Zimbabwe faces embarrassment over illegal ivory sales, reports Iden Wetherell in Harare
ZIMBABWE’S record of ivory management has been described as “grossly inadequate” by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) just six months before the Geneva-based organisation is due to hold a major conference in Harare. The Zimbabwean government has said it will use the conference to have the Cites ban on the ivory trade overturned.
According to a confidential report by a Cites panel of experts, illegal ivory exports from Zimbabwe have been allowed to proceed unchecked. The report, which follows a recent visit to the country by the panel, will come as a serious embarrassment for the government ahead of next June’s Cites summit in Harare, where Zimbabwe will seek international support for its proposal to resume trade in elephant products, including ivory.
The government claims that its exemplary record in elephant management warrants a selective lifting of the current Cites ban on exports.
Zimbabwe’s ivory stockpile is estimated at 30 tons.
But the Cites report says control over ivory carving in the country has broken down, allowing dealers to export commercial quantities to the Far East.
Cites documentation governing the movement of ivory which explicitly excludes commercial shipments has been used by dealers to export raw, worked and semi- worked ivory to a variety of countries including Japan, China, Thailand, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Indonesia, the United States and South Africa, the report reveals.
According to the report, some of the consignments were massive, including a single shipment to Japan valued at US$919 113 (well over R4-million), which had been carved from 70 tusks weighing 663kg.
The report notes Zimbabwe’s Customs Service has a general policy of not implementing trade controls on manufactured ivory products carried as personal possessions, nor does it regulate the transit of ivory into duty-free shops.
It is understood that China-bound bales of tobacco containing hidden ivory were intercepted at the Beit Bridge border post shared by Zimbabwe and South Africa, although this incident receives only an oblique reference in the report.
Deputy Environment and Tourism minister Edward Chindori-Chininga said this week his ministry was aware of the allegations and those responsible for illicit dealings would “face the full wrath of the law”.
But the report claims that the ministry only acted to withdraw the permits of those involved one week before the panel’s arrival.
“The panel was not provided with any explanation why it has taken so long to take action given that evidence of these abuses had been available since April 1996, if not earlier,” the report says.
Observers say there was a heated exchange between the Cites panel and staff from the National Parks’ Investigations Branch who accused the panel of “interference”.
The report warns of the risk of increased poaching as the cash-strapped Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management, systematically starved of funds by the government in recent years, reduced its resources in high-risk areas such as the Zambezi Valley in the north of the country and Gonarezhou in the south-east.
Declining revenues posed a dilemma, the report warns. “While the department is clearly in need of every source of additional revenue available, including the sale of ivory, its lack of management capability makes it unlikely that the money will be used effectively.”
Zimbabwe has mounted a diplomatic offensive aimed at securing support from neighbouring countries for its campaign to downlist elephants from Appendix One of the Cites convention which forbids commercial trade to Appendix Two, which permits sustainable use and trade.
Although South Africa’s National Parks Board originally said it would oppose downlisting, it now appears to be bound by a decision of the Southern African Development Community to support Zimbabwe.
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