Conservationists have hailed a decision on August 22 at an ongoing wildlife trade meet. At the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) Conference of Parties in Geneva, it has been decided that countries cannot sell their ivory stockpiles. A proposal by Zambia to downlist its elephants to Appendix II of CITES was defeated. Appendix II mandates that trade in a particular species be controlled to ensure its survival. Another proposal by four southern African nations to sell their stockpiled ivory also failed. Ivory stockpiled by nations is usually taken from elephants that have died of natural causes. Legal controlled trade of Ivory has only been allowed twice earlier in 1997 and 2008. Ivory, also known as ‘white gold’ has a high demand in China and Japan to make carvings and handicrafts. In 2014, wholesale prices for raw ivory stood at $2,100 per kg in Chinese markets. For instance, Zimbabwe’s stockpile is worth an estimated $US300 million. But conservationists say the legal sale of ivory stockpiles usually has the opposite effect. A recent analysis notes that there was a 71% increase in ivory smuggling out of Africa following the 2008 sales. Already one elephant is killed in Africa every 26 minutes.
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Conservationists have hailed a decision on August 22 at an ongoing wildlife trade meet. At the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) Conference of Parties in Geneva, it has been decided that countries cannot sell their ivory stockpiles. A proposal by Zambia to downlist its elephants to Appendix II of CITES was defeated. Appendix II mandates that trade in a particular species be controlled to ensure its survival. Another proposal by four southern African nations to sell their stockpiled ivory also failed. Ivory stockpiled by nations is usually taken from elephants that have died of natural causes. Legal controlled trade of Ivory has only been allowed twice earlier in 1997 and 2008. Ivory, also known as ‘white gold’ has a high demand in China and Japan to make carvings and handicrafts. In 2014, wholesale prices for raw ivory stood at $2,100 per kg in Chinese markets. For instance, Zimbabwe’s stockpile is worth an estimated $US300 million. But conservationists say the legal sale of ivory stockpiles usually has the opposite effect. A recent analysis notes that there was a 71% increase in ivory smuggling out of Africa following the 2008 sales. Already one elephant is killed in Africa every 26 minutes.
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