Wildlife dept prepares for CITES meet
04 May, 2007

MAUN - In preparation for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) conference slated for The Hague in June, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks held a national consultative meeting in Maun, last week.

The one-day meeting was to lobby for support for the countrys proposals to The Hague conference and to solicit ideas.

The departments director Ms Rapelang Mojaphoko said government felt there was need to consult further with stakeholders-including people who had first hand experience on the human/animal conflict. Ms Mojaphoko said government had two proposals to present to the meeting.

The government stance , she said was that the number of elephants in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe be maintained.

The governments view, she said was that they be allowed to trade in ivory. The second proposal calls for the amendments to allow trade in hunting trophies for non commercial purposes, to trade in hides and leather goods for commercial purposes.

Ms Mojaphoko said the elephant population in Botswana has increased tremendously to the extend that they are now roaming even where they never used to be.

She said if the two proposals do not go through at The Hague conference, the government would seek to be allowed to sell eight tonnes of ivory every year. If that did not see the light of day, she said, they would ask for a once-off sale of 40 tonnes.

Ms Mojaphoko said the government spends half a million Pula maintaining the ivory store room which currently accommodates 54 tonnes.

The government, she said, continued to incur huge costs associated with the storage. The store room was built at a cost of P12 million.

If we are allowed to trade, we would not incur expenses because we would be disposing ivory in a meaningful way, she said.

It was also revealed at the meeting that Kenya was amongst the countries opposing the sale of ivory and was campaigning for a 20 year no ivory sale in the SADC region.

Ms Mojaphoko said her ministry had on several occasions invited officials from Kenya, including the Kenyan ambassador based in Botswana, to tour elephant infested regions for observation purposes.

Contributing to the discussion, North West District Council secretary, Mr Paulos Nkoni suggested that Kenya be lobbyed more to understand that though elephants are an endangered species, they can be a menace when they are too many in a given area.

Kgosi Maeze Maeze of Seronga said in the Okavango, people are no longer safe because of attacks by these animals and suggested that their numbers be reduced for proper management.

Community representatives , Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and the private sector would be part of the delegation that would attend the fourteenth meting of the Conference of the Parties in the Netherlands in June. BOPA

I hope they can pull it off and bring some cheap management hunts to the light.

And hope it will stay like it for a couple of years for it will be my only way to hunt ele cheap. And I'm sure a lot of you as well

The answer to Botswana's problem in 3 letters: PAC