CITES clears way for one-off ivory sale, extends ban

Jun 14, 2007, 14:22 GMT

The Hague - The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) on Thursday gave the go ahead for four Southern African countries to sell stocks of ivory.

In terms of the compromise, the sales would be allowed if a further nine-year moratorium on trade in ivory came into force. CITES plans to supervise the ivory sales, with the moratorium starting afterwards.

'We are elated. Our elephants are going to get a break,' said Paul Udoto, spokesman for the Kenya Wildlife Service, a government body that along with Malian authorities pushed unsuccessfully for a 20- year ban on ivory sales.

'We wanted a longer period to give various countries enough time to be able to recover their elephant populations. This was not possible because of concerns from South Africa and other countries so we had to reach a compromise,' he said.

The move was announced in The Hague following worldwide debate on the issue at the heart of which is the future of the elephant, with a history of being preyed upon by poachers with income from tusks on their minds.

The CITES gathering of 171 member states considered proposals for the sale that were put forward by Botswana and Namibia, supported by South Africa and Zimbabwe, but vehemently opposed by East and West African countries, led by Kenya and Mali.

The decision was seen as a compromise. It was welcomed as 'a great day for elephants' by German delegation leader Jochen Flasbarth.

Animal rights activists showed mixed reaction to the outcome, highlighting among others, the danger of stimulating demand for ivory through sales and rejecting an opportunity to plough back the revenue from ivory stocks into the conservation of the large animals and their habitats.

'We are afraid and we are relieved,' said Iain Douglas-Hamilton, founder and president of Kenyan-based wildlife group Save the Elephants.

'We are afraid the sale will stimulate a parallel surge of demand for illegal ivory but we are quite glad that Africa has actually come to a consensus. Once the ivory sale is over, at least there will be a nine-year period without it,' he said.

CITES banned international commercial trade in ivory in 1989 but in 1997, recognizing that some southern African elephant populations were healthy and well-managed, it permitted Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe to sell ivory stocks.

Stockpiled ivory consists of confiscated tusks, those removed from elephants that die of disease or natural causes.

Southern Africa's elephant population has swelled significantly in recent years, with culling being contemplated and growing damage to habitats caused by the too large numbers of the animals with destructive tendencies.