Zimbabwe to benefit from legal ivory trade

ZIMBABWE is set to benefit from the sale of ivory to China as the United Nations' Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) has allowed the country to sell elephant ivory in a one-off trade, skirting a ban on dealing in the product until 2016.

China was approved Tuesday as a buyer of legally stockpiled Zimbabwean elephant ivory. The transaction will be carried under strict conditions.

To gain approval, China had to convince Cites it had put in place adequate measures to tackle any illegal domestic ivory trade and to regulate legal trade effectively.

"Now that China has been approved, it has an opportunity to assist African countries, particularly in Central Africa, where elephant poaching and domestic trade goes unchecked, to improve law enforcement capacity, and support conservation programmes," said Crawford Allan, director of TRAFFIC North America - the wildlife trade monitoring network.

Zimbabwe got its approval as a seller by Cites in 2007 following South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana’s approval in 2002.

The sale was approved because Zimbabwe has a surplus of elephants, although the elephant is considered endangered in other parts of the continent such as Kenya.

China was previously barred from participating because of concern it was buying smuggled ivory. Cincidentally, on Wednesday three Chinese nationals were arrested in Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi while trying to smuggle out processed ivory through the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, to Harare (Zimbabwe).

Commercial trade in ivory was banned by Cites in 1989, but in 1999, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe were permitted to make a one-time sale of 50 tons to Japan to raise $5 million for conservation.

The current sale will allow Zimbabwe to sell 3.76 tons of ivory.

South Africa will sell 51.12 tons, Botswana 43.68 tons and Namibia 9.21 tons.

“The secretariat will closely supervise this sale and evaluate its impact on elephant population levels throughout Africa,'” Cites said.

Zimbabwe has about 100,000 elephants according to Cites’ figures of 2008.