Cape Town - The South African government refuses to destroy its ivory stockpile
unlike the 25 other countries that have publically destroyed tonnes of ivory to
highlight that ivory should not be traded
On the eve of World Elephant Day (12 August) and leading up to the
17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES (CoP17), in Johannesburg next month, the debate over what to do with
stockpiled ivory is creating a sharp divide between those who favour the
destruction of the stockpiles and others who believe they represent valuable
financial assets.
A continent divided
Although accurate figures are hard to come by, the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
estimates global stockpiles, comprised of ivory from natural elephant deaths,
culling programmes and confiscations from poachers and smugglers – at more than
1000 tonnes.
Since the first ever public destruction of stockpiled ivory took place in Kenya in 1989, 29 such events have been conducted in Europe, Asia, North America and Africa In April, Kenya burned over 100 tonnes of ivory in the largest single destruction event yet.
SEE - PICS: Poacher-defying ivory inferno in Kenya covers sky in black smoke
Citing concerns over the “negative consequences” of doing so, South
Africa’s CITES representative, Thea Carroll, claimed earlier this year that “destroying
ivory will increase its scarcity and thus drive up prices, which, in turn, will
encourage more poaching and illegal trade”.
The government has repeatedly declined to disclose the size of its
ivory stockpile on the basis of security concerns and, in violation of
international regulations,
has failed to submit an inventory of its ivory stocks to CITES. In July,
the Centre for Environmental Rights submitted a request for the pertinent information from the Department of Environmental
Affairs under the Promotion of Access to Information Act.
Together with Zimbabwe and Namibia, South Africa has submitted a proposal to CoP17 that would clear the way to re-opening the international trade in ivory and allow them to apply for permission to legally sell ivory from their stockpiles in 2017.
#ShockWildlifeTruths: CoP17 ivory trade proposal at risk of repeating 2008 mistake - study
Last year, Namibia’s minister of Environment and Tourism, Pohamba
Shifeta, explained his government’s opposition to destroying its stockpile by
stating that the legalised sale of ivory would mean that “we will get a lot of
money, and the proceeds will go to state coffers to alleviate poverty”.
Botswana, while being opposed to the international trade in ivory, also
refuses to destroy its stockpile. According to Tshekedi Khama, the country’s
Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism, “burning ivory would demonstrate
to the communities that the animal has no value”.
In stark contrast, the African Elephant Coalition, a group of 29 Central, West and East African nations has submitted five proposals to CoP17, which, if accepted, would not only close all domestic ivory markets, prohibit the export of live elephants, list all African elephant populations in CITES’ Appendix I and end discussions on re-establishing a legal international trade in ivory, but would also endorse the destruction of existing stockpiles.
The economics of burning ivory
In a recent paper, two Mexican economists, Alejandro Nadal and Francisco Aguayo,
present an assessment of the three most commonly cited policy options for
stockpiled ivory.
Countries like South Africa, Zimbabwe and
Namibia, who favour selling ivory on the international market, believe that
increasing supply will lower prices and reduce the incentives for poaching
while raising income for conservation. As Nadal and Aguayo show, however, these
expectations are based on overly simplistic economic models of poorly
understood markets.
They warn that this option is likely to be counterproductive, noting that “the risk of enlarging demand and having a runaway process in which the ivory trade expands is only too real” and that “there is no theoretical support” for the notion that demand for ivory will drop if the supply is increased via stockpile sales.
Ross Harvey, a Senior Researcher at the South African Institute of International Affairs draws similar conclusions and suggests that economic arguments for the sale of stockpiled ivory are “inadequate and entail implausible assumptions”.
SEE - Saving Elephants: It’s not just about burning ivory
There is real-world evidence to justify these assertions. In June, the
National Bureau of Economic Research, an American non-profit organisation
published a report which suggests that the CITES-sanctioned sale of over 100 tons of
ivory from the stockpiles of Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa to
China and Japan in 2008 resulted in a 71% increase in illegal ivory smuggling
from Africa. What’s more, there is considerable doubt whether the income South Africa raised from this sale actually went
to its supposed purpose of financing elephant conservation.
According to Nadal and Aguayo, the second option, which involves
maintaining ivory stockpiles to allow governments to threaten to destroy prices
by flooding the market through sales if elephant population numbers fall below
a critical threshold, is also premised on simplistic models and obsolete
theoretical notions.
They believe that the destruction of stockpiles is the best policy.
Their argument is supported by Harvey, who recommends that in combination with a ban
on domestic trade, improved anti-poaching initiatives and effective demand
reduction measures, elephant “range states
should put their domestic stockpiles beyond commercial use immediately and
simultaneously”.
The benefits of destroying stockpiles
According to Kenyan conservationist Paula Kahumbu, burning ivory “is a highly visible political statement of intent. As
such it can make an important contribution towards raising awareness of the
issues, stigmatising the purchase of ivory and galvanising global support for a
total trade ban”.
While keeping national ivory stockpiles intact encourages legal and
illegal actors to remain in the business of poaching, trafficking and selling
ivory, destroying these stockpiles eliminates the massive costs of managing and
securing them. It also lowers the risk of corruption – state employees have
been implicated in selling ivory stolen from stockpiles – along with the chances of illegal ivory being laundered into legal
markets.
Ultimately, the spectacle of destroying ivory in public sends a clear message to would-be consumers that buying ivory is morally unacceptable and contributes directly to the slaughter of African elephants, over 100,000 of which were killed by poachers between 2010 and 2012 alone.
What to read next on Traveller24:
- CITES CoP17: What you need to know about this endangered species conference
- #ShockWildlifeTruths: Legal wildlife product sales more than 10 times that of trafficked items
- PICS: All-women exhibition takes on plight of Africa’s gentle giants
