New Delhi: The Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Thursday in Geneva has prohibited the one-off sale of 60 metric tonnes of stockpiled ivory offered by some African countries.

Conservationists, including the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) have lauded this decision, which would have placed elephants in Africa and Asia at grave risk from poachers.

However, a decision to approve Japan as an approved stockpile buyer was condemned for clearing the way for future sales.

Botswana, Namibia and South Africa were granted permission by CITES in 2002 to sell 60 tonnes of ivory stockpiles, despite widespread opposition by many governments and NGOs.

The sale is dependent on certain conditions being met, including the effective monitoring of poaching, sufficient trade enforcement and the revenue being used for conservation and community development. International trade in ivory is currently banned under CITES.

Mr. Ashok Kumar, Vice Chairman, WTI said from Geneva, “The subject will come up for discussion again at the next Standing Committee meeting in 2007.  We will take this time to build a strong case and strengthen our position further… which is reflected in the latest seizure of 3 tonnes of ivory in Japan”.

Peter Pueschel, Program Manager for IFAW, said: “While we applaud the decision not to grant the sale at this time, we are incredibly concerned that the rubber-stamping of Japan as an importing country – despite all the evidence showing it has problems controlling its current ivory market.”

The decision not to allow the sales came after concerns about the ability of the MIKE (Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants) monitoring system to provide sound and reliable information to support CITES decision-making.

MIKE was established in 1997 to measure and record baseline levels and trends of illegal hunting of elephants, to monitor the effects of CITES decisions, and to build capacity in range states.  Yet nine years after its inception, MIKE data is incomplete, unreliable and based on flawed assumptions.

Furthermore, a number of large seizures in the past year amounting to almost 15 tonnes of ivory – most assuredly the proceeds of poaching – are not reflected in the data on elephant populations presented by MIKE to the committee.

Both China and Japan applied to be “trading partners” to purchase the stockpiles. In a controversial move, Japan’s application was approved after heated discussions, despite evidence that the “one-off” stockpile sale to Japan in 1999 resulted in ivory markets spinning out of control in Asia.

Questions were raised over the suitability of China and Japan to purchase the stockpiled ivory, after IFAW reports on the domestic control system in both countries revealed loopholes that allow illegal ivory to flow into the legal markets. For years both countries have been criticized for their thriving markets in illegal ivory.

Conservation groups are concerned that any relaxation in the ban on ivory will result in an explosion in both demand and supply of ivory, and a flooding of the market of both legal and illegal stocks.  In real terms, this translates to tens of thousands of slaughtered elephants, critically endangering elephant species.

The next meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP) will take place in June 2007 in Hague. The CITES treaty came into force in 1975 amid growing concern over the human impact of unregulated trade in endangered species.

IFAW and WTI formed a partnership in 2000 to strengthen the cause of wildlife conservation and animal welfare in India. The two organizations share concerns for a number of endangered animals.

Picture credit: IFAW