what has happened to that founder pop.? And do you really believe that Botswana can mount a Gen. Jooste type operation to protect rhino there because as sure as the sun rises the poachers will find soft targets regardless.

Upping the ante with Mozambique ? – let’s be realistic Colin, do you think that that Govt. has a snowballs hope in hell of restoring a sense of law abidance among the border communities ?

Catching the middlemen ? yes of course but is our justice/law enforcement system capable of doing anymore than what their present capacity and expertise indicates. I doubt it!

International agencies need to do more ?– Good grief – they have poured millions and millions of rands into that precise task for 35 years with such embarrassing failure that it hardly merits mention. Somehow red faces don’t seem to register easily in their midst probably because of a morbid fear of the Animal Rights lobby.



5.. Your long range plan to bring into play private sector funding and tourism to play an ever increasing role in the all-important task of integrating poor rural communities on protected area boundaries into a wildlife conservation economy is at the very heart of our own pro trade agenda; but unless sustainable- use policies drive this movement – and that includes the ability to foster rhino populations for the purpose of hunting and the regulated sale of horn - mass tourism will simply not be enough. And to unleash upon our protected areas even more intrusive tourism development than is already taking place - as is happening in KNP ( they will want their pound of flesh for that 1 % of turnover believe me) is a fate even worse than a declining rhino population. Commercial tourism can be highly intrusive and is dangerous for so long as state allocations to conservation agencies fall short of what is required . It must be seen as a threat rather than a positive move because at present this remains the sole means of park management costs being funded adequately. Agencies resort to more tourist development , not the high- end stuff but loads and loads of budget wise travellers who want all the comforts of modern hotels and facilities. Just have a look a some of the lessons learnt in the US National Parks.



6. The idea of a Natural Capital Fund is interesting. Under the current economic circumstances though the source of funding you envisage may not be too palatable to the corporate world. But as a repository for the revenue that will accrue from sale of horn – well, that is where we could easily agree. You seem to think that the only people who will benefit from a legal trade in horn are rich, white farmers. On the contrary when a legal trade comes about we envisage that the private sector will probably only be entitled to their proportionate share of the annual sales , roughly 25% – which is the equivalent population size under private ownership. So in a trade based on 1000 horn sets per annum. the demand ,as expressed in poaching stats., they will collectively expect to supply 250.



Our primary aim in seeking a lifting of the ban is to create an economic incentive and a source of funding for the development of rural conservation areas on the periphery of the formally protected areas using the proceeds from annual horn sales. This can be done without killing a single rhino and without prostrating ourselves in front of big business begging for money!



7. You are of the opinion that CITES will never approve a legal trade in rhino horn. Well you may well be wrong on that score because I have it on good authority that at a CITES convention some years back South Africa ( a Natal Parks Board lead initiative) we lost a positive outcome to a vote on trade by one (1) vote in an open ballot. What a pity - and with that thought in the minds of CITES delegates plus the extraordinary state of affairs in which South Africa has over 80% of the world rhino to protect I would wager that we are in a much more powerful position to influence events.



8. Opinions are divided as whether we should resort to rhino farming to produce horn. Personally it does not appeal to me but if in the final analysis it proves to save a single rhino in the wild – it has my outright support. Right now we do not need to do that but you may not be aware that the Chinese are already embarking on intensive farming using repeat harvesting of horn from live animals of the 145 live rhinos that entered that country some short while back .So an economic asset that could enrich South Africa’s wildlife is being subverted to where the market operates. Economic opportunism knows no boundaries

[okie]

I've read both reasonings , and must say , both have good , valid arguments , although , also a lot of " pie in the sky " by Dave Cooke .
IMO , Colin Bell has the better argument

[Toko]

Video here

http://www.cnbcafrica.com/video/?bctid=3477708983001

[Richprins]

Thanks, Toko!

Very interesting and calm. It is partially true that one cannot compare ivory, tiger, lion, abalone and rhino horn to each other....for various reasons. The only common factor may be that the same cartels are involved, and they may leave one of the species alone as they become too rare, or decline in popularity...simple business.

What is not really mentioned by anyone is the size of rhino horn stockpiles available in SA, supposedly under lock and key at the moment. As said before on this thread, SP's stock alone covered two tennis courts a decade ago, and I believe that has doubled since then, and is rivalled by private owners!


Hence the possibility of flooding the market at least once-off, and making it no longer a big attraction. This would address the "end-user" problem, or "problem at source", once again at least for a while, and hopefully make it less fashionable to consume rhino horn. Which seems to be the case now.

What is a big leap is that it will take years more to start selling should CITES approve sales in 2016. That is highly unlikely, as SA already has an agreement with a foreign buyer (China, IMO) and big private owners will have their ducks in a row...so months rather than years!

[Penga Ndlovu]

Excerpt from the recently signed MOU with Mozambique:

''Dear Mozambique,
Please stop poaching our rhino. At least leave us a few. We’re not sure we necessarily want to SAVE them. But we do want to turn as much profit as we possibly can by enacting a legal trade. Once this happens, feel free to BUY as much horn as you’d like.

Your friends in SA''

And this should stop the poaching and pocketing how????

[Sprocky]

http://lowvelder.co.za/187892/rhino-horns-stolen-mtpa/

And this ladies and gentlemen, is the reason why "Legalised Trade in Rhino Horn" will not work!!

Here is a link to the thread on Africa Wild https://africawild-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=197&t=4146

[Richprins]

Conversely, the quicker we legally sell ALL stockpiles the better...the stockpiles will slowly disappear anyway!

[Sprocky]

The stockpiles will be stolen before they can be sold legally!