Posted on 12 March 2013
| Bangkok, Thailand - World governments
at the Convention on the International Trade
of Endangered Species (CITES) on Tuesday
opted against immediate trade sanctions
against several countries that have repeatedly
failed to tackle the trade in ivory.
“We’re disappointed by the lack of urgency
from governments to speed up the sanctions
process against countries that have failed
to act for years to curb the illegal ivory
trade in their countries, while the slaughter
of thousands of elephants continues in Africa,”
said Carlos Drews, head of WWF’s CITES delegation.
“However we will be
watching to see that CITES holds these governments
to account in the coming year.”
Despite an early discussion in CITES on
potential trade sanctions against countries
failing to regulate their ivory markets,
governments did not enact those rules against
offenders including Cameroon, Republic of
Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Mozambique, Nigeria
and Uganda.
Governments instead directed those countries
to identify actions and deadlines to ensure
progress in controlling illegal ivory trade
before summer 2014, with the potential threat
that they could face trade sanctions then
if there was no significant improvement
in the situation. The nine countries were
given just over a year to show improvements
in their performance.
“Governments have been aware for years about
the lack of compliance by several countries.
Forest elephants in Central Africa are declining
rapidly and running out of time,” Drews
said. “We hope governments will speed up
compliance measures against countries flouting
restrictions on the ivory trade.”
The worst offenders, including top demand
countries China and Thailand, the host country
for the meeting, as well as Kenya, Tanzania,
Uganda, Malaysia, Philippines and Viet Nam,
are expected to be discussed in a separate
session on Thursday.
“We hope that governments will take a stronger
stance against these countries considered
the biggest problems when it comes to the
illegal ivory trade, and that should include
much more urgency than we saw today,” Drews
said.
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
orchids to crocodile skins.
Tuesday’s decisions came as poaching of
elephants has reached crisis levels. Up
to 30,000 elephants are slaughtered every
year to feed the illegal ivory trade. The
ivory trade has been regulated under CITES
since the early 1970s.
There were, however, several other measures
adopted by governments to help curb the
illegal ivory trade, including:
The creation of an Ivory Enforcement Task
Force, which will allow for better law enforcement
collaboration between countries
Better DNA-based forensic techniques to
identify the origin of confiscated ivory
An acknowledgement of the need for demand
reduction campaigns on ivory
About WWF
WWF is one of the world's largest and most
respected independent conservation organizations,
with over 5 million supporters and a global
network active in over 100 countries. WWF's
mission is to stop the degradation of the
Earth's natural environment and to build
a future in which humans live in harmony
with nature, by conserving the world's biological
diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable
natural resources is sustainable, and promoting
the reduction of pollution and wasteful
consumption.
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Thai Buddhist leaders
pray for poached elephants, call for end
to ivory use
Posted on 09 March 2013
| Bangkok, Thailand – As world governments
meet here to discuss global wildlife trade,
revered Thai Buddhist leaders today held
the first-ever Buddhist merit-making ceremony
to pray for the tens of thousands of elephants
poached annually. They also called on their
congregations and other temples to reject
the use and trade of ivory.
A large percentage of
Thailand’s ivory is bought by foreign tourists,
but there is significant demand among devout
Buddhists for ivory carved into images of
the Buddha, amulets, and other objects of
worship.
Leading the merit-making ceremony were Ajahn
Jayasaro, a forest monk and Buddhist teacher;
Phra Maha Jerm Suvaco of the Maha Chula
Buddhist University; Mae Chee Sansanee,
founder and director of Sathira-Dhammasathan
Center; and Phra Paisal Visalo, abbot of
Wat Pasukato. Each offered teachings on
conservation and the role of Buddhists in
saving elephants from wildlife crime.
“We are honored to come together with the
Buddhist leadership of Thailand, on this
auspicious occasion of making merit for
African elephants – the first ever for elephants,”
said Dekila Chungyalpa, director of the
Sacred Earth program for WWF. “Because faith
leaders are speaking up about environmental
sustainability being consistent with religious
values, we are now seeing a new movement
of faith-based conservation all over the
world.”
Supported by WWF, the
event at Wat That Thong in downtown Bangkok
sought to educate the deeply religious Thai
public on the link between ivory and wildlife
crime, and encourage the leadership of Buddhist
temples and congregations to discontinue
the use and trade of ivory.
Thailand is the world’s largest unregulated
ivory market and a major sink for ivory
poached from Africa. In opening the current
meeting of the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) here
on 3 March, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra
announced a shutdown of the country’s ivory
market though gave no timeline.
The event also featured
a giant chalk drawing of an elephant designed
by artist Remko van Schaik with messages
in English and Thai saying “I am not a trinket”
and “Ivory belongs to elephants.” Attendees
took photos with the elephant artwork and
also wrote prayers for poached elephants
and hung them from trees in the courtyard
of the temple.
“Having prestigious
leaders from the Buddhist community in Thailand
lead this ceremony here, which is usually
practiced for a family member who has passed
away, emphasizes that we are all interdependent
and part of one great web of life,” said
Phansiri Winichagoon, country director of
WWF-Thailand.
Monks, members of the
Thai public, government representatives,
and delegates from the ongoing CITES attended
the ceremony.
The CITES trade talks
continue through 13 March. Conservation
groups are calling on the 178 countries
in attendance to take action by the end
of the meeting against countries failing
to comply with their international commitments
to stop unregulated ivory trade. Tens of
thousands of elephants are poached in Africa
every year to feed world demand for ivory.
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Thai prime minister
announces end to ivory trade
Posted on 03 March 2013
| Bangkok, Thailand – Thai Prime Minister
Yingluck Shinawatra today pledged to end
ivory trade in Thailand, seizing a key opportunity
to stem global wildlife trafficking. Her
statement came after the call of nearly
1.5 million WWF and Avaaz supporters.
Prime Minister Shinawatra
said at the opening of the Convention on
the International Trade in Endangered Species
of Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Bangkok that
Thailand would take steps to end ivory trade
– the first time the Thai government has
said this publicly.
“As a next step we will
forward amending the national legislation
with the goal of putting an end on ivory
trade and to be in line with international
norms,” Prime Minster Shinawatra said. “This
will help protect all forms of elephants
including Thailand’s wild and domestic elephants
and those from Africa.”
Ending ivory trade in
Thailand – currently the world’s largest
unregulated ivory market – will go a long
way in stemming a global poaching crisis
that is leading to the slaughter of tens
of thousands of elephants each year and
fuelling a global criminal trade in animal
parts.
“We’re thrilled to hear
that Prime Minister Shinawatra took this
opportunity to seize the global spotlight
and pledge to end ivory trade in her country.
But the fight to stop wildlife crime and
shut down Thailand’s ivory markets is not
over. Prime Minister Shinawatra now needs
to provide a timeline for this ban and ensure
that it takes place as a matter of urgency,
because the slaughter of elephants continues,”
said Carlos Drews head of WWF’s delegation
to CITES.
Thailand is currently
the largest illegal ivory market behind
China. Officials have certified 67 authorized
ivory vendors. However, market surveys have
found ivory in more than 250 shops. Much
of this ivory is purchased by foreign tourists.
The prime minister’s
decision comes as WWF and TRAFFIC continue
asking CITES governments to sanction countries
fuelling the global illegal wildlife trade.
Poaching has escalated to crisis levels
in recent years, and is a major threat to
iconic species such as elephants, rhinos
and tigers.
Thailand, Nigeria and
Democratic Republic of Congo 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.
