Uncertain Future for African Elephants

Enhanced Law Enforcement, International Collaboration and Reducing Demand Required to Avert Crises

By Njenga Hakeenah

March 6, 2013

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. 

The threat to the elephant population additional reads:

New York Times:           Gabon Elephant Poaching

Kenyans take up arms to protect wildlife

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

This year’s recipients included Ranger Mohamed Osman Abdi, Ranger Bernard Mwakio, Cpl Adan Sheikh Mohamed, Ranger Seneu Ole Narankaik, Ranger Daniel Njagi, Pilot/Capt. Moses Lelesit, Ranger Gabriel Mghalu Malemba, Ranger Haron Kipyegon Langa, Cpl Koyati Parsaip, Sgt Bake Alio Adan, Ranger Florence Hadia Abae, Ranger Francis Otieno Ochieng, and Cpl Dismas Kimtai.

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.

The Pachyderm Annihilation 2

Taking action

By Njenga Hakeenah

23^rd February 2013

Kenya loses at least one elephant daily to poaching and over 365 elephants annually.

A rotting elephant carcass    

Photo: KUOPA/Sheldrick Trust

 

Current data shows that the current demand for ivory exceeds any possible supply of elephants, and that demand must reduce if elephants are to survive.

By 2011, illegal killing of elephants was nearly triple that of the 1990s. Iain Douglas-Hamilton, the founder of Save the Elephants, said that while in terms of sheer numbers killed the 1970s and 1980s was worse, the situation today is a "very big crisis" and in "other ways it is much worse."

Kenya’s wildlife which is the largest foreign exchange earner is under threat!

The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) affirms that the security of the Elephants is under threat as there has been a gradual escalation in their poaching since 2005. This is due to market dynamics influenced by escalation in the black market prices driven by demand in the Asian countries.

Over 80% of Kenya’s elephants populations are outside protected areas – national parks and reserves. The critical Kenya’s elephant range areas are the northern coast; the Tsavo-Chyulu-Amboseli-Kilimanjaro ecosystem; the Aberdare-Mt. Kenya-Laikipia-Samburu-Northern Area ecosystem; the Nguruman-Mara-Serengeti ecosystem and the Nasolot-Romoi-Kerio Valley ecosystem. The loss of over 80% elephants has been due primarily to killing for ivory; natural habitat loss and human population has tripled reduction in elephant range since 1970.

KWS says that of all the elephant poaching cases in year 2012, 300 elephants, (representing 78% of poaching cases) were poached in wildlife dispersal areas outside the parks with 22% of poaching occurring in protected areas. 12 rhinos were poached outside protected areas (representing 63% of all poaching cases) while seven rhinos were poached in the National Parks.

Kenya remains an important conduit to international destinations for illicit consignments of wildlife products and particularly ivory.

Some of the ivory seized in Kenya was on transit from Angola, South Sudan, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo among others. Destinations for the ivory contraband include China, Nigeria, Malaysia and Thailand. Ivory is being poached in every part of the continent and political instability in most of the countries is fuelling it.

A rotting elephant carcass    

Photo: KUOPA/Sheldrick Trust

In June 2012, 345 pieces of elephant ivory weighing 601 kg stuffed in six wooden boxes were intercepted at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi. The contraband was being smuggled to Lagos, Nigeria.

In September 2012, another consignment of 62 pieces of raw elephant ivory weighing 255 kg was seized at the same Nairobi airport. The contraband, whose origins are yet to be established, was en route to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

On 15th January 2013, a 20 feet container suspected of containing ivory was subjected to verification and it turned out that it was containing elephant ivory wrapped in bundles of gunny bags and concealed by layers of slabs of local stones commonly known as Mazeras stones.

These seizures confirm what has already been established as a link to rob not only Kenya but Africa of its natural resources.

A kilogram of ivory retails for as much as $ 2,000 in the Far East and in Kenya it fetches between Ksh 12,000-18,000 (approx. $ 140-210). A big bull carrying 100 kg of ivory would bring in the equivalent of 1.5 years’ salary of a wildlife ranger or 15 years’ salary for the worker. The Kenya Elephant Forum KEF says the incentive to poach is enormous. The large seizures of ivory at the port of Mombasa illustrate the scale of the problem and if this trend continues, the national elephant population may decline considerably, given the current mortality rate of 4% compared to a growth rate of 2% in 2011.

The Wildlife Ministry Permanent Secretary Hyslop Ipu has assured that the law governing wildlife will be amended to give deterrent sentences. However, a lot more needs to be done to ensure that the problem is nicked in the bud. There’s been talk of complacency and compromised KWS staff which could have worsened poaching.

KWS Director William Kiprono says they are recruiting 1,000 rangers to deal with poaching in national parks and private sanctuaries.

He said the rangers will be recruited in two phases starting in July this year while the rest will be employed next year.

Kiprono notes that shortage of rangers and inadequate funding had been frustrating the war against poaching among other wildlife related crimes.

The government is also planning to conduct a major head count of Kenya’s endangered wildlife in the wake of increased poaching in the country.

Head of Civil Service Francis Kimemia said the audit will be conducted by a multi-stakeholder team that will also include the private sector.

He said a team comprising members from the intelligence service and the police, and KWS rangers will be set up to patrol all national parks and ensure that the menace is dealt with once and for all.

KEF has requested for a Commission of Inquiry into poaching of elephants and rhinos with an expanded mandate to investigate individuals suspected of colluding in poaching and ivory trafficking, examine the long chain of companies involved in the transport, warehousing, clearing and shipping of containers found to be carrying ivory and but not limited to the quantification of the social and economic impact of elephant poaching and trafficking of ivory in Kenya. This includes the cost of insecurity and resulting loss of life and livelihoods as well as loss of their heritage.

A rotting elephant carcass    

Photo: KUOPA/Sheldrick Trust

The multi-stakeholder KEF also called for a review of penalties and making necessary adjustments to adequately punish Wildlife Criminals and the recognition that the wildlife of Kenya belongs to the people of Kenya and that they have the right to participate in its protection.

Former Kenya Wildlife Service Director Nehemiah Rotich says that the losses occasioned by poaching have negative effects beyond the tourism industry and affects 5 Kenyans not directly employed in the sector.

He adds that blame should not be pegged on under-staffing and equipping alone but on making everyone accountable.

A 484 km walk inspired by the late Michael Werikhe, the Rhino Man appealed globally to friends and organizations who care about elephants conservation to raise awareness and funds to establish and support Community-based Elephant Monitoring Programs (CEMP) in the following areas; Loita-Koromoto in Maasai Mara (Serengeti), Amboseli-Namanga( Kilimanjaro), Kora Bisinadi and Tsavo larger ecosystem in collaboration with the local communities.

The walk was flagged off on the February 9th 20313 at the Nakumatt Likoni by Jim Nyamu- founder of Elephant Neighbors Center and a research scientist- and ends at the Tree Centre, Nairobi Arboretum grounds on Saturday 23rd February 2013.

The campaign is a collaboration partnership between Governments, the Private Sector, and NGOs. It has collected over 10,000 petitions that will culminate in a unified message from Kenya to the world.

The petitions will be delivered to the 177 governments meeting in Bangkok from March 3-14 for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), to begin "a formal procedure that would lead to a total ban of the ivory trade."

A little more…

Ministers Dine on 'Not So Cosmetic' Food in Kenya

By Njenga Hakeenah

A dinner setting in a Qatari Restaurant   Photo: Njenga Hakeenah

February 20^th  2013

Time check: 1900Hrs

Location: UNEP, Gigiri, Nairobi

Event: Dinner

A little more…

This brings to mind an advert on Kenyan TV a few years ago where the child would not have enough due to the deliciously made meal.

Those are the long gone memories and days.

Today however, food which is in every way healthy to consume is binned for not meeting cosmetic standards contributing to billions of tonnes of food being thrown away in the world today.

Despite the rising costs of producing the food and the ever increasing number of food needy people, this has continued unabated in the world today.

However, in what could mark a turnaround to this wastage, hundreds of ministers and high-level officials dined on perfectly good food grown by Kenyan farmers but rejected by UK supermarkets. The reason for this trashing of otherwise good food is due to due to cosmetic imperfections. 

British standards are extremely high!

This happened at the headquarters of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi to highlight a major campaign to cut massive levels of global food loss and waste. 
 
The zero-waste reception, taking place during a meeting of the first UNEP Governing Council under universal membership, was in support of Think.Eat.Save. Reduce Your Foodprint . The initiative was launched in January by UNEP, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and partners such as Feeding the 5,000 and Messe Dusseldorf. 

An African meal comprising of mashed potatoes, chicken and vegetables
Photo: Njenga Hakeenah

The campaign aims to promote actions by consumers and food retailers to dramatically cut the 1.3 billion tonnes of food lost or wasted each year – which aside from the cost implications and environmental impacts increases pressure on the already straining global food system – and help shape a sustainable future. 

UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner says, “No economic, environmental or ethical argument can be made to justify the extent of food waste and loss currently happening in the world, and at UNEP we practice what we preach”. He added, “With this dinner we are demonstrating to retailers, consumers and policymakers who can push for change that the astonishing amount of food we throw away is not just edible and nutritious, but also delicious.” 

Tristram Stuart, food waste author and founder of Feeding the 5000, a key partner organization that has organized such dinners for years, visited producers across Kenya to source around 1,600 kilogrammes of unwanted fruit and vegetables for the meal and for donation to local charities. 

The food had been grown for the export market only to be rejected – largely due to stringent standards over appearance or orders being changed after vegetables had been harvested.

Some of this unwanted produce is sold on the local market or donated, but the quantities are so large that local markets cannot handle the volume and so much of it is either left to rot or fed to livestock – prompting resentment amongst Kenyan farmers who must bear the costs themselves. 

“It’s a scandal that so much food is wasted in a country with millions of hungry people; we found one grower supplying a UK supermarket who is forced to waste up to 40 tonnes of vegetables every week, which is 40 per cent of what he grows,” said Mr. Stuart. “The waste of perfectly edible ‘ugly’ vegetables is endemic in our food production systems and symbolizes our negligence.” 

“But it is also a huge opportunity: by persuading supermarkets to change their standards, and by developing processing and other ways of marketing this produce, we can help to increase on-farm incomes and food availability where it is needed most,” he added. “This dinner, and the many Feeding the 5000 events we have run, aims to change attitudes and highlight best practices, by showing that there is absolutely nothing wrong with this food we so casually discard.” 

While UK supermarkets are in the frame here in Kenya, experts believe that similar practises are happening in respect to supermarkets in many parts of the developed, and increasingly in parts of the developing, world. 

Chef Ray Cournede, from Nairobi’s prestigious Windsor Hotel, utilized the rescued food to cook a five-course meal that included such delights as Grilled Sweet Corn Tamales, Yellow Lentil Dal with Tamarind and Mangomisu – Tiramisu with a tropical twist. Mr. Cournede also prepared mango chutney and candied fruit peels, which show ways to preserve and use fruits when in season. 

The dinner was a zero-waste event: guests were encouraged to doggy bag leftovers and many of the fruits and vegetables were donated to MCEDO, a community-based organization that runs a school with a feeding programme for 580 children in Nairobi’s Mathare informal settlement. 

The Think.Eat.Save. Reduce Your Foodprint campaign is in support of the SAVE FOOD Initiative to reduce food loss and waste along the entire chain of food production and consumption.

A bowl of dessert Photo: Njenga Hakeenah

Worldwide, at least one-third of all food produced, worth around US$1 trillion, gets lost or wasted in food production and consumption systems, according to data released by FAO. Food loss occurs mostly at the production stages – harvesting, processing and distribution – while food waste typically takes place at the retailer and consumer end of the food-supply chain. 

According to FAO roughly 95 per cent of food loss and waste in developing countries are unintentional losses at early stages of the food supply chain due to financial, managerial and technical limitations in harvesting techniques; storage and cooling facilities in difficult climatic conditions; infrastructure; packaging and marketing systems. 

However, in the developed world the end of the chain is far more significant. At the food manufacturing and retail level in the developed world, large quantities of food are wasted due to inefficient practices, quality standards that over-emphasize appearance, confusion over date labels and consumers being quick to throw away edible food due to over-buying, inappropriate storage and preparing meals that are too large. 

Per-capita waste by consumers is between 95 and 115 kg a year in Europe and North America/Oceania, while consumers in sub-Saharan Africa, south and south-eastern Asia each throw away only 6 to 11 kg a year. 

“Together, we can reverse this unacceptable trend and improve lives. In industrialized regions, almost half of the total food squandered, around 300 million tonnes annually, occurs because producers, retailers and consumers discard food that is still fit for consumption,” said José Graziano da Silva, FAO Director-General.

He adds, “This is more than the total net food production of Sub-Saharan Africa, and would be sufficient to feed the estimated 870 million people hungry in the world.” 

The Ivory Trade in Kenya

The Pachyderm Annihilation

By Njenga Hakeenah

25th January 2013

Kenya’s wildlife which is the largest foreign exchange earner is under threat.

This is from effects of climate change and poaching which is leading to the decimation of wild animals in big numbers.  

In 2012 alone, over 384 elephants were killed for their ivory and close to 20 rhinos met the same fate for their horns.

The animals which are among the big five are worth more to Kenya alive than they are dead. Unfortunately, poaching is on the increase and so far no one has been successfully prosecuted.

A rotting elephant Carcass in one of the unprotected areas in Kenya Photo: KUOPA/Sheldrick Trust

There are allegations that poaching increases where the Chinese are working. In Kenya, they are all over the road building industry and spread all over the country.

With the increase in poaching, radical measures need to be put in place including amending the law which has not been deterrent enough. The Kenya Wildlife Service KWS has just issued a report on the status of wildlife conservation in the past 2012 and the prospects for year 2013.

KWS affirms that the security of the Rhinos and Elephants is under threat as there has been a gradual escalation in their poaching since 2005. This is due to market dynamics influenced by escalation in the black market prices driven by demand in the Asian countries.

A rotting elephant Carcass
Photo: KUOPA/Sheldrick Trust

Two weeks ago, a gang of 10 poachers are believed to have slaughtered and carted off ivory from a family of elephants at the remote Bisadi area near Ithumba in north of Tsavo East National Park. Kws says that one of the discovered carcasses belongs to a juvenile elephant estimated at two months of age. All the elephant carcasses had bullet wounds.

From the incident, only one suspect has been arrested and KWS says he is assisting with ongoing investigations.

Kenya boasts the largest population of rhinos in East and Central Africa. This makes the country the main target for poachers of rhino horn. Currently, there are an estimated 1010 rhinos with 623 being black and 387 white.

The white rhino sub-species population includes four Northern White Rhinos imported from the Czech Republic in 2009 and 383 Southern White Rhinos.

Sustained pressure to combat rhino poaching within KWS managed national parks and reserves has moved the crime to areas outside the parks.

KWS says that of all the elephant poaching cases in year 2012, 300 elephants, (representing 78% of poaching cases) were poached in wildlife dispersal areas outside the parks with 22% of poaching occurring in protected areas. 12 rhinos were poached outside protected areas (representing 63% of all poaching cases) while seven rhinos were poached in the National Parks.

To respond to these challenges, KWS says it enhancing elephant and rhino security by apprehending and dismantling the poaching syndicates. KWS is also involved in stakeholder especially communities living adjacent to protected areas to win the war on poaching. Kenyans are also taking up arms to protect the elephants.

The organization also says that it has recovered firearms, ammunition, ivory, other hunting weapons and impounding of vehicles used in transporting ivory.

Ivory Seizures

KWS acknowledges that Kenya remains an important conduit to international destinations for illicit consignments of wildlife products and particularly ivory.

Some of the ivory seized in Kenya was on transit from Angola, South Sudan, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo among others. Destinations for the ivory contraband include China, Nigeria, Malaysia and Thailand. Ivory is being poached in every part of the continent and political instability in most of the countries is fuelling it.

In June 2012, 345 pieces of elephant ivory weighing 601 kg stuffed in six wooden boxes were intercepted at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi. The contraband was being smuggled to Lagos, Nigeria.

In September 2012, another consignment of 62 pieces of raw elephant ivory weighing 255 kg was seized at the same Nairobi airport. The contraband, whose origins are yet to be established, was en route to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

On 15th January 2013, a 20 feet container suspected of containing ivory was subjected to verification and it turned out that it was containing elephant ivory wrapped in bundles of gunny bags and concealed by layers of slabs of local stones commonly known as Mazeras stones.

The suspicious container’s documents matched those of a container seized in Hong Kong earlier in the month. The details of the container are being used by the KWS to track down the culprits.

Several consignments of ivory have also been intercepted in other parts of the world with reports linking some of the seizures to have originated from Kenya.

KWS says investigations to establish the origin of the impounded ivory are usually conducted. The organization says it will continue working with other law enforcement agencies, especially Customs, the police, INTERPOL, the Lusaka Agreement Task Force, Kenya Airports Authority and Kenya Ports Authority, among others in ensuring that local and international laws on wildlife crimes are enforced. 

So far, 1,949 suspects have been arrested and taken to court where they were charged with various wildlife-related offences.

The Wildlife Ministry Permanent Secretary Hyslop Ipu has assured that the law governing wildlife will be amended to give deterrent sentences. He adds that a draft policy and bill are in place and will be debated once parliament constitutes after the coming elections.

Ipu adds that the funds will be used to equip game rangers to provide security to the wildlife even at night.

Former Kenya Wildlife Service Director Nehemiah Rotich says that for stern action should be taken against the poachers.  

Rotich says that the losses occasioned by poaching have negative effects beyond the tourism industry and affects 5 Kenyans not directly employed in the sector.

He however says that blame should not be pegged on under-staffing and equipping alone but on making everyone accountable.

Global Mercury Agreement

Global Mercury Agreement to Lift Health Threats from Lives of Millions World-Wide

‘Minamata’ Convention Agreed by Nations

Njenga Hakeenah

19th January 2013

Liquid Mercury (Hg) Melting Point: -38.87 °C (234.28 K, -37.966 °F)

Boiling Point: 356.58 °C (629.73 K, 673.844 °F) Photo: Credited

Governments have agreed to a global, legally-binding treaty to prevent emissions of mercury—a notorious heavy metal with significant health and environmental effects.

The International effort to address mercury release is a significant boost to controls and reductions across a range of products, processes and industries where mercury is used, released or emitted.

The Minamata Convention on Mercury—named after a city in Japan where serious health damage occurred as a result of mercury pollution in the mid-20th Century-agreed to address mercury in medical equipment such as thermometers and energy-saving light bulbs to the mining, cement and coal-fired power sectors.

The treaty also addresses the direct mining of mercury, export and import of the metal and safe storage of waste mercury.

Pinpointing populations at risk, boosting medical care and better training of health care professionals in identifying and treating mercury-related effects will also form part of the new agreement.

Mercury and its various compounds have a range of serious health impacts including brain and neurological damage especially among the young.

Others include kidney damage and damage to the digestive system. Victims can suffer memory loss and language impairment alongside many other well documented problems. More. 

Initial funding to fast track action until the new treaty comes into force in the expected three to five years’ time has been pledged by Japan, Norway and Switzerland.

Support for developing countries is also expected from the Global Environment Facility and a programme once the convention is operational.

UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Achim Steiner said, “After complex and often all night sessions here in Geneva, nations have today laid the foundations for a global response to a pollutant whose notoriety has been recognized for well over a century.”

UNEP convened the negotiations among over 140 member states in Geneva with Steiner adding that everyone in the world stands to benefit from the decisions taken in Geneva. He particularly said those would benefit the most were workers and small-scale gold miners’ families, the peoples of the Arctic and this generation of mothers and babies and the generations to come.

Steiner said he looks forward to the swift ratification of the Minamata Convention so that it comes into force as soon as possible.

Fernando Lugris, the Uruguayan chair of the negotiations praised the process saying the agreement opened a new chapter towards a sustainable future and represents an opportunity for a healthier and more sustainable century for all peoples.

Ambassador Franz Perrez of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Switzerland said the agreement will help to protect human health and the environment all over the world and is a proof that multilateralism can work when political will exists.

“This treaty will not bring immediate reductions of mercury emissions. It will need to be improved and strengthened, to make all fish safe to eat,” said David Lennett from the Natural Resources Defense Council representing the Zero Mercury Working Group a global coalition of environmental NGOs.

“Still, the treaty will phase out mercury in many products and we welcome it as a starting point.”, he concluded.

The decision to launch negotiations was taken by environment ministers at the 2009 session of the UNEP Governing Council and the final and fifth negotiation took place this week in Geneva.

The scope of the new treaty focuses on a product containing mercury including Batteries, except for ‘button cell’ batteries used in implantable medical devices, switches and relays, certain types of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), mercury in cold cathode fluorescent lamps and external electrode fluorescent lamps, soaps and cosmetics

The export and import of these products will be banned by the year 2020.

Certain kinds of non-electronic medical devices such as thermometers and blood pressure devices are also included for phase-out by 2020.

However, the Governments have approved exceptions for some large measuring devices where currently there are no mercury-free alternatives.

Vaccines where mercury is used as a preservative have also been excluded from the treaty as have products used in religious or traditional activities.

Delegates also agreed to a phase-down of the use of dental fillings using mercury amalgam among a raft of other recommendations in artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining, power generation and cement manufacturing.

The treaty has been four years in negotiation and which will be open for signature at a special meeting in Japan in October.