Elephanatics

https://ecoterra.info/index.php/en/1076-30-years-ago-ivory-ban

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 Published: 17 October 2019

By VF/ET – 17. October 2019

Today, 30 years ago, on 17. October 1989 in Ottawa/Canada – during the Conference of the Parties to the International Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) – the 10 year moratorium and the global ban of ivory trade was adopted, since in the 1970s and 1980s, Elephant poaching triggered by the rush for ivory was at a dramatic high.

It was estimated in 1980 that Africa still boasted over a million Elephants (1979 estimate 1.5 million), but by the end of the decade the estimate was that only 400,000 remained.

The African Elephant was first listed by Ghana in CITES Appendix III in 1976. The following year, 1977, at the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP1) to this United Nations species protection convention, African Elephants were moved to Appendix II. Under Appendix II rules, species are not necessarily seen as threatened by extinction but their trade requires control to avoid use that would be detrimental with their survival as a species.

Elephants and ivory were monitored by CITES, but making the distinction between legal ivory and illegal ivory proved very difficult at the time. The drastic decline was brought to the attention of CITES and a proposal was brought forth to move the Elephants under Appendix I. Species under Appendix I are threatened with extinction and the trade of these species is only permitted in exceptional circumstances.

Not everyone was an advocate for listing Elephants under Appendix I. Well known ‘conservationists’ around the world and several South African countries argued that the listing was unnecessary in some places. South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana claimed that their elephant populations were growing at the time and were putting a strain on the ecosystem and local people. Some countries used the profits from legal harvesting of ivory, meat, and hides to support conservation and management. There was concern that with the new listing, crucial funds would be lost and conservation would suffer.

The Political and Bureaucratic Fight

Prior to this historic event in 1989, months and months of haggling between the two strong groups of lobbyists from the camps of the protectors and the users had continued and the two sides seemed irreconcilable.

The taker-lobby, lead by the money-laden sport-killers and trophy-collectors from e.g. the USAmerican Safari Club International and their affiliations, incl. corrupted governments, wanted to see “sustainable use” of the African Elephant populations to continue unabated and therefore also the ivory sales to flourish to “finance conservation”.

On the other hand the protectors presented strong evidence (see below) that such practice would certainly lead to the extermination of many African Elephant populations and bring the species close to extinction. They wanted all African Elephant populations be moved to the so-called Appendix I, which would mean a total ban of any trade in Elephants and any derivative (ivory, meat, hides etc.) like it had been put in place for the Asian Elephant that was placed and remained on CITES Appendix I since the CITES treaty had come into effect on July 1, 1975.

SOLVING THE PROBLEM

To break the deadlock and to take the most critical point out of the equation, the delegation of the Republic of Somalia to CITES tabled 30 years ago to the date today the so-called ‘Somalia proposal’, that left the disputed Appendix questions out of the debate, but called for a total ivory sales ban. Somalia at that time had a strong wildlife department, supported by the minister in charge as well as the president. Seconded by what was then the Kingdom of Swaziland, today Kingdom of Eswatini, that groundbreaking resolution sailed through was adopted against all odds by the state parties to CITES. It made immediately global headlines and caused a grave shock to the ivory poachers and traders.

Somalia itself had  – before a proper wildlife department was installed in 1987 – lost in just one year (1984) most of its Elephant population by a foreign lead culling operation targeting the strongest remaining population in the country that roamed the whole area between the River Juba and the border with Kenya. That ecocide saw the Somali Elephant population decline from around 64,000 to below 7,000. It was an unprecedented slaughter led by foreign logistics including spotter planes from Kenya and the support of local and international crime-networks.

The strong signal had immediate positive results with ivory prices tumbling and Elephant populations relieved from poaching pressure.

The bold move was then followed up at the next CITES meeting two years later in 1990, when after nearly a decade during which African Elephant populations dropped by over 50% the species was then finally moved to Appendix I of the CITES rule-book.

The result of the ivory moratorium and the Appendix I trade-ban of Elephants and all derivatives resulted in a drop in the price of ivory and a decline in the number of Elephants killed illegally (Dobson and Poole, 1992).

As the years passed, the ivory ban remained a hot debate. There were those who demanded a continuance of the ban out of fear that without it, an increase in demand would trigger an increase in poaching (Padgett). Those who proposed to uplift the ban cited past arguments – overpopulation in some areas, Human-Elephant conflict, and the potential for profits.

In 1997, CITES chose to continue listing Elephants under Appendix I. However, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia had successfully proposed to have the Elephants in their countries listed under Appendix II. This was to allow for the sale of nearly 60 tons of stockpiled ivory that the three countries had to Japan (Bulte, Kooten, 1999). South Africa’s Elephant population was transferred back to Appendix II in 2000. During the years following, poaching increased in Africa, reaching crisis levels in 2011.

Today CITES still lists the African Elephant (since 18/01/1990) under Appendix I, with the exception populations of Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe (Appendix II, 18/09/1997) and South Africa (Appendix II, 19/07/2000)

The inconsistencies and exemptions, the ill-advised ‘permitted’ ivory sales in 1999 and 2000 or the paid for burning of ivory, the haggling over the domestic sales of “historic” ivory (right know in the UK) and the unearthing of larger quantities of mammoth ivory from areas where the permafrost vanished due to climate change has put once again the ivory question at the forefront.

Given the fact that the time during the ivory moratorium 1989 to 1999 was the only time since the 1950s during which all Elephant populations in Africa recovered, another moratorium and total ivory ban is mandatory to again stop the rampant killing of Elephants in Africa.

Under increasing human population pressure, evastating habitat loss in vast areas of Africa and undeminished ivory poaching despite all counter-measures, the last strong and reproducing populations of the African Elephant – like in Botswana, Zimbabwe, South-Africa, Namibia, DR Congo, Tanzania and Kenia must be seen as a global resource for the relocation of Elephants to areas in the African Elephant range that are recovering e.g. from war and must not be deminished by culling, trophy-shooting or zoo-sales. The local communities in these wildlands with healthy elephant populations must be uplifted and rewarded as the global Elephant guardians.

A renewed total ivory ban will help to boost these plans.

 

MUST READ:

EIA’s report on the plight of the Elephants 1989

– Today a similar difficult situation exists and a new total ivory moratorium is mandatory.

 

 

This is a question I have been asked many times over the past 7 years since founding Elephanatics, an elephant advocacy organization in Vancouver, B.C.

Elephanatics recently formed a coalition of organizations to include the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada, Humane Society International-Canada, Global March for Elephants and Rhinos – Toronto, and World Elephant Day. Together we created the #IvoryFreeCanada campaign to address the reasons elephants are important globally and the need to close the domestic trade of elephant ivory in Canada.

As a local grassroots organization, our mission has been to assist global elephant conservation efforts by educating Canadians about issues of ivory poaching, habitat loss, and the continued exploitation of elephants by humans, and to connect Canadians directly with elephant conservation partners in Africa and Asia. We do this through our three pillars of advocacy – Education, Conservation and Action.

We have brought significant awareness about the elephant crises to schools in the lower mainland, as well as a great number of schools in the San Diego area, with our education lesson plans and classroom presentations. Our Global March for Elephants and Rhinos has drawn a large segment of supporters from greater Vancouver and our coalitions’ #IvoryFreeCanada campaign has received much media attention as well as close to 500,000 petition signatures.

Elephants are an intelligent, iconic and sentient animal that requires our attention to their own importance and their value to the environment. As a keystone species, it contributes to the mitigation of climate change and supports a delicate ecosystem that inadvertently affects us all globally.

The importance of the elephant to its ecosystems and environment has been well documented by scientists. The elephant’s demise is a growing concern. The increase in carbon due to elephant decline in both Africa and Asia is articulated in the article included here written by Brandon Keim, Anthropocene Magazine.

At the recent Convention on International Trade in Flora and Fauna, (CITES CoP18) held in Geneva, Switzerland, an important agenda item had to do with issues surrounding the ongoing protection of elephants. CITES is the forum where governments have agreed to meet every two to three years to regulate the international trade of wildlife and wildlife products. Parties at CITES CoP-18), confirmed their commitment to the closure of domestic ivory markets, agreeing by consensus to focus scrutiny on remaining open markets such as Japan and the EU. Furthermore, parties that have not closed their domestic markets for commercial trade in raw & worked ivory will be requested to report on what measures they are taking to ensure that their domestic ivory markets are not contributing to poaching or illegal trade. It is assumed that Canada, as a signatory of CITES will – as do all other Parties – be required to report the measures they are taking and submit them to CITES.

Our goal as a coalition is to close the domestic trade of elephant ivory in Canada, thereby protecting elephants. Reporting on the measures our country will take to ensure we are not contributing to the trade will not prevent the slaughter of these animals. Canada is now in the minority of countries not closing their domestic markets, and there is no excuse. Why is Canada hesitant in taking a stronger force of action in regards to an issue that is also an environmental, global concern?

Any legal domestic trade is a conduit for illegal trade. As long as there are loopholes in the system, criminal activity will continue to disrupt economies worldwide and threaten to bring elephants to extinction for unconscionable purposes such as producing trinkets! Many countries to include the UK, Australia, France, Netherlands, Israel, Singapore, China, and several US states, have closed their domestic markets. We need to stand in solidarity with these countries in order to save a keystone species and to lessen the crime and corruption that ensues from the continued trade of elephant ivory. We believe we can liaise with the government on how best to implement a workable ban on the domestic elephant ivory trade, with exemptions similar to that of other countries.

Our petition can be signed and shared at change.org/IvoryFreeCanada. Our letters to the government can be viewed on our website at – elephanatics.org.

We thank you for your support.

Sincerely

Fran Duthie

President – Elephanatics

CITES is meeting NOW making decisions about POACHING, IVORY TRADE, TROPHY HUNTING, and increased PROTECTION for Wildlife.

Their fate requires our ACTION NOW! ❤🐘🦁❤ Please SIGN letter in link below. Thank you!🙏

🐘⚡🐘 ACTION. CITES. CoP18. PLEASE ACT!

Please sign the letter; please sign even if you have signed before; we are collecting signatures anew. Once you’ve signed the letter, please do go over to the tweet sheet and tweet out our DEMANDS.

You can tweet over the duration of CoP18. Aug17-Aug28th, 2019.

June, 2019 

“There is something about safari life that makes you forget all your sorrows and feel as if you had drunk half a bottle of champagne — bubbling over with heartfelt gratitude for being alive.” 

Karen Blixen (Danish author best known for “Out of Africa”, her account of living in Kenya)

…. And so begins my journey to Kenya, Africa

The exotic lure of Africa, rife with rich culture and history, was a destination I had been anticipating for years. Having spent the past seven years building Elephanatics, I knew the time had come to heed the call of the elephants and make my sojourn to the land of mystical sunsets and magical people. Nothing could prepare me for the exhilaration of viewing lions, elephants, wildebeests, warthogs, cheetahs, and numerous other species in their natural settings, as close as four feet from our jeep. Not to omit the bellowing hippos outside our tent on the Mara River that woke us up every morning and charmed us all day long as they fought for territory and kept other animals at bay! Adventures come in all sizes and shapes, but an open jeep safari is as big as it gets! The trick to remember is – NEVER laugh when an elephant has its back to you! I found out the hard way after giggling from a funny episode an elephant had performed – she rightly turned around and gave us the ‘ears forward’ charge position, lunging at the jeep and stopping at 3 feet away. Thank goodness she sensed I was not a threat and retracted. My stomach hasn’t been the same since!

Our first stop was to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust where we visited our three adopted orphans, Larro, Nabulu and Panda. The keepers explained the situation of how the orphans arrived and what their due diligence and care of the orphans entail. The keepers spend day and night with the babies, sleeping in the same quarters, tending to their every need and comforting them when they have bad dreams – yes, elephants have bad dreams, too! They slowly integrate them back into the wild, but it takes years of love and patience to get them to that point. It was a tender moment; my appreciation for what they do has no bounds.

The Karen Blixen Camp came by recommendation from the Mara Elephant Project (MEP). Dr. Jake Wall, director for MEP and also for Elephanatics, and Marc Goss, CEO of the Mara Elephant Project, were instrumental in making sure our stay was as comfortable as possible and it most certainly was! The genuine friendliness and service of the staff at Karen Blixen was articulated in every meal and activity we took part in. I would highly suggest KBC as your first choice when searching for a luxury safari experience. They are best known for responsible tourism, making sure their business benefits the environment and the people working at the camp and communities nearby. After a tour of their facilities, it was evident they are leaders in this genre.

Our guide, Jack, led the way with his knowledge of the local flora and fauna and introduced us to a world of stories about the Maasai people, their culture, the landscape area and rules to be obeyed between the conservancies and farmers. Storytelling is still the way used by most communities to pass cultural knowledge and history from one generation to another. Because of the varied heritages and cultures in East Africa, storytelling is a way to help bring them together. Each group, lending flavour to their own unique tale, interprets versions of the same story differently. I experienced this ‘bush telegram’ communication upon receiving news that someone had been killed in the village earlier that day. When I heard the same story told to us by our guide on our nightly safari, it was slightly different but the crux of the story was the same. It appears storytelling continues in our Western culture as well. The only difference to note in our culture is the opposition of differences of opinion, as opposed to a respectful appreciation of another’s interpretation.

We were fortunate to visit MEP a few times and learn about the ambitious initiatives they are working on. Jake gave us a tour and a presentation about what he is responsible for as the new director of research and conservation. He leads MEP’s applied research agenda aimed at enhancing the protection of elephants and the habitat upon which they and other wildlife depend. He tracks many variables related to the area, including collared elephant movements, human-elephant conflicts, and environmental variables related to elephant movements. He showed us the snares rangers have collected from the Mau forest and the old GPS collars they’ve removed from previously tracked elephants. We met Marc Goss – MEP’s CEO – and learned more about the education program. We were also fortunate enough to meet elephants Hugo, Freddy and Kegol who are tracked with EarthRanger, a real-time technology used for tracking elephants and rangers. Dr. Jake Wall was one of the architects in building this software when working with Vulcan, a Paul Allen company. It was wonderful to see first hand the outstanding work they do, what their future plans are within the Mara to protect elephants and where Elephanatics’ donation dollars go.

The famous wildebeest migration that takes place every year between May and December starting in Tanzania’s Serengeti plains in the south and moving north to Kenya’s Maasai Mara in Kenya, started early this year in the Maasai Mara due to drought in the southern areas and early rains in the north. The best time to see the migration is typically in the dry season between July and October but we lucked out! We avoided the hundreds of tourists that come at that time and endured some rain much to the benefit of viewing one of the seven wonders of Africa. Unfortunately, we also saw the perils at which these great animals risk their lives to find food. Many don’t make it across the river due to high river currents, crocodiles, or going back to find a relative or friend from the herd. The banks can be steep on the river causing slippery conditions in the rain leading to death from a broken leg or becoming maimed, making them a target for prey. The migration is extremely stressful for these beautiful animals and I must admit, I felt somewhat guilty adding to the possible stress they endure by being a tourist. Every year almost two million wildebeests and a host of other animals migrate, making it a prime example of the ‘circle of life’. It was a sight to see and is one of the greatest shows on earth.

The daily tours became a natural way to start the day and end the night while relaxing during the day took on its own meditative quality. Hypnotized by the Mara Rivers gurgling flow and the abundance of animals that came sporadically throughout the day for a drink, sank us all into a state of wonderment and reverence for this beautiful land. The endless beauty of open skies and savannah plains blended with it a sense of calm and caution, a primordial response to the raw nature of the surroundings. Ones true existence can be found in the winds of Africa. Purpose becomes transparent as trees whisper messages of hope, faith and deliverance of justice for all wildlife. We need to listen to these messages and act accordingly – for all our sake.

I could continue to elaborate on the significance of visiting Africa and its benefits to my well-being, but I will not. Some experiences are beyond words. All I can say is if you have been contemplating a trip to Africa – do not hesitate any longer.

“When you leave Africa, as the plane lifts, you feel that more than leaving a continent you’re leaving a state of mind. Whatever awaits you at the other end of your journey will be of a different order of existence.” Francesca Marciano

A special thanks to Karen Blixen Camp staff / Dr. Jake Wall / CEO Marc Goss, MEP 

A big thank you to Tessa, Leanne and Jett for all their hard work in my absence.

Fran Duthie

President / Elephanatics

Some ‘Did You Know’ moments from our safari:

*Jackals, who eat leftovers, bark at lions to wake them up so they hunt.

*Hippos are the most dangerous animal to humans and are responsible for more human death and conflict than elephants!

*Water buffalo is the second most dangerous animal

*At night, Warthogs back themselves into holes dug by Aardvarks for safety and in order to charge out quickly to defend themselves

*Giraffes have chaperones from the family to take care of the young during the day while the mothers graze a short distance away. They head to the village at night for safety from lions but venture far and wide during the day.

* Hyenas are more closely related to cats than dogs. Their dung is white because of the calcium in the bones they eat

* One type of Dung Beetle can navigate by moonlight alone and prefer omnivore feces to herbivore.

*The word elephant in Swahili is ‘ndovu’

Enjoy a few of my pictures from my fantastic adventure. 🙂