I am pretty sure the article is not accurate.

My understanding is that the PoE from the Secretariat have recommended against Tz's proposa to

quote:

downlist

its elephant population but recommended for the one off sale.

Zambia's proposal to downlist their ele population was recommended.

> Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:48:19 -0400
>> Subject: [african-elephant] CITES Secretariat addendum on Tanzania
>> and Zambia proposals - final recommendations Dear All:
>> Today the CITES Secretariat released an addendum on Tanzania and
>> Zambia's proposals. This consists of final recommendations to the
>> Parties concerning Proposals 4 and 5 related to Loxodonta africana
>> (the African elephant).
>> In short, this states that, regarding Tanzania:
>> "The Secretariat is of the opinion that the proposal demonstrates
>> that the population of Loxodonta africana of the United Republic of
>> Tanzania does not meet the biological criteria for its retention in
>> Appendix I.
>> However, as evidenced by the findings of the Panel of Experts, the
>> Secretariat is concerned about the precautionary measures that are in
>> place regarding enforcement and compliance. Anti-poaching efforts in
>> some parts of the country seem inadequate, the ivory stocks cannot be
>> fully verified, and controls of illegal trade in raw ivory
>> originating from or transiting through the United Republic of
>> Tanzania appear to be unsatisfactory.
>> For these reasons, the Secretariat recommends that the proposal be
>> rejected."
>> And, regarding Zambia:
>> "The Secretariat is of the opinion that the proposal demonstrates
>> that the population of Loxodonta africana of Zambia does not meet the
>> biological criteria for its retention in Appendix I. On the basis of
>> the findings of the Panel of Experts, the Secretariat is satisfied
>> that the management by Zambia of its population of Loxodonta africana
>> allows for the implementation of the requirements of the Convention,
>> in particular Article IV, and that appropriate and effective
>> enforcement controls are in place.
>> For these reasons, the Secretariat recommends that the proposal be
>> adopted."
>> Please read the full document at:

more can be found here:
[URL=http://www.cites.org/eng/cop/15/doc/E15-68-Addendum.pdf][/URL]

Sorry, I can't get the link to post. Maybe someone can??

Local activists oppose selling of ivory stocks
By Felix Andrew

19th March 2010


Local environmentalists have angered Tanzania and Zambia with a new report strongly advising against legalizing the sale of local ivory stocks, saying the act would lead to further illegal ivory trade.

The report comes at a time when the annual meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) is going on in Doha, Qatar.

CITES banned ivory trade in 1989 in efforts to protect elephants.

Speaking to this paper in Dar es Salaam yesterday, Musa Majengo from Mikiwasha Environmental organization in Morogoro strongly requested the governments of Zambia and Tanzania to stop the sale of their ivory stocks.

He said the US-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) recently visited Tanzania and Zambia and returned with harrowing first-hand evidence documenting a flourishing trade in illegal ivory in both countries, often exacerbated by official corruption.

He said Tanzania, a country generating much revenue from wildlife tourism, was accused of corrupt and questionable motives for seeking a one-time ivory sale.

“Tanzania’s elephant population declined by more than 30,000 between 2006 and 2009, primarily from poaching to supply black-market ivory to Asia,” EIA claimed.

“Rampant poaching is concentrated around the Selous Game Reserve,” Majengo added.

Another local environmentalist, Martin Kidumali, said the move might tarnish the image of our country.

“The government has pushed these sales so much that there is fear that all the dirty games might come into the public and Tanzania is shown to the world as a country of poachers, a corrupt government with no care for its environment,” he said.

He also said the government did not provide reliable information on the total number of elephants in the country.

“We are told that the population of elephants is increasing at the same time that we learn that the population is actually decreasing,” he said.

He said the claim of a decrease in the population did not come from EIA, but it was from the official report of the panel of expert of CITES who got the numbers directly from Tanzanian authorities.

He also urged the government to make clear the total amount which would be earned after the sale and its uses.

The government earmarked revenue from the ivory sale, expected to reach USD 46 million, “for the protection of natural resources, an undertaking which needs a lot of money,” according to Natural Resources and Tourism minister, Shamsa Mwangunga.


SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Sunday March 21, 2010
Local News

CITES' report on stockpile ivory lambasted



By DAILY NEWS Reporter, 20th March 2010 @ 16:03,

THE government has tabled its defence on the sale of 100 tonnes of stockpile ivory to the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), at the on-going wildlife protection conference in Doha, Qatar.

It has also blasted the Secretariat for its report on the Tanzania's wildlife survey, saying it was biased, inadequate and incorrect, hence unsatisfactory.

The Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Mr George Matiko, confirmed to the 'Sunday News' in Dar es Salaam that the government had tabled its defence against the secretariat report.

"A five day visit to Tanzania can not do justice to write a report of a country, whose 30 per cent of the landmass area (362,000 square miles) is allocated to wildlife, national parks and other protected areas," reads part of the defence.

The presented document of which the 'Sunday News' has a copy noted that taking note of the pertinent issues raised by the CITES Secretariat, it appeared that it was not adequately informed about wildlife management in the country.

It further noted that contrary to the Secretariat's accusations of poor governance, ineffective law enforcement and inadequacy of resources, the recent World Transparency Report noted that Tanzania has made significant achievements in improving governance and wildlife management.

Whereas the Secretariat report indicates that anti-poaching efforts in some parts of the country seem inadequate, the government said there has been an exaggeration in the report itself and in the media reports, as well as on the level of poaching especially on Selous Ecosystem.

"Since 1989 to 2009, Tanzania has effectively conducted 13 special operations to address elephant poaching and trade. The elephant population has doubled from 55,000 in 1989 to 110,000 in 2009.

Following the above achievements, the recent Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) data analysis rates Tanzania into very good law enforcement category with 86.5 per cent score," reads another part of the document.

It added that in a bid to protect wildlife, the government has passed the new legislation (Wildlife Conservation Act No.5 of 2009), which provides for the establishment of the new Wildlife Authority.

The presentation also objects to a claim by the Secretariat that ivory stocks in the country can not be verified, saying 'Tanzania has a very good electronic elephant database which was developed in 2006. The information to develop the database were based both in ledger and inventory sheets."

On the claims that control of seizures of ivory from or transiting trough the country appeared to be unsatisfactory, the government told the Secretariat that it had since established an investigative team.

The team includes INTERPOL, Customs and Lusaka Agreement Task Force and as a result 13 suspects associated with seized ivory in Philippines and Vietnam last year were arrested.

It said that on March 10, the team was dispatched to Philippines for 10 days to investigate one of the recent seizures.

"From December 2009 to March, 2010 eleven poachers were arrested with twelve pieces of ivory weighing 85.7 kilogrammes, 25kg of elephant meat and two short guns," reads the document.

Meanwhile, in conclusion the CITES Secretariat acknowledged that the Elephant population of Tanzania meets the biological criteria of being downlisted to Appendix II.

Appendix II lists species that are not necessarily now threatened with extinction, but that may become so unless trade is closely controlled.

The Deputy Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Mr Ezekiel Maige, said earlier in the week that the conference was expected to decide next Thursday whether Tanzania should sell its ivory after the presentation to the Secretariat has been made.

He said officials in Doha were optimistic that the deal would sail through. The two-week 15th session of the Conference of Parties (CoP15) ends on Thursday next week.