UN body rejects plan to allow limited ivory sales

Mar 22, 2010, 16:43 GMT

Doha - The UN treaty organisation responsible for regulating the wildlife trade on Monday rejected a bid by Tanzania and Zambia to sell ivory.

The plan was one of the most closely watched proposals at the Qatar conference on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

The Tanzanian government has nearly 90 million kilograms of stored ivory it wants to sell in China and Japan. Tanzania said it would dedicate the proceeds from the sale directly to preserving elephants and supporting nearby human communities.

Since the international trade in ivory was banned in 1989, the treaty organisation has approved three similar sales. Kenya sought a ban on all future sales, but that proposal was also rejected on Monday.

A Tanzanian and Zambian proposal to allow regulated competitive hunting of elephants was also defeated.

The Tanzanian delegation said the proposal was the result of a significant increase in the elephant population, which has put villagers at risk of attacks and increased damage to their crops and fields.

But Ezzeldin Downs, representing the International Fund for Animal Welfare, said the importance of banning trade on ivory had been clearly decided at the convention's previous conference.

He added that there was 'no scientific backing' for statements about an increase in the elephant population, and that there was no basis for claims of conflict between elephants and humans.