CONFERENCE PUTS AFRICAN ELEPHANTS AT RISK AGAIN

CONFERENCE PUTS AFRICAN ELEPHANTS AT RISK AGAIN
HARARE - 19 June, 1997
Today, CITES delegates agreed to the conditional resumption of the ivory trade from Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana to Japan. The trade resumption is dependent upon the fulfillment of a number of control and enforcement criteria which will be reviewed in 18 months time.
Greenpeace's Peter Pueschel said he believed the decision sent a frightening message to poachers and ivory traders that it?s profitable to kill elephants again. 'This decision has come about despite significant opposition from other African and Asian countries who are seriously concerned that it will mean the return of uncontrolled elephant poaching in their regions,' he said.
As usual at this conference, the votes were taken by secret ballot allowing many countries who covertly supported this move to escape scrutiny from their public.
Yet these countries - and it is widely believed that the European Union abstained rather than voting against - do bear the responsibility for the impact of the decisions on the populations of elephants throughout Africa.
The USA and Australia were the only countries to announce their opposition to the proposals, citing concerns about the possible re-ignition of the illegal ivory trade which decimated elephant population across much of Africa before the ban came into force in 1990.
Most ivory in international trade is heading for the Japanese luxury and hanko, or name seal, market. 'African elephants and wildlife enforcement officers may yet again pay the mortal price for the hasty decisions of this conference,' Peter Pueschel said.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Contact Greenpeace in Harare: +263-4-111-601450.
NOTES:
1. The elephant downlisting package encompassed five votes. The first vote was on a draft resolution from a working group which set a number of conditions for the resumption of the ivory trade. This was carried (76 yes; 21 no; 20 abstained).
2. The next three votes were for the downlisting of each of the elephant populations in Botswana (74 yes; 21 no; 24 abstained); Namibia (74 yes; 22 no; 24 abstained); and Zimbabwe (77 yes; 23 no; 20 abstained).
3. A resolution on allowing the registration and sale of ivory stockpiles in elephant range states was also carried (90 yes; 18 no; 9 abstained).