21 Jun 2012

UN / ELEPHANT POACHING

A new report by the UN-backed convention on endangered species says that elephant poaching levels are the worst in a decade and recorded ivory seizures are at their highest levels since 1989. FILE

Posted at: June 21, 2012 5:17 pm

Duration: 00:46

Available in: SD

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STORY: UN / ELEPHANT POACHING
TRT: :46
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: NATS

DATELINE: FILE

SHOTLIST:

GABON,  MAY 2011

1. Med shot, elephant in grass
2. Med shot, poachers taking down elephants
3. Various shots, elephants
4. still photo - guns and tusks
5. still photo- ivory tusks that have been confiscated   
6. Wide shot, elephant
7. Med shot, dead elephant

STORYLINE:

A new report by the United Nations-backed convention on endangered species says that elephant poaching levels are the worst in a decade and recorded ivory seizures are at their highest levels since 1989.

The report – Elephant Conservation, Illegal Killing and Ivory Trade – analyses data from the CITES programme on Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants; the International Union for Conservation of Nature's data on the status of elephant populations; the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) managed by the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC; and the CITES trade database managed by the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

According to ETIS data, three of the five years in which the greatest volumes of ivory were seized globally occurred in 2009, 2010 and 2011. In 2011 alone, there were 14 large-scale ivory seizures – a double-digit figure for the first time in 23 years, when ETIS records were first compiled. They totalled an estimated 24.3 tonnes of ivory, more than in any previous year.

The sources of information have shown a very close correspondence between trends in elephant poaching and trends in large-scale ivory seizures, detecting essentially the same patterns at different points in the illegal ivory trade chain, CITES noted.

Large-scale ivory seizures – those involving more than 800 kilograms of ivory in a single transaction – typically indicate the participation of organised crime. Most of the ivory smuggling containers leave Africa through Indian Ocean seaports on the continent's eastern coastline, primarily from Kenya and Tanzania, with China and Thailand the two primary destinations for illegal ivory consignments from Africa, according to the seizure data.

Some African and Asian countries have made significant efforts to enhance enforcement, CITES noted. For example, China conducted earlier this year a major operation which resulted in the seizure of more than 1,366 kilograms of ivory and the arrest of 13 suspects.

CITES said that the critical situation in Africa demonstrates the urgent need to implement the African 
Elephant Action Plan, which was created by all African elephant range States under the auspices of CITES in 2010. The plan envisages investing $100 million over three years into elephant conservation efforts.

The report's findings, largely based on information submitted by governments, will be taken up at the 62nd meeting of the CITES Standing Committee, in Geneva from 23 to 27 July.