CITES: A TIME OF RECKONING IS NIGH

BY WISDOM MDZUNGAIRI

Let me turn the clock back some few years. Nine years have passed since the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) granted Namibia, Swaziland and South Africa permission to hunt five of the once highly endangered black rhino population annually for sustainable utilisation of the wildlife resource.

Cites  member countries agreed by consensus to allow the export of five black rhinoceros hunting trophies each from Swaziland, Namibia and South Africa, marking the first time in many decades that hunting of this species was approved by a United Nations body.

At the time, Zimbabwe was working with Mozambique and South Africa to establish the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, the Four Corners programme which included Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zambia, Luangwa Conservation Programme, and Okavango Transfrontier Conservation Park.

Zimbabwe had been permitted a once-off trade to sell its ivory stockpiles. Reporting on one of the largest UN events on the world’s environmental calendar is always awesomely unforgettable, an experience one would not want to miss.

Now nine years since the Cites event at Queen Sirikit Convention Centre, Bangkok, the race to protect the world’s rhino, elephant and shark populations from the bloody trade in animal body parts will be at the heart of key endangered species talks again at the same venue.

In its first meeting since 2010, Cites delegates will assess levels of protection for animals and plants, as wildlife organisations warn of an increasingly desperate fight against poaching networks.

Rhinos and elephants are already listed as protected species and their international trade is banned, with some exceptions.

But poaching has reached alarming levels in recent years, leading to calls for stricter new measures.

At 85 Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra look set to be at the heart of discussions once again.

Seen as a hub for traffickers of all endangered species, the kingdom has been singled out for allowing the legal sale of Asian elephant ivory in its territory.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has launched a petition to ban all trade in ivory in the kingdom. It has already received half a million signatures that were presented to Shinawatra last Wednesday.

With poaching continuing to devastate some species, there will also be pressure to find tougher tactics to curb the networks supplying voracious demand from Asia, where wild animal parts are sought as trophies and for their supposed medicinal properties.

Rhinos, which have been on Cites’s Appendix I — denoting species threatened with extinction — since 1977, have suffered from an explosion in poaching in recent years.

At least 668 rhinos were slaughtered in South Africa in 2012 — up from just 13 in 2007. In Zimbabwe hundreds of the species have also been butchered for their prized horns.

The trafficking of rhino horn to Asia, “continues to be one of the most structured criminal activities currently faced by Cites”.

In a bid to end the bloodbath, Kenya, as has become the norm, proposed a moratorium on the export of trophy horns of white rhinos from South Africa and Swaziland, which are currently exempt under the international embargo.

But the solution is not favoured by some environmentalists, including Zimbabwe. Environment minister Francis Nhema says: “If a ban is to be effected, then an elephant trade ban should be on Asian elephants, and not African elephants. What I know is that African elephant trade debate was postponed to the next Cites meeting.”

Trophy hunting brings in much-needed cash and has actually helped the rhino population recover as it encourages game reserve owners to maintain rhino numbers.

Traffic, an elephant monitoring mechanism, is calling instead for a lot of pressure and encouragement on rhino horn destination countries, particularly Vietnam, seen as the main driver of global demand.

WWF and Traffic have urged for sanctions against Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Thailand, which they say have flouted the law for years.

The two African countries have failed repeatedly to address their rampant domestic ivory markets despite Cites rules that outlaw the unregulated sale of ivory.

Yesterday, Cites celebrated 40 years since its inception in 1973, and is also looking to strengthen protection for sharks and multiple plant species, including Madagascan ebony and rosewood from a host of countries.

So for the next two weeks, eyes will be on Thailand to see whether its leaders will seize an opportunity to stem global wildlife trafficking — and end ivory trade.

Thailand is currently the largest illegal ivory market behind China. Officials have certified 67 authorised ivory vendors. But market surveys have found ivory in more than 250 shops.

Much of this ivory is purchased by foreign tourists.

Zimbabwe’s position could be compromised by Botswana’s move to ban hunting next January. And so, Sadc countries could be divided over whether to support a total ivory ban, and therefore hunting.

millenniumzimbabwe@yahoo.com/twitter.com/wisdomdzungairi