The ongoing 15th CoP CITES meeting in Doha is reportedly nearing its decision, whether to grant, or to disallow, the applications of Zambia and Tanzania to sell their ‘legal’ ivory stocks, much of which is of course blood ivory confiscated from poachers. The two opposing sides are presently involved in last ditch lobbying and pressuring of ‘friendly’ nations towards reaching a vote in their favour, with the anti sale lobby offering their combined block vote in exchange to supporting the European nations seeking a ban on the fishing and trading of certain species of tuna fish.
Zambia and Tanzania are seeking the sale of over 100 tons of ivory, similar to previous exemptions for other Southern African countries, which was however promptly followed by a significant increase in poaching activities across Eastern Africa, from where ‘blood’ ivory was then alleged to have been smuggled to those countries permitted to trade. Some unconfirmed news from Doha in the meantime talks of the CITES Secretariat leaning towards recommending that Zambia’s application be granted, while voicing reservations about the Tanzanian application, where in particular a range of shortfalls in management have been cited. This prompted howls of protest from Dar es Salaam, when the Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism now also accused the secretariat of bias and being misinformed, the same language previously only heard from the opponents of the sale. Undoubtedly any decision will meet with celebrations on one side and huge disappointment on the other, but the true ‘victors’ can only be the elephants on the African continent, where they are under huge and still growing pressure for farmland cutting into their traditional migration routes and ranges.
Watch this space for the final outcome of this ‘battle of the ivory’ and the expected fallout between proponents and opponents of the deal.
And in breaking news it was confirmed overnight from Doha that the biannual CITES meeting has indeed rejected the sale application for ivory from Tanzania and Zambia, a move undoubtedly welcomed by the conservation fraternity and ‘all the elephants’ roaming our forests and savannah.
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