• by IPS Correspondents (harare)
• Saturday, November 12, 1994
• Inter Press Service

HARARE, Nov 12 (IPS) - PILLORIED BY CONSERVATIONISTS, SOUTH AFRICA HAS BACKED AWAY FROM CALLING FOR A LIFTING OF THE UN BAN ON THE IVORY TRADE.

AT THE CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN ENDANGERED SPECIES OF WILD FAUNA AND FLORA (CITES) THIS WEEK IN FLORIDA, SOUTH AFRICA APPEALED ONLY FOR THE LIFTING OF SANCTIONS ON THE TRADE IN ELEPHANT HIDE, MEAT AND HAIR.

MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT AFFAIRS AND TOURISM, DR DAWIE DE VILLIERS, EXPLAINED BEFORE HE LEFT FOR THE CITES CONFERENCE IN THE US: "IN TERMS OF THIS PROPOSAL, NO INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN SOUTH AFRICAN IVORY WILL BE ALLOWED."

HE STRESSED, "NO POSSIBILITY EXISTS THAT THIS PROPOSAL WILL OPEN THE DOOR FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN IVORY."

THE TRADE IN NON-IVORY ELEPHANT PRODUCTS COULD NET AROUND A MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR.

THE FEAR AMONG ENVIRONMENTALISTS, PARTICULARLY IN THE WEST, IS THAT A PROPOSAL TO DOWNGRADE ELEPHANTS FROM APPENDIX ONE (SPECIES THREATENED WITH EXTINCTION) TO APPENDIX TWO, WHICH ALLOWS A LIMITED TRADE IN ELEPHANT PRODUCTS, WOULD AGAIN MARK THEM FOR SLAUGHTER BY POACHERS.

BUT SOUTH AFRICA POINTS TO THE FACT THAT ITS ELEPHANT POPULATION TO 9,261. APPROXIMATELY 82 PERCENT OF THEM ARE IN THE KRUGER NATIONAL PARK ON THE MOZAMBICAN BORDER.

IN ORDER TO PREVENT HABITAT DETERIORATION, THE SIZE OF THE POPULATION IS CONTROLLED BY EITHER TRANSLOCATION OR CULLING.

OVER THE PAST TWO DECADES, A TOTAL OF 517 ELEPHANTS HAVE BEEN CULLED ANNUALLY. THE ANNUAL INCOME FROM SALES -- BOTH INTERNATIONALLY AND NATIONALLY -- WAS AROUND 1.4 MILLION DOLLARS, OF WHICH IVORY ACCOUNTED FOR SLIGHTLY MORE THAN HALF.

DUE TO THE CITES BAN, THE YEARLY INCOME FROM ELEPHANT PRODUCTS WITHIN SOUTH AFRICA AMOUNTED TO ONLY ABOUT 500,000 DOLLARS BETWEEN 1990 AND 1992.

BUT WHILE SOUTH AFRICA HAS BACK-PEDALLED AT THE CITES MEETING AT FORD LAUDERDALE, RUNNING BETWEEN NOV 7-18, ZIMBABWE HAS STEPPED FORWARD AS THE NEW HARDLINER.

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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