Zimbabwe, along with three other Southern African nations, has submitted a\u00a0proposal\u00a0for the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Specials of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to be amended to allow trade in ivory. The proposal will be debated during the\u00a0meeting\u00a0of the CITES Conference of Parties (CoP) taking place in Switzerland from August 17-28. Zimbabwe has\u00a0hinted\u00a0that it will withdraw from CITES if the proposal is rejected.<\/p>\n
The proposers\u2019 argument is that southern Africa has plenty of elephants\u2014Zimbabwe has the world\u2019s second largest population\u2014and the ivory trade should be allowed to continue. Cash-strapped Zimbabwe also has\u00a0a stockpile of ivory seized from poachers<\/a>\u00a0valued at $300 million which it is forbidden to monetize under the current rules. The\u00a0proposed amendment<\/a>\u00a0seeks to permit trade in ivory carvings and \u201cregistered raw ivory\u201d, including \u201cwhole tusks and pieces\u201d, subject to certain conditions. It includes a provision stating that proceeds from the ivory trade would be \u201cused exclusively for elephant conservation and community conservation and development programmes within or adjacent to the elephant range.\u201d<\/p>\n Globally, there is no consensus on the best solution for protecting elephants. There\u2019s also a lively political debate around whether or not the commercial trade of ivory could in fact benefit the animals. Some countries and organizations advocate for \u201cnon-consumption use\u201d, while others\u2014Zimbabwe included\u2014believe that wildlife should pay for their own protection costs.<\/p>\n To understand the context, it\u2019s important to examine\u00a0the current status of elephants under CITES<\/a>\u00a0and the solutions currently being explored to protect them from poachers and from extinction.<\/p>\n Under CITES, African elephants are\u00a0listed under two different appendices<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 Appendix I and Appendix II. Species listed on the former can be traded internationally, but not for commercial purposes. Species on Appendix II are not necessarily considered \u201cendangered\u201d, and may be traded for commercial purposes, including live animals and sport hunting, but are monitored for changes in the impact of trade on their survival. Both appendices prohibit the commercial trade in ivory.<\/p>\n Just a few decades ago over a million elephants roamed the African continent. Today, thanks to the demand for ivory, elephants are walking the road to extinction\u2014the population today is estimated at about 625,000.<\/p>\n To figure out how we got here, we have to turn the clocks back to the 1970s, when the demand for ivory skyrocketed. In response, CITES officially banned trade in ivory in 1989, but in 1990 and 2008 allowed the\u00a0one-off sale<\/a>\u00a0of government-owned ivory stockpiles owned by Appendix II nations to designated trade partners Japan and China.<\/p>\nHow the demand for ivory got out of control<\/strong><\/h4>\n