Wildlife crime a worldwide phenomenon - Khama
Zolani Kraai | Thursday December 5, 2013 18:01
President Ian Khama told the delegates at the just ended International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) African Elephant Summit held at the Gaborone International Conference Centre (GICC).
Khama charged that people that have never lived close to the natural resources that they are exploiting usually drive it.
He said those engaged in illegal exportation and importation of wildlife will thrive, while those living in close proximity and dependent on these same resources will suffer endless opportunity costs.
Khama said the rise in the crime in recent years has been unprecedented, threatening to overturn conservation gains won over many years.
He stated that Africa’s elephants have not escaped this challenge that has brought people together for the summit to address the problems.
Khama further warned that as international networks of organised criminals increasingly control trades, challenges at the national level grow.
“Our environmental ministries are often overwhelmed and as such there is need for collaboration and cooperation, such as the police, defence forces, finance, customs the judiciary and foreign affairs, to help address and hopefully overcome this challenge,” stressed Khama.
He further said the growing trade in illegal ivory is a national issue, not a sectoral one for many of countries. He says it requires leadership, commitment and direction at the highest political level to ensure that the necessary resources are made available for a highly integrated approach to law enforcement.
Khama said in response to the growing challenge, African states joined forces, developed and committed to the African Elephant Action Plan, which provides a good framework for dedicated action to conserve the species.
“Botswana has deployed security forces working together with our Department of Wildlife and National Parks to guard this threat,” said Khama.
“Some countries are ramping up enforcement, both in protected areas and at their ports and borders while others have increased the deterrent penalties for poaching or ivory trading,” said Khama.
Khama further shared that earlier this year CITES provisions were strengthened considerably, with eight countries, most involved in the large-scale ivory trade developing and implementing concrete action plans which should be completed by June 2014.
He said despite this unprecedented level of awareness, countries are yet to deliver the necessary response that will keep pace with the pressures countries are facing.
Meanwhile, the scale of the illegal ivory trade has clearly increased while in some places, immediate impacts of this trade on elephants’ populations may not be seen due to shortcomings and limitations of monitoring abilities.
He cited that in 2012 it was estimated that a minimum of 15,000 elephants were illegally killed across monitored sites in Africa and that the total number would certainly be a lot higher if countries were able to fully monitor all Africa’s elephant range states.
He said 2013 has seen an unprecedented number of large-scale ivory seizures, well above all previous years.