Game Parks In Zimbabwe Sitting On 40 Tons Of Ivory
HARARE, Jan 9 (BERNAMA-NNN-NEW ZIANA) — Zimbabwe’s Parks and Wildlife
Management Authority is sitting on an ivory stockpile of 40 tonnes valued at
US$250 per kg which has been accumulating over the years as international
law does not allow the country to dispose of it, an official says.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) imposed
a ban on the sale of ivory more than 20 years ago, fearing that it would
stimulate poaching of elephants, which are threatened with extinction.
In 2007, CITES permitted the southern African countries of Botswana,
Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe to conduct one-off auctions of a combined
108 tonnes of ivory to buyers from China and Japan.
After the auctions, which were conducted in 2008 and where Zimbabwe sold
only five tonnes, CITES imposed a nine-year moratorium on ivory sales.
Parks and Wildlife Management Authority public relations manager Caroline
Washayamoyo said Sunday the stockpile was accumulated through a number of
ways.
“We mainly obtain the ivory through natural deaths, seizures and road blocks
regionally and internationally,” she explained.
Washayamoyo said the authority had put in place a number of measures to
reduce poaching and illegal exportation of ivory. “The authority has
deliberately created the Intensive Protection Zone (IPZ) meant to deter
poachers from illegal hunting and protect the rhinos,” she said.
“We also work with the police support unit as well as send rangers for
training to learn new trends so that they can be ahead of the poachers,” she
said.
She added that the authority also conducted wildlife crime workshops meant
to raise awareness on wildlife crimes among stakeholders as well as
familiarize law enforcement agents with wildlife laws.
In 2008, the authority appointed a National Rhino Co-ordinator whose mandate
is to develop strategies for protecting the rhinoceros population.
Washayamoyo urged the international community to assist in the fight against
poaching, particularly of rhinos, which face extinction.
“All these efforts to reduce poaching will go to waste if the international
community does not help by killing the ready market for rhino horns and
ivory, as consumers are not within the country but overseas,” she said.
— BERNAMA-NNN-NEW ZIANA