Dar to push for ivory sale in teeth of Nairobi opposition
Elephants at the Manyara National Park. Tanzania wants its population downlisted to Cites Appendix II. Picture: Leonard Magomba
Tanzania has said it will soldier on seeking a temporary lifting of the ivory trade ban to enable it to sell its 60 tonne-stockpile which it has been holding for the past two decades — despite its neighbour, Kenya, trumpeting for a total ban.
Shamsa Mwangunga, the minister for Natural Resources and Tourism told The EastAfrican in Dar es Salaam last week that Kenya’s argument that relaxing the ban on a one-off basis would increase poaching in the region, “does not hold water” because the number of elephants in the country had increased over the past decade.
Mrs Mwangunga said Tanzania and Zambia had already secured backing from the Southern African Development Community for their bid to allow their ivory to be auctioned.
Dr Kalumbi Shangula, permanent secretary in Namibia’s Ministry of Environment and Tourism, told The EastAfrican from Windhoek that his government will back a proposal by Tanzania and Zambia during next month’s Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Quatar, to be allowed to conduct a one-off ivory auction, saying the proposal is in line with Namibia’s philosophy of utilising natural resources sustainably.
The number of elephants in Tanzania currently stands at 120,000. Between 1977 and 1987, the period of the worst poaching, their numbers had dropped from 184,000 to 55,000.
It is believed that Ruaha National Park in Iringa, south of Dar es Salaam holds the largest elephant population in Tanzania with an estimated 6,300 elephants in 2006.
“The country will argue the case scientifically and wisely at the meeting… because despite having the ban in place, poachers are continuing to kill our elephants,” Mrs Mwangunga said.
She added that the key issue is to have the right anti-poaching strategy in place accompanied with the right equipment. She said that in less than two months the anti-poaching squads had nabbed 70 poachers.
Along with Tanzania, Zambia too is keen to off load its 22-tonne ivory stockpile.
Kenya, on the other hand, is already claiming victory, with 16 out of 23 member countries of the African Elephants Coalition backing its proposal to replace the moratorium on ivory trade, which ends in 2019.
This was during a recent meeting in Brussels at which the countries urged the European Union not to support the sale.
Kenya is now ready to use next month’s forum to oppose the Tanzanian and Zambian proposal to relax the 1989 Cites ban on a one-off basis.
Ezekiel Maige, the deputy minister for Natural Resources and Tourism said last week that Cites officials were in Dar es Salaam inspecting the stockpile that Tanzania wants to dispose of.
Mr Mage said the inspection is a normal exercise undertaken by Cites whenever any of its member countries sends it a proposal on the planned sale of endangered species or related products.
Should it go ahead, the Tanzania-Zambia sale, will be the third such “one-off” ivory auction to have taken place since the international ban on ivory trade was enforced.
The first was in 1997 while the second took place in 2008 when Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa were allowed to have one-off ivory sales after Cites was convinced that their elephant herds had increased due to their strict conservation measures.
Now Tanzania and Zambia also want their elephant population to be downlisted from Cites Appendix I, which prohibits all trade in animal and plant species, to Appendix II, which allows trade if it is monitored.
