HARARE The 175-member Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has given Zimbabwe the green light to continue trading in ivory despite attempts by some African countries to have a 20-year moratorium, a government official told ZimOnline on Thursday.
Speaking on condition that his name was not published the official said the authorisation to continue trading in ivory, follows submissions by Harare on the benefits the countrys wildlife industry is giving communities.
“CITES has given us the green light to continue trading in ivory,” the senior government official who is part of Environment Minister Francis Nhemas delegation attending a CITES meeting which ended in Qatar yesterday said.
“This is a major relief to us. We are spending some US$13 million in terms of security and the administration of the ivory we would have recovered from either poachers or dead animals.”
According to the official Nhema is expected to officially announce the CITES position upon his return from the Middle East country.
Zimbabwes bid to continue trade in ivory looked doomed following appeals by Kenya, which lobbied the world conservation body not to allow trade in ivory.
The east African country had suggested that there be a 20-year moratorium on moves to ease international trade controls on elephant ivory.
“Kenya’s proposal would have been disastrous for our conservation efforts,” the official said.
Zimbabwe’s elephants alongside those of other African countries are listed under CITES Appendix I, in which trade is prohibited.
The last CITES meeting in 2007 agreed to a nine-year moratorium on any further trade in ivory, after a sale of 105 tonnes of elephant ivory from Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe to China and Japan.
Elephants, the world’s largest land mammals, are under pressure in many parts of Africa from poaching, loss of habitats to farms and towns, pollution and climate change. Estimates indicate that the numbers have fallen to between 470 000-685 000 against millions a few decades ago.
Although Zimbabwe’s proposal has received a nod from the world body, Zambia’s and Tanzania’s appeal to be allowed to sell has been short down.
In 2008, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa and Namibia were allowed a once-off sale of their ivory stockpiles.
Currently, Harare does not have any ivory stockpiles after it was granted permission for a once-off sale in 2007, but later sold the ivory in 2008.
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