The 17th meeting of the U.N.’s Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) kicks off in Johannesburg on Saturday and runs until October 5.
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Villagers and elephants are competing for scarce water in a remote part of Namibia, one of three African nations that plan to attend Saturday’s worldwide wildlife meeting and push for the right to sell millions of dollars’ worth of ivory.
Thousands of government officials and wildlife conservationists are seeking to thrash out global trade regulations aimed at protecting different endangered species.
This decision has been widely denounced by conservation groups, the general public – a petition supporting a global ban on ivory by Avaaz has received almost 1.3 million signatures – and 70% of Africa’s elephant range states comprising of 29 countries that have come together as the African Elephant Coalition (AEC), who advocate a total ban on ivory.
This new study from conservation group IUCN incorporates this information but also uses data from elephant dung counts and individual observations amongst other sources.
However, experts said that despite having the figures, the ultimate fate of seized live wild animals on whether they have “re-entered” the wildlife trafficking industry or have been rehabilitated remained “unknown” and hence “untraceable”.
This ban will send the message that the ivory trade is a thing of the past.
The Duke of Cambridge made a plea for leaders to stamp out the devastating ivory trade that is set to destroy the African elephant population before his children are even out of their 20s, reports Daily Mail. This is supported by Botswana but rejected by the other southern African states, who say that higher numbers of elephants and lower levels of poaching in their countries justify the differences in status.
Elephant populations in South Africa, Namibia and Uganda have all increased.
For CITES, it’s a question of maintaining unity and ensuring the best possible protections for all elephants.
Kenya wants a total ban on the sale of elephant ivory.
– The Convention’s regulations only apply to trade between countries.
Every year in Africa between 30,000 and 40,000 elephants are poached for their ivory, and it’s thought there are only 400,000 left. It has argued that it has a large elephant population that often comes into conflict with communities, and that funds from ivory sales can go back into conservation programs.
The plight of Africa’s elephants, targeted for their tusks, will be one of the most debated topics at the meeting which will consider several proposals on whether to tighten or ease controls on the trade in ivory.
“We are particularly concerned about major infrastructure projects that are cutting up the elephant ranges, this is a particular problem for road development in central and east Africa”, said Dr Chris Thouless, one of the report’s authors.
The rise in the illegal trade is seen as the main cause of the most serious decline in elephant populations in 25 years.
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CITES is now in force in 183 countries worldwide.
