Application to CITES to down list elephants ready

By MARTIN NKOLOMBA

GOVERNMENT says it is ready to apply to the parties of the Convention in International Trade in Endangered Species in Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to downlist the country’s elephant population from Appendix 1 to 2 to enable Zambia use benefits accruing from the sale of elephants for national development.

Minister of Tourism and Natural Resources Catherine Namugala said the country’s application to downlist its elephant population will have no negative impact on elephants.

She said her statement is supported by a comprehensive assessment of the proposal to downlist the elephant population.

“Zambia’s proposal to down list the elephant population is based on findings of a comprehensive assessment that showed that commercial trade would not be detrimental to the survival of the elephant,” Ms Namugala said.

She said this yesterday at a media breakfast in Lusaka at which she discussed the country’s readiness to apply for the downlisting as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is taking place in Qatar, United Arab Emirates.

Ms Namugala said the application is timely, as elephants are no longer threatened with extinction like they used to be during the early 1980s when their population was 27,000.

She said the sale of elephants and elephant products will benefit both Government and communities living alongside the animals.

Ms Namugala said if the country is allowed to start selling elephants and their products, the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) will be able to carry out its conservation functions more efficiently.

She said ZAWA needs about US$20 million annually to effectively function but that it only receives about US$12 million from Government.

Ms Namugala said Government cannot bridge the gap between the amounts owing to competing national developmental needs.

She said the sale of elephants will also improve the flow of economic resources in areas where elephants are killed.

Ms Namugala said ZAWA gives back 50 percent of all sales it makes from animals killed to respective communities.

She said such communities should expect a marked increase in financial allocations from the authority if Zambia is allowed to downlist the elephant population.

Ms Namugala said this would compensate communities that are adversely affected by human-elephant conflicts.

She said due to the increase in their population, elephants are causing damage to people’s crops and endangering their lives.

She said the proposal to downlist is aimed at facilitating trade in live elephants to acceptable destinations and trade in raw skins from controlled elephants.

She said the proposal will facilitate hunting trophies for non-commercial purposes.

Ms Namugala said apart from that, the proposal will facilitate the sale of 21.6 tonnes of stockpile of raw ivory currently in custody at ZAWA offices.

And Chieftainess Chiyawa supports the country’s proposal to downlist, reiterating that such a development would provide compensation for her subjects whose crops and property are destroyed by elephants.

Chieftainess Chiyawa said her people are experiencing food insecurity due to human-elephant conflicts.
She said the people are afraid to go fishing and to cultivate their fields because of the conflict.