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Poached Ivory Stockpile Tops Nine Tonnes

The Herald (Harare)

March 28, 2005
Posted to the web March 28, 2005

Harare

ZIMBABWE'S poached ivory stockpile has reached nine tonnes, worth over US$2,3 million, but the country can neither export nor sell the lot locally due to restrictions imposed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites).

National Parks and Wildlife Authority director-general Dr Morris Mtsambiwa told Herald Business last week that the stockpile had grown to nine tonnes, but the authority could not dispose of it without clearance from Cites, which he described as a cumbersome process fraught with bureaucratic red tape.


"Poached ivory is not for sale since getting a market for it is not easy as one has to go through Cites.

"The ivory (poached) would have been confiscated from poachers and Cites require that it be accounted for before being sold and the process is very cumbersome.

"Cites fears that if (poached ivory) is disposed of too easily then people could use poaching as a scapegoat to unsanctioned elephant killing.

"At the moment the stockpile from poached ivory stands at nine tonnes but we cannot dispose of it," said Dr Mtsambiwa.

Convincing Cites on the need to sell ivory, which sometimes deteriorates in quality while in storage, would always be an uphill task considering that it took South Africa no less than 10 years, until the breakthrough in 2002, to conduct a one-off sale of its quota of legally harvested ivory stockpile.

Stringent regulatory requirements of Cites have also spawned several environment conservation headaches for Zimbabwe and other Southern African countries like Namibia and Botswana, which have large elephant populations.

Dr Mtsambiwa said Zimbabwe had an elephant population of well over 100 000 yet its carrying capacity could only sustain half the present number.

"For instance, Hwange National Park has a total elephant population of between 45 to 50 000 over a total land area of 14 000 square kilometres.

"But for sustainable conservation of the environment a single elephant requires an area of about one square kilometre.

"From that you can easily see that the park is holding more than three times its carrying capacity," he said.

Dr Mtsambiwa said although they were able to trade in ivory locally by selling to authorised dealers who later sell to carvers who in turn make artefacts for sale, which is more profitable, that could not reduce the growth in the population of elephants at a rate fast enough for the country to remain with a sustainable elephant population.

He added that the situation was compounded by the fact that tourists, the major buyers of ivory artefacts, were allowed to get out of the country with only US$500 worth of ivory artefacts, which means domestic trade in ivory, with licensed dealers, was still not the answer to the country's large elephant population.

He said a study carried out in conjunction with a local research institution had established that Zimbabwe's elephant population stood at about 89 000, but considering a growth rate of 5 percent per annum it was likely the actual figure stood at more than 100 000.

Zimbabwe, he said, could only reduce the size of her elephant population in three main ways: through killing problem animals that cannot live in harmony with people, through management off-takes, that is killing ailing animals, and culling.

In 2003, a kilogramme of raw ivory (unmanufactured) was going for about US$45 in Africa, in general, and US$250 in East Asia, one of the thriving markets for ivory.

There are fears, the world over, that speculation about the possible extinction of the African elephant is likely to lead to increased ivory poaching and storage resulting in inevitable rises in ivory prices internation-ally.


Meanwhile, Zimbabwe did not submit a proposal for her quota of ivory exports at the recently held Bangkok meeting, but Namibia and Botswana did, paving way for the approval of their proposals.

The three countries' elephant management and ivory trade systems fall in Appendix II of the Cites protocol on controlled commercial trade in ivory, which means they must obtain its consent before exporting their approved quotas.


Kathi

kathi@wildtravel.net
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"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page."
 
Posts: 9538 | Location: Chicago | Registered: 23 July 2003Reply With Quote
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What this means is - we have to pay China for the new military equipment just recieved and we are building up a case to pay in Ivory! 5 Years ago we paid 6 Tonnes of Ivory for 25000 AK 47 Rifles, to replace worn wepons in the DRC war.
 
Posts: 3026 | Location: Zimbabwe | Registered: 23 July 2003Reply With Quote
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Good point Ganyana.


Sean
 
Posts: 562 | Location: Houston Tx | Registered: 23 October 2002Reply With Quote
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