Posted on 12 August
2013 | Bangkok, Thailand – On World Elephant
Day (August 12), WWF and TRAFFIC urge Thailand’s
Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, to
ensure legal reform, including steps outlined
in Thailand’s national ivory action plan,
delivers on her promise to shut down the
country’s trade in ivory.
In response to the dramatic
rise in the number of elephants poached
for their ivory, the 64th meeting of the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
Steering Committee in March mandated Thailand,
along with seven other countries, to implement
a time-bound action plan aimed at reducing
illegal trade in ivory, and report back
on progress or face possible trade restrictions.
Thailand’s ivory action
plan, not yet public and expected to be
submitted to the country’s Cabinet for approval
this year, is required to specify activities
to address the country’s ivory trade legislation
and regulation, national and international
law enforcement, outreach and public awareness.
“Prime Minister Shinawatra
pledged at the opening of the CITES conference
to end ivory trade in Thailand, seizing
a key opportunity to combat global wildlife
trafficking and address the elephant poaching
crisis,” said Janpai Ongsiriwittaya, Illegal
Wildlife Trade campaign leader in WWF-Thailand.
“It’s critical the ivory action plan honours
the Prime Minister’s commitment, and sets
out the necessary legal reforms with a clear
timeline to make it illegal to buy or sell
ivory, needed to curtail the domestic sale
of ivory in Thailand.”
Although it is against
the law to bring ivory from African elephants
into Thailand and to sell ivory from wild
Asian elephants in Thailand, current law
allows for ivory from domestic Thai elephants
to be sold legally. As a result, massive
quantities of African ivory can be laundered
through Thai shops. To save Africa’s elephants
it is essential that Thailand address this
issue.
“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,” said TRAFFIC’s Greater Mekong Programme
Coordinator, Dr Naomi Doak.
In order for Thailand’s
national ivory action plan to satisfy the
requirements of the CITES decision and deliver
on the commitment from the Prime Minister,
WWF and TRAFFIC believe it must provide
for legislation that is sufficiently robust
to prevent the sale of ivory within Thailand;
forensic testing of large ivory seizures;
and a comprehensive registration system
for domestic elephants.
On August 8th, Prime
Minister Shinawatra visited Kuiburi National
Park in southwest Thailand, a stronghold
for about 230 wild Asian elephants along
with other endangered species, including
tigers, gaur, banteng, and Malayan tapir.
The Prime Minister also recently returned
from Tanzania, where she signed a memorandum
of understanding for cooperation on national
park and wildlife management and visited
Serengeti National Park where elephants
are being killed for their ivory, much of
which is potentially destined for Thailand.
“Perhaps as few as 2,500
wild elephants are left in Thailand. That’s
as many elephants as were wiped out each
month in Africa in 2012,” added Ongsiriwittaya.
“Thanks to the tireless efforts of rangers
patrolling Kuiburi National Park, no elephants
have been lost due to poaching since 2010.
But demand for ivory is immense, so while
it’s Africa’s elephants slaughtered today,
it could be Thailand’s elephants tomorrow.”
Along with Thailand,
China (and Hong Kong separately), Kenya,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Uganda, Tanzania
and Viet Nam submitted National Ivory Action
Plans by the deadline of 15 May 2013 that
had been set by the CITES Standing Committee
during the recent meeting held in Bangkok.
These eight countries are requested to take
urgent measures to put their plans into
practice before July 2014, when the CITES
Standing Committee will review their implementation.
