IVORY ON SALE

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From: ethan kinsey
To: tanzaniabirdatlas Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 2010 9:15 AM


Hi Neil,


A lot of conservationists on the birdnet should be aware. There's a forum open on BBC: WORLD HAVE YOUR SAY?


What should Africa do with its ivory?
A Kenyan delegation is in Brussels to stop Zambia and Tanzania trying to sell nearly 120 tonnes of ivory.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) will debate the two proposals in March. If allowed, the sale will be the third "one-off" auction of ivory since the world ban, 20 years ago last week.

Tanzania and Zambia intend to spend the money from the auctions on conservation measures. But wildlife organisations are concerned that the levels of poaching will rise unless there is a blanket ban on the sale of ivory worldwide.

Should countries be allowed to sell Ivory they already possess? How should African countries deal with stockpiles of Ivory? Should the ban on Ivory be lifted? Who should benefit from the sale of ivory? Send us your views.




NEIL B:
this will interest many of you esp if you are not already aware of what's happening.

as Karl Lymo wrote in the Citizen last week there are concerns that the money raised will not be spent on elephant conservation. there are concerns about recent high levels of poaching as if the bad guys have anticipated the ban being lifted. there are concerns that the Chinese & Japanese buyers (of course) have already paid for this ivory.

the perfect answer would be for western donors (it is their taxpayers who are the most concerned about this, not the 800m Africans) to buy this ivory and to establish an ivory museum in Dar. This would be an instant tourism success and MANY Tanzanians would appreciate being told the FULL story. If handled correctly the whole history of ivory and the slave trade could be illustrated for all to see.

this would instantly take the pressure of our elephants. at least for now (2.6% human population growth is bad news). there will always be elephant deaths, from problem animal control, from natural mortality and from professional hunting but an ivory ban is the only method we have from keeping these deaths within the bounds of "normality".

what sort of msg will this sale send out to western tourists (and taxpayers) who, after all, provide the many $$ to keep Tanzania afloat.

Neil