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CITES spurns Zim’s request to sell ivory

CITES spurns Zim’s request to sell ivory

By Tatira Zwinoira, Zimbabwe Independent The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) secretariat has thrown out Zimbabwe’s request to sell its ivory stockpile. Between 1979 and 1989, the number of African elephants plummeted from approximately 1.2 million to about 600 000. In 1989, Cites effectively banned the international commercial trade in African elephant ivory by placing the species on Appendix I. Zimbabwe has 130 tonnes of ivory worth between US$10 million and US$20 million, according to international prices. The current ivory stockpiles...

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Poaching on the rise, but CITES COP19 downgrades status of southern white rhino

Poaching on the rise, but CITES COP19 downgrades status of southern white rhino

Himanshu Nitnaware, Down to Earth  In a major setback to rhino conservation in Africa, the proposal to downgrade the status of southern white rhino from Appendix I to Appendix II was accepted at the 19th Conference of Parties (COP19). The COP19, organised by Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Panama City, accepted the proposal by Botswana and Namibia to degrade the status. Wild animal species listed in Appendix I include those threatened with extinction. The animals named under Appendix II may not necessarily be threatened with extinction, but trade of such...

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CITES COP19: Stopping ivory from leaking onto illegal market

CITES COP19: Stopping ivory from leaking onto illegal market

By EnviroNews Nigeria The Elephant Protection Initiative Foundation (EPIF) highlighted its pioneering work across Africa in securing stockpiles of ivory and other wildlife products at the 19th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP19) to the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) holding in Panama City, Panama. “We are helping 15 African governments to keep their ivory safe,” said the EPIF’s Director of Government Relations, Dr Winnie Kiiru. “This means less ivory leaking onto the illegal market, which in turn means less ivory being traded, and, ultimately,...

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Hunting elephants, rhinos and pangolins for trade may affect climate, says UN paper; here is how

Hunting elephants, rhinos and pangolins for trade may affect climate, says UN paper; here is how

By Rajat Ghai, Down to Earth  Illegal wildlife trade (IWT), which poses a grave risk to several plant, animal and fungi species globally, should not just be viewed from the lens of conservation. It also has cascading impacts on ecosystem functions and processes that affect the climate, according to a recently released paper by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The focus on treating IWT as a direct cause harm to species’ survival has so far dominated policy debates. This has, however, meant that policy debates “have overlooked the effects of IWT on ecosystem services...

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