Posted on 13 March 2013
| Governments at the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) taking
place in Bangkok, Thailand, today agreed
to develop a comprehensive reporting mechanism
on the illegal killing and trade of great
apes.
According to the United
Nations Great Apes Survival Partnership
(GRASP) Stolen Apes report, launched at
the CITES meeting, 22,218 great apes were
taken from the wild between 2005 and 2011
to be traded illegally on international
markets, primarily for the pet trade.
WWF believes that the
real number of apes killed and traded is
double or even triple this figure, due to
the larger, more influential and significant
bushmeat trade, which needs greater attention.
Especially in Central Africa, ape meat is
still a sought after commodity for mid-high
level socio-political functions.
“CITES has shown it
can take strong measures to tackle international
trade in great apes, for example by agreeing
CITES trade sanctions for Guinea last week
partly due to illegal ape trade,” said Wendy
Elliott, from the WWF Illegal Wildlife Trade
Campaign. “However greater action is needed
to tackle the killing of apes as a status
food item which is a huge threat to ape
populations across Africa.”
The agreement of CITES
sanctions for Guinea means that they are
no longer able to trade in any of the 35,000
CITES listed species.
Measures needed to ensure
the conservation of African great apes include
implementation of existing legislation,
strengthened enforcement controls including
anti-poaching measures, market survey and
control, and anti smuggling measures at
international borders, meanwhile eliminating
the widespread corruption which blocks the
legal system and facilitates illegal trade.
Ofir Drori, from The
Last Great Ape Organization, has been conducting
undercover surveillance of poachers and
traffickers for more than a decade, reporting
them to the authorities and systematically
watching criminals walkfree. Speaking at
a press conference during the CITES meeting,
Ofir outlined that the obstacle is clear
“First corruption, second, corruption and
finally, corruption.”
Although there are recent exceptions for
example in Gabon, range state governments
do not regularly reinforce the ongoing work
of anti-poaching teams. According to WWF,
well patrolled protected areas, with demonstrated
cases of imprisonment of illegal wildlife
traders offers the best chance of securing
African great apes in the wild.
Most of the apes captured
for the pet trade are infants, the preferred
bounty for poachers. But adult apes are
not willingly letting their young go, and
often defend their families to the death.
Great ape populations in Africa often share
their habitat with civil wars, illegal logging
and the expansion of agriculture and other
industrial activities which threaten their
habitat. Conservation efforts are also threatened
by highly infectious diseases which can
kill vast numbers of great apes in single
outbreaks. In addition there is an increasing
threat of extractive industries including
newly proposed oil operations in places
like Virunga National Park, home of the
last remaining populations of mountain gorillas.
On the other side of
the planet, the orangutan, Asia's single
great ape, is also severely threatened.
The species’ last populations live deep
in the rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia,
and the island of Borneo which are destroyed
and fragmented mainly by forest conversion
to agriculture such palm oil, and illegal
logging.
Launched in 2002, WWF’s
African Great Apes Programme works in Central,
Eastern, and West Africa. The team works
with numerous partners to support projects
that help range state governments and their
appropriate ministries, wildlife departments
and national parks services to improve great
ape protection and management, build capacity
within range states, stop the illegal trade
in ape products and increase local community
support for ape conservation.
WWF also works on orang-utan
conservation, to conserve their critical
habitats, and reduce threats such as poaching
and conflicts with humans.
TRAFFIC, the wildlife
trade monitoring network, has been a partner
of GRASP since 2008 and has monitored the
trade in orangutans and gibbons in Indonesia
over a number of years and supported work
to mitigate the effect of illegal meat trade
on apes in Central Africa.
“Illegal domestic and
international trade in Great Apes and their
parts continues to have a strong detrimental
effect on the survival of wild orangutans,
gorillas and chimpanzees,” said Roland Melisch,
TRAFFIC’s Director for Africa and Europe.
+ More
Guinea sanctioned for
illicit wildlife trade, including great
apes
Posted on 02 March 2013
| One day before the official inauguration
of the Convention on International Trade
in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora (CITES) in Bangkok, Thailand, the
parties have decided to suspend trade in
CITES listed species with Guinea. The West
African country has been reported to issue
fraudulent permits for a number of animals,
including great apes.
The sanctions prevent
Guinea from importing and exporting all
the 35,000 species listed by CITES. Guinea
has a significant export trade in several
CITES species including reptile leather,
live birds, such as parrots and raptors,
live reptiles, live monkeys, orchids and
seahorses.
Guinea has been sanctioned
due to concerns over the issuance of invalid
CITES permits, which facilitated illegal
trade for protected species. Great apes
such as chimpanzees and gorillas, among
other species, have been exported from Guinea,
reaching foreign markets, especially in
Asia.
In past years the CITES
Secretariat has visited Guinea, and outlined
specific actions that Guinea needed to take
to resolve the problem.
However there is no
evidence that these actions have been undertaken.
Guinea has issued several export permits
for chimpanzees and gorillas, declared as
‘captive-bred’. Yet the CITES Secretariat
is not aware of any captive-breeding operations
for chimpanzees in Guinea.
Guinea was requested
to provide a detailed report to the secretariat
by 31 December 2012 to avoid facing commercial
sanctions, and later invited the country
to provide a written report at the Bangkok
CITES meeting.
Sanctions came today
as the report from Guinea had not been received
while and Guinean CITES documents for ‘captive-bred’
specimens continue to be issued to this
date.
Investigative non-governmental
organizations reported that in 2007 two
chimpanzees were exported from Guinea to
China. The export of chimps increased to
eight in 2008, 29 in 2009 and 61 in 2010.
More than a 100% increase. Additionally
ten gorillas were exported in 2010. Figures
fom 2011 and 2012 haven't yet been reported.
The decision to sanction
Guinea was unanimous, and is a positive
sign that CITES governments can take the
strong measures permitted under the convention
to hold failing countries to account.
WWF is calling on CITES
to impose sanctions on countries that have
for years flouted international laws meant
to protect threatened species. Tigers, rhinos
and elephants in particular are at risk
from poaching for illegal trade.
