Botswana lobbies for reopening of ivory sales
Contributes to draft declaration by SADC countries
Botswana is among the southern African countries that will continue to lobby for the disposal of ivory stockpiles and the opening of the legal trade markets of ivory, as part of SADC.
This follows the Elephant Summit that was held at Hwangwe National Park in Harare, Zimbabwe, this past weekend.
The summit attracted 14 African countries, as well as Japan and China, which are considered the countries with the biggest markets of ivory in the world.
Following back and forth deliberations on the best course of action with regards to disposing ivory stockpiles and possibly making millions of Pula from its trade, the parties present drafted a declaration.
Botswana was part of the team that made an impactful contribution to the document, being home to approximately 130 000 elephants - the highest in Africa - and with a strong presence of wild animals.
The Director of Wildlife Management and National Parks Kabelo Senyatso, who led the lobby as part of the Botswana delegation, told The Midweek Sun that the details of the lobbying document would be made public once it has been finalised.
“This will happen once all the relevant countries have approved the lobbying document.”
Senyatso noted that Botswana maintains its stance for CITES to reopen the legal trade of ivory and allow for the sale of ivory stockpiles, which are currently kept in safes because there is nothing to be done with them as their sale is not allowed.
He indicated that Botswana is losing out by holding on to stockpiles that are expensive to keep, pointing out that the country stands to gain millions of US Dollars from the sale of the ivory stockpiles.
He said generated income from these sales could be used to finance development initiatives geared at improving the livelihoods of people, particularly those who live in areas in close proximity to wildlife.
“Funds generated from the sale of ivory stockpiles would boost the Conservation Trust and finance sustainable tourism projects, community projects geared at protecting natural eco-systems and mitigating the impacts of human-wildlife conflicts.”
CITES is an international agreement between states and aims to ensure that international trade in wild animals and plant species does not negatively affect the survival of the species.
Since CITES was established in 1989 and the ban on the ivory trade put in place, there have been two once-off sales allowed, and Botswana gained several millions of Pula, and the funds were channelled towards the setting up of the Conservation Trust.