Wildlife officials in nearly 30 African states say they are appalled by an EU decision to oppose a comprehensive global ban on the ivory trade.
In a position paper released on 1 July, the European commission said that rather than an all-encompassing ban it would be better to encourage countries with growing elephant numbers to “sustainably manage” their populations.
An existing global embargo on ivory sales is due to end in 2017 and Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa and Botswana are pushing for it to be replaced with a decision-making mechanism for future tusk trading, at the Convention on International Trade in International Species (Cites) conference in Johannesburg this September.
However, the African Elephant Coalition (AEC) – a coalition of 29 African states – is warning of a mass extinction on the continent within 25 years, unless elephants are given an ‘Annex I’ Cites listing, which would ban any future domestic ivory trade.
In 2014, 20,000 African elephants were killed by poachers. Between 2009 and 2015, Tanzania and Mozambique lost over half their elephant populations, with similar figures reported across east and central Africa.
The death rate is such that every 15 minutes, an elephant somewhere is killed by poachers.
Experts say that traumatised elephant populations in Africa are increasingly becoming nocturnal and migrating in mega-herds of up to 550 in a bid to avoid contact with poachers.
With 28 members, the EU makes up the biggest voting bloc at Cites. Its funding and trade levers give it a powerful influence in the developing world.
Europe says that it wants an extension of the current ivory ban but also backs a system of exemptions included in the ban, which allows exports of some elephant products from the four African states.
Under a ‘Annex I’ listing, all international ivory trade would be outlawed.
An EU official said: “We need a balanced position. We admit that the domestic trade in ivory should be banned in those situations where it can facilitate illegal trade but don’t fully agree with the inclusion of the African elephant in ‘Annex I’ in those four countries. We would encourage the African countries to have a dialogue about this.”
However, experts believe that there is currently no way to prevent poached ivory from entering legal chains and then finding a way on to the world market.
A one-off legal sale of ivory in 2007, when the current ban came into force, was followed by “an abrupt, significant, permanent, robust and geographically widespread increase” in elephant poaching, according to researchers.
The most recent figures show a 61% decline in African elephants between 1980 and 2013, although an updated census is due before the Cites meeting.
To ratchet down rampant poaching, the AEC wants all elephants on the continent to be considered a single species – without exceptions for the four countries – arguing that they are a threatened migratory species.
Europe is agnostic on the proposal for a decision-making mechanism to allow future ivory sales. More internal discussions are planned before the bloc takes a final position on the Cites debates, in early September. (The Guardian)
PHOTO: Elephants are being killed by poachers at a rate of one every 15 minutes in Africa.
CREDIT: Morgan Trimble/AP.