Posted on 21 February
2013 | The international body that regulates
wildlife trade should begin proceedings
to impose sanctions on the countries most
complicit in the illegal trade of ivory,
which causes the deaths of up to 30,000
African elephants each year.
WWF and TRAFFIC are
urging the 177 governments gathering in
Bangkok early next month under the Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species
of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to begin
a formal procedure that would lead to strict
trade restrictions against the worst offenders
in the illicit ivory trade.
Evidence shows that
Thailand, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic
of the Congo (DRC) have failed repeatedly
to address their rampant domestic ivory
markets despite CITES rules that outlaw
the unregulated sale of ivory. Under treaty
rules, CITES member states can recommend
that parties stop trading with non-compliant
countries in the 35,000 species covered
under the convention, from timbers to crocodile
skins.
“These countries have
been identified in every ivory trade analysis
for the past decade as those most implicated
in the illicit ivory trade,” said Steven
Broad, Executive Director of TRAFFIC. “With
the demand for ivory driving a widespread
poaching crisis, CITES member countries
must demand compliance with international
law.”
In Thailand, the host
country for the CITES conference and one
of the world’s largest unregulated ivory
markets, criminals are taking advantage
of Thai laws allowing the sale of ivory
from domestic elephants to launder massive
quantities of illegal African ivory through
Thai shops. Much of this ivory is purchased
by foreign tourists.
“Thailand can easily
fix this situation by banning all ivory
sales in the country, and in doing so would
eliminate the need for trade sanctions,”
said Carlos Drews, Director of WWF’s Global
Species Programme. “WWF is petitioning the
Thai prime minister for an immediate ban
on ivory trade. Nearly 400,000 people from
Thailand and across the world who want a
future for wild elephants have joined this
call.”
“Elephants are disappearing
from more and more places in Africa because
the ivory trade has exploded out of control.
Every country that has signed the CITES
treaty has a responsibility to protect elephants
by holding member governments accountable
for their involvement in this deadly trade,”
Drews said.
TAKE ACTION NOW! TELL
THE THAI PRIME MINISTER TO BAN IVORY
WWF and TRAFFIC are
also urging China to rectify serious issues
with enforcement of its legal domestic ivory
markets. CITES should require that improvements
be made in China, and should consider imposing
trade restrictions next year if significant
progress is not made.
There are also some
measures that all countries could take to
help address elephant poaching, say WWF
and TRAFFIC. They include the establishment
of a mechanism to track global ivory stockpiles,
the compulsory registration of all large
scale ivory seizures, and routine forensic
examination and follow-up investigative
collaboration by enforcement officers across
continents.
“Currently, vital information
from large-scale ivory seizures is being
lost or not acted upon. Investigations into
who was behind each shipment, how it got
onto the transportation used, and who was
going to benefit from its arrival is not
being sought or acted upon. It’s little
wonder there’s been an escalation in ivory
trafficking,” Broad said.
The plight of Africa’s
rhinos is also cause for concern to WWF
and TRAFFIC. A record 668 South African
rhinos were killed for their horns last
year. Viet Nam has been identified as the
primary consumer country for rhino horn
yet has done little to stop traffickers.
Both Viet Nam and rhino
horn smuggling hub Mozambique should be
pressed at the CITES meeting to demonstrate
progress over the coming months or face
future actions.
+ More
Thai premier accepts
half - million signature petition from WWF
to ban ivory trade
Posted on 27 February
2013 | Bangkok, Thailand – WWF today handed
over a global petition calling for a ban
on the trading of ivory in Thailand to Prime
Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, a move that
aims to spur legal reforms in the country
that will help prevent the slaughter of
up to 30,000 wild African elephants a year.
“We already have the
existing laws to protect wildlife, and elephants
are culturally important to Thailand,” Prime
Minister Shinawatra said at a special handover
event on Wednesday. “We will take the issues
raised by WWF into consideration.”
The Thai government
on Wednesday also said that Prime Minister
Shinawatra will preside over the opening
day of the Convention on International Trade
in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora (CITES) taking place in Bangkok this
week.
As the host of this
critical wildlife trade negotiation, WWF
calls on Prime Minister Shinawatra to take
bold action to shut down Thailand’s ivory
markets. Thailand is the world’s largest
unregulated ivory market.
The petition - which had over 500,000 signatures
from over 200 countries and territories
on 27 February - is part of a WWF and TRAFFIC
campaign calling for an announcement by
the Thai Prime Minister to ban all ivory
sales in Thailand.
“If host-nation Thailand
fails to take bold action - and that means
nothing less than a ban on all ivory trade
- then Thailand's wild elephants could be
next,” said Janpai Ongsiriwittaya, Illegal
Wildlife Trade campaign leader in WWF-Thailand.
“Perhaps as few as only
2,500 wild elephants are left in Thailand.
That's as many elephants as were wiped out
each month in Africa in 2012 to fuel demand
for ivory trinkets,” added Ongsiriwittaya.
The sale of ivory from
wild elephants is currently illegal for
CITES-host Thailand, but the sale of ivory
from Thai domestic elephants is legal. Determining
whether ivory products are derived from
wild elephants or domestic animals is extremely
difficult, and enforcement agencies are
currently unable to detect illegal ivory
entering the Thai trade.
Crucially, the nation’s
status as an international transportation
and shipping hub ensures that a steady stream
of black market purchasers enter the country
to buy ivory products. It also facilitates
smuggling of raw ivory into Thailand, since
illegal shipments are easily hidden in the
many thousands of containers entering Thai
ports everyday.
“While the Thai government
has tried several times to reform the law
in recent years, nothing has changed. The
reality is that the existing legal framework
does not prevent Thailand from being the
laundering hub for illegal ivory,” said
Ongsiriwittaya.
Hollywood actor and
activist Leonardo DiCaprio has also appealed
to Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra
to ban ivory trade ahead of CITES.
"Illegal wildlife
trade is the most urgent threat facing species
like tigers, rhinos and elephants. These
animals are being killed every day to feed
an escalating demand for their body parts,"
DiCaprio said.
WWF and TRAFFIC recently
called on governments CITES to consider
formal trade restrictions against some of
the worst offenders in the illegal ivory
trade, including Thailand, Nigeria and the
Democratic Republic of the Congo.
