Enhanced Law Enforcement, International Collaboration and
Reducing Demand Required to Avert Crises
By Njenga Hakeenah
March 6, 2013
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KWS Deputy Director in Charge of Biodiversity Research Dr. Samuel Kasiki (left) receives the Award from CITES Secretary General John Scanlon on behalf of 13 KWS rangers,
who died in the line of duty. Photo: KWS
|
Elephant populations in Africa are
in a continual severe threat as the illegal ivory trade proliferates.
Double the numbers of elephants
have been killed and triple the amounts of ivory seized over the last decade.
A new UN report entitled “Elephants in the Dust – The African Elephant Crisis” says increasing poaching levels, as well as loss of habitat are threatening the survival of African elephant populations in Central Africa as well as previously secure populations in West, Southern and Eastern Africa.
The report - produced by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network (TRAFFIC) - says that systematic monitoring of large-scale seizures of ivory destined for Asia is indicative of the involvement of criminal networks, which are increasingly active and entrenched in the trafficking of ivory between Africa and Asia.
At sites monitored through the CITES-led Monitoring Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) programme alone, which hold approximately 40 per cent of the total elephant population in Africa, an estimated 17,000 elephants were illegally killed in 2011. Initial 2012 data shows that the situation did not improve that year. However, overall figures may be much higher.
These threats compound the most important long-term threat to the species’ survival – increasing loss of habitat as a result of rapid human population growth and large-scale land conversion for agriculture, providing for international markets.
UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner says, "CITES must re-engage on illegal wildlife crime with a renewed sense of purpose, commitment, creativity, cooperation and energy involving range states and transit countries to consuming nations of products such as ivory."
He adds, "The surge in the killing of elephants in Africa and the illegal taking of other listed species globally threatens not only wildlife populations but the livelihoods of millions who depend on tourism for a living and the lives of those wardens and wildlife staff who are attempting to stem the illegal tide".
John Scanlon, Secretary-General of CITES, “This report provides clear evidence that adequate human and financial resources, the sharing of know-how, raising public awareness in consumer countries, and strong law enforcement must all be in place if we are to curb the disturbing rise in poaching and illegal trade.”
The report recommends critical actions, including improved law-enforcement across the entire illegal ivory supply chain and strengthened national legislative frameworks. Training of enforcement officers in the use of tracking, intelligence networks and innovative techniques, such as forensic analysis, is urgently needed.
“Urgent action is needed to address the growing challenges elephant populations are facing, but it will only happen if there is adequate political will to do so,” said Dr Holly Dublin, Chair of the IUCN/SSC African Elephant Specialist Group.
Better international collaboration across range states, transit countries and consumer markets - through the UN Office for Drugs and Crime, CITES, INTERPOL, the World Customs Organization, the World Bank and other international actors – is needed in order to enhance law enforcement - from the field to the judiciary - to deter criminal activities and combat illegal trade.
These efforts include the need to fight collusive corruption, identifying syndicates and reducing demand.
TRAFFIC’s ivory trade expert Tom Milliken said: “Organized criminal networks are cashing in on the elephant poaching crisis, trafficking ivory in unprecedented volumes and operating with relative impunity and with little fear of prosecution”.
Elephants are also threatened by the increasing loss of habitat in around 29 per cent of their range as a result of rapid human population growth and agricultural expansions.
Currently, some models suggest this figure may increase to 63 per cent by 2050, a major additional threat to the survival of the elephant in the long-term.
Other key findings:
Other key finding in the report indicate that large-scale seizures of ivory destined for Asia have more than doubled since 2009 and reached an all-time high in 2011. Also noted are large movements of ivory that comprise the tusks of hundreds of elephants in a single shipment indicating the increasing active grip of highly organized criminal networks on Africa’s illicit ivory trade.
These largely Asian-run, African-based criminal networks operate with relative impunity as there is almost no evidence of successful arrests, prosecutions or convictions.
Globally, illegal ivory trade activity has more than doubled since 2007, and is now over three times larger than it was in 1998. The prevalence of unregulated domestic ivory markets in many African cities, coupled with the growing number of Asian nationals residing in Africa also facilitates the illegal trade in ivory out of Africa.
In 2011, poaching levels were at their highest since MIKE began monitoring the trends in illegal killing in 2001, and indications suggest that the situation did not improve in 2012.
Poaching is spreading primarily as a result of weak governance and rising demand for illegal ivory in the rapidly growing economies of Asia, particularly China, which is the world’s largest destination markets. The high levels of poaching are, in some cases, facilitated by conflicts that, through lawlessness and ensuing abundance of small arms, provide optimal conditions for the illegal killing of elephants.
The report was released in Bangkok, at the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CITES convention - combines information from sources including the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) African Elephant Specialist Group, MIKE and the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS), managed by TRAFFIC on behalf of CITES.
A new UN report entitled “Elephants in the Dust – The African Elephant Crisis” says increasing poaching levels, as well as loss of habitat are threatening the survival of African elephant populations in Central Africa as well as previously secure populations in West, Southern and Eastern Africa.
The report - produced by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network (TRAFFIC) - says that systematic monitoring of large-scale seizures of ivory destined for Asia is indicative of the involvement of criminal networks, which are increasingly active and entrenched in the trafficking of ivory between Africa and Asia.
At sites monitored through the CITES-led Monitoring Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) programme alone, which hold approximately 40 per cent of the total elephant population in Africa, an estimated 17,000 elephants were illegally killed in 2011. Initial 2012 data shows that the situation did not improve that year. However, overall figures may be much higher.
These threats compound the most important long-term threat to the species’ survival – increasing loss of habitat as a result of rapid human population growth and large-scale land conversion for agriculture, providing for international markets.
UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner says, "CITES must re-engage on illegal wildlife crime with a renewed sense of purpose, commitment, creativity, cooperation and energy involving range states and transit countries to consuming nations of products such as ivory."
He adds, "The surge in the killing of elephants in Africa and the illegal taking of other listed species globally threatens not only wildlife populations but the livelihoods of millions who depend on tourism for a living and the lives of those wardens and wildlife staff who are attempting to stem the illegal tide".
John Scanlon, Secretary-General of CITES, “This report provides clear evidence that adequate human and financial resources, the sharing of know-how, raising public awareness in consumer countries, and strong law enforcement must all be in place if we are to curb the disturbing rise in poaching and illegal trade.”
The report recommends critical actions, including improved law-enforcement across the entire illegal ivory supply chain and strengthened national legislative frameworks. Training of enforcement officers in the use of tracking, intelligence networks and innovative techniques, such as forensic analysis, is urgently needed.
“Urgent action is needed to address the growing challenges elephant populations are facing, but it will only happen if there is adequate political will to do so,” said Dr Holly Dublin, Chair of the IUCN/SSC African Elephant Specialist Group.
Better international collaboration across range states, transit countries and consumer markets - through the UN Office for Drugs and Crime, CITES, INTERPOL, the World Customs Organization, the World Bank and other international actors – is needed in order to enhance law enforcement - from the field to the judiciary - to deter criminal activities and combat illegal trade.
These efforts include the need to fight collusive corruption, identifying syndicates and reducing demand.
TRAFFIC’s ivory trade expert Tom Milliken said: “Organized criminal networks are cashing in on the elephant poaching crisis, trafficking ivory in unprecedented volumes and operating with relative impunity and with little fear of prosecution”.
Elephants are also threatened by the increasing loss of habitat in around 29 per cent of their range as a result of rapid human population growth and agricultural expansions.
Currently, some models suggest this figure may increase to 63 per cent by 2050, a major additional threat to the survival of the elephant in the long-term.
Other key findings:
Other key finding in the report indicate that large-scale seizures of ivory destined for Asia have more than doubled since 2009 and reached an all-time high in 2011. Also noted are large movements of ivory that comprise the tusks of hundreds of elephants in a single shipment indicating the increasing active grip of highly organized criminal networks on Africa’s illicit ivory trade.
These largely Asian-run, African-based criminal networks operate with relative impunity as there is almost no evidence of successful arrests, prosecutions or convictions.
Globally, illegal ivory trade activity has more than doubled since 2007, and is now over three times larger than it was in 1998. The prevalence of unregulated domestic ivory markets in many African cities, coupled with the growing number of Asian nationals residing in Africa also facilitates the illegal trade in ivory out of Africa.
In 2011, poaching levels were at their highest since MIKE began monitoring the trends in illegal killing in 2001, and indications suggest that the situation did not improve in 2012.
Poaching is spreading primarily as a result of weak governance and rising demand for illegal ivory in the rapidly growing economies of Asia, particularly China, which is the world’s largest destination markets. The high levels of poaching are, in some cases, facilitated by conflicts that, through lawlessness and ensuing abundance of small arms, provide optimal conditions for the illegal killing of elephants.
The report was released in Bangkok, at the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CITES convention - combines information from sources including the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) African Elephant Specialist Group, MIKE and the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS), managed by TRAFFIC on behalf of CITES.
The threat to the elephant
population additional reads:
New
York Times: Gabon Elephant Poaching
And at the ongoing CITES conference,
13 Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) rangers killed in the line of duty have been
posthumously honoured.
They were awarded with the
Clark R. Bavin Wildlife Law Enforcement Award with nine other recipients from
around the world.
KWS Deputy Director in charge
of Biodiversity, Research and Monitoring Dr. Samuel Kasiki received the award
on behalf of the departed heroes.
 |
| Stop Ivory Trade Photo: Stephff Tribal Art |
Ranger Florence Hadia Abae
was the first KWS female ranger to be killed in the line of duty. She was
killed alongside a male colleague while patrolling one of the Taita ranches
last March.
The two AK 101 rifles, three
magazines and 20 rounds of ammunitions that were stolen from them were
recovered last month buried in a bush at Kiziki area near Bombi village in
Malindi County following a tip off from members of the public. Three magazines
and 20 rounds of ammunitions were also recovered. Earlier engagements with
local elders in Bangale village in Tana River County yielded to the surrender
of the second rifle and an empty magazine in January 4, 2013.
In 2007, Mr Samson Ole Sisina
a KWS ranger, who was killed while on an undercover operation against illegal
game meat trade in Naivasha was among eight other people honoured with the
Clark R. Bavin Wildlife Law Enforcement Award at CITES conference held in The
Hague for “fighting wildlife crime with diligence, professionalism, trust and
integrity, and in remembrance of his ultimate sacrifice in protecting the
wildlife of Kenya”.
The Bavin Award, named after
a former chief of the law enforcement division of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, recognizes accomplishments in combating wildlife crime involving
species protected under the CITES treaty. It is presented during the Conference
of the Parties (CoP) to deserving recipients working in the field of wildlife
law enforcement across the globe. It is sponsored by the Animal Welfare
Institute (AWI), under the umbrella of Species Survival Network (SSN), an
international coalition of over 80 non-governmental organizations, including
AWI.
The meeting ends on March 14.
