In June 2007, formal revisions were made to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), to meet new and emerging conservation agendas. The most notable changes to CITES aimed to create monetary resources for developing countries to fund conservation and help alleviate poverty. Member states hope that allowing regulated and supervised trade of certain species will provide income for poor communities while also protecting species. During the June meetings, the members of CITES agreed to allow a one-time export of ivory from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, the second since the 1989 ban.
Exporting Ivory
The first exception to the 1989 ban on ivory was in 1997 when CITES allowed Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe to export a total of 50 tons of ivory stocks to Japan earning US$5 million. Ivory sold was from government stocks acquired from natural death or problem elephants. In 2004, CITES gave the approval for a second one-time trade of ivory, but it has taken three years for any southern African country to meet its conditions. Elephants in other areas of the world are still listed under Appendix I which prohibits all trade of any elephant products.
In order for ivory to be traded, CITES wanted data on current elephant population numbers and the extent of elephant poaching. The CITES Standing Committee decided this year that the Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) program had established a successful monitoring program enabling participating countries and CITES to monitor the effects of these one-time ivory export activities on influencing elephant poaching. Now that this monitoring program is in place, South Africa will trade 30 tons of ivory, Botswana 20 tons and Namibia 10 tons. In 1999, the African elephant was moved from the Appendix I CITES list – with trade limited only to exceptional circumstances - to the Appendix II which allows for permitted trade. Some southern African countries are given annual permits for limited non-commercial elephant hunting.
The Influence of Trade Bans
After the 1989 ban on ivory trade, the price of an average 8 kg elephant tusk went from about US$ 3,800 to US$35 (EIA 1999). In Tanzania, 10,000 elephants were poached annually prior to the 1989 ban. Following the ban, poachers killed fewer than 100 elephants a year (EIA 1999). Ivory seizure volumes declined from 1989 to 1994, remained stable from 1994 to 1998, but have been on the rise since 1998 (ETIS). The emerging demand for ivory in China threatens to increase poaching (WWF) and is identified as the driver behind 1998 increases by the Elephant Trade Information Systems (ETIS). CITES did not include China in its list of acceptable import countries for ivory.
Kenya and Mali oppose all ivory trade due to the fear that any trade could increase poaching, and these countries had originally proposed a 20 year trade ban following the one-time trade. However, they have agreed to support CITES' motion to stop ivory trade for only 9 years. Botswana and Namibia support easing conditions for trading ivory and for annual ivory quotas.
RELATED LINKS:
Still in Business: The Ivory Trade in Asia, Seven Years After the CITES Ban
Illegal Ivory Trade Driven By Unregulated Domestic Markets
Illegal Ivory Trade on the Rise, Global Analysis Finds
Lack of CITES Enforcement for the Control of Ivory Trade in Asia
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