Africa Wild

Good job!!

Gabon's Ivory To Go Up In Smoke

27 June 2012

In a dramatic statement of principle, the Central African nation of Gabon today will burn its 4.8 tonne elephant ivory stockpile - a move which has been widely applauded by the international conservation community. The Born Free Foundation believes this landmark gesture by Gabon sends a clear and unambiguous message to the criminal networks involved in international wildlife crime: that illegal trading in elephant ivory will no longer be tolerated.

“This is a momentous day for Gabon and speaks volumes about the seriousness of the elephant poaching situation today” said Will Travers OBE, Chief Executive Officer of the Born Free Foundation. “I hope that Gabon’s decisive action will alert consumers of ivory in China, decision-makers in Brussels and those who believe the ivory trade should be legalised, to the hard truth - that demand is wiping out Africa’s elephants”.

Wildlife trade analysts described 2011 as an annus horribilis for the African elephant and many experts now believe poaching stands at its highest level for 20 years. Last week, a report submitted to CITES (the 175 nations that have ratified the International Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora), identified China as the primary destination for this illicit trade.

Ian Redmond OBE, Wildlife Consultant to the Born Free Foundation exclaimed: “Gabon’s ivory bonfire (a true bonfire of the vanities, given the uses to which ivory is put) sends a clear signal to the world – the ivory trade must end. Why is this so important? Because the elephant is not only an icon of African wildlife and culture. They are also widely viewed as a super-keystone species or “mega-gardeners of the forest”. Their role as seed dispersal agents and landscape gardeners is critical to the health of their forest, and their forests are in turn critical to global climate stability.”

EU Member States, including the UK, have previously misguidedly supported ivory trade to China, fuelling the current poaching epidemic. Born Free is calling on the EU to listen to the voice of Africa, to support Gabon in its efforts and condemn illegal trade in ivory. “The EU has an opportunity to denounce China’s involvement in the illegal trade in ivory at a CITES meeting this July” stated Will Travers. “It’s essential that, given China’s insatiable appetite for ivory, its ‘ivory trading nation’ status be revoked and that the UK and those responsible for disastrous past decisions contribute to the African Elephant Fund, designed specifically to support the priority elephant conservation actions identified by every single African country where wild elephants roam wild and free.”

For more details about ivory trade, visit: http://www.bloodyivory.org

The UK and EU need their backsides kicked (and a lot more). I'm sick of countries like them playing the political game to appease China by supporting issues that have no effect on them and these issues cost other countries dearly.

That says in all in a nushell iNdy.

2012-07-12 22:17

New York - New York authorities announced on Thursday the seizure of elephant ivory with a retail value of more than $2m. Two Asian jewellery stores were also charged with selling items containing the illegal ivory.

"Poachers should not have a market in Manhattan," said District Attorney Cyrus Vance. "It is unacceptable that tusks from elephants wind up being sold as mass-produced jewellery and unremarkable decorative items in this city."

The owners of Raja Jewels and New York Jewellery Mart had pleaded guilty to counts of illegal trade in wildlife. They agreed to forfeit the ivory and donate a total of $45 000 to the US Wildlife Conservation Society.

Vance's office cited statistics provided by Traffic, a wildlife monitoring organization, that show 24 tons of elephant ivory had been seized around the world in 2011, the largest amount in two decades. The sale of ivory has been banned since 1989.

Elephant conservation groups say more than 8 500 elephant carcasses were found between 2002 and 2011 at 49 monitoring sites in 27 African countries. The groups said Thailand and China are the largest buyers of ivory.

- SAPA

At the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species meeting in Geneva, Southern African states are pushing for the ivory ban to be lifted from 2017.

Legalizing International Elephant Ivory Trade Proposed

Some more info here;

CITES press release: CITES meeting to tackle massive smuggling of elephant ivory and rhino horn

Study on conditions for a future trade in Ivory (pdf): Decision-making mechanisms and necessary conditions for a future trade in African Elephant Ivory

Report (pdf) Elephant conservation, illegal killing and ivory trade

Are they blerrie mad?????

This talk about legalizing horn and tusk trade is making me sick.

Don't they understand that it is better to lose a few Rhino's or elephants that are poached is always better than to legalize wholesale murder. (0) (0) (0)

Southern African states call for some form of legal trade to help pay for their conservation efforts and sell off their ivory stocks. Central and East African states said in the past, any legal trade would undermine conservation efforts and further bolster the illegal trade.

Here a comprehensive critique of the Decision-making mechanisms and necessary conditions for a future trade in African Elephant Ivory: PDF