23 July 2012 - Geneva
– Poor performances by key countries are
threatening the survival of wild rhinos,
tigers and elephants, a new WWF report has
found. The analysis, released as governments
gather in Geneva this week to discuss a
range of issues related to wildlife trade,
rates 23 of the top African and Asian nations
facing high levels of poaching and trafficking
in ivory, rhino horn and tiger parts.
The report, entitled
Wildlife Crime Scorecard: Assessing Compliance
with and Enforcement of CITES Commitments
for Tigers, Rhinos and Elephants, examines
of the many countries considered as range,
transit or consumer countries for these
species. It gives countries scores of green,
yellow or red for each animal, as applicable,
as an indicator of recent progress. WWF
has found that illegal trade persists in
virtually all 23 countries reviewed, but
the scorecard seeks to differentiate between
countries where it is actively being countered
from those where current efforts are entirely
inadequate.
Asian demand drives
poaching
Among the worst performers
is Viet Nam that received two red scores,
for rhinos and tigers. Viet Nam is identified
in the report as the top destination country
for rhino horn, which has fuelled a poaching
crisis in South Africa. A record 448 South
African rhinos were killed for their horns
in 2011 and the country, which itself receives
a yellow for rhinos, has lost an additional
262 already this year. According to the
report, many Vietnamese have been arrested
or implicated in South Africa for acquiring
rhino horns illegally, including Vietnamese
diplomats.
“It is time for Viet
Nam to face the fact that its illegal consumption
of rhino horn is driving the widespread
poaching of endangered rhinos in Africa,
and that it must crack down on the illegal
rhino horn trade. Viet Nam should review
its penalties and immediately curtail retail
markets, including Internet advertising
for horn,” said Elisabeth McLellan, Global
Species Programme manager at WWF.
Inadequate enforcement
of domestic ivory markets in China is also
highlighted in the report. China receives
a yellow score for elephants indicating
a failure by the country to effectively
police its legal ivory markets. “The ongoing
flow of large volumes of illegal ivory to
China suggests that such ivory may be moving
into legal ivory trade channels,” the report
says.
China is urged to dramatically
and consistently improve its enforcement
controls for ivory and to communicate to
Chinese nationals in Africa that anyone
caught importing illegal wildlife products
into China would be prosecuted, and if convicted,
severely penalized.
Poaching crisis across
Africa
Tens of thousands of
African elephants are being killed by poachers
each year for their tusks and China and
Thailand are top destinations for illegal
African ivory. Thailand receives a red score
for its failure to close a legal loophole
that makes it easy for retailers to sell
ivory from poached African elephants.
“In Thailand, illegal
African ivory is being openly sold in up-scale
boutiques that cater to unsuspecting tourists.
Governments will be taking up this troubling
issue this week. So far Thailand has not
responded adequately to concerns and, with
the amount of ivory of uncertain origin
in circulation, the only credible option
at this stage is a ban on ivory trade,”
McLellan said.
Elephant poaching is
at crisis levels in Central Africa, where
rhinos were likely poached to extinction.
Last year witnessed the elephant highest
poaching rates across the continent since
records began. Early this year hundreds
of elephants were killed in a single incident
in a Cameroon national park. “Given the
escalation of elephant poaching in Africa
and the increased levels of organized crime
involved in the trade, it is clear that
the situation is now critical,” the report
found.
Wildlife crime not only
poses a threat to animals, but is a risk
to people, territorial integrity, stability
and rule of law. Regional cooperation is
needed in Central Africa to counter the
flows of illegal ivory and arms spilling
across borders. WWF commends Central African
governments for signing a regional wildlife
law enforcement plan and urges them to make
its implementation a top priority, allocating
resources to the plan and improving the
efficacy of prosecutions for those implicated
in poaching or illegal trade.
“Although most Central
African countries receive yellow or red
scores for elephants, there are some encouraging
signals. Last month Gabon burned its entire
ivory stockpile, to ensure that no tusks
would leak into illegal trade, and President
Ali Bongo committed to both increasing protections
in the country’s parks and to ensuring that
those committing wildlife crimes are prosecuted
and sent to prison,” said WWF Global Species
Programme manager Wendy Elliott.
Best performers
Other bright spots from
the report are green scores for India and
Nepal for each of the three species groups.
In 2011, Nepal celebrated a year without
any rhino poaching incidents, which was
largely attributed to improvements to anti-poaching
and other law enforcement efforts.
WWF’s Wildlife Crime
Scorecard is being released as member countries
of the Convention on International Trade
in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora (CITES) hold their annual Standing
Committee meeting. The conservation organization
is set to launch a global campaign to fight
illegal wildlife trade, which is putting
the future of elephants, rhinos and tigers
at risk. Learn more at panda.org/wildlifecrime.
+ More
China’s 20 billion dollar
pledge to Africa needs social and environmental
safeguards
20 July 2012 - Beijing
– At the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation
Ministerial Conference (FOCAC) 2012 China
pledged US$20 billion in credit to assist
African countries to develop infrastructure,
agriculture and manufacturing projects.
WWF asks that green lending principles are
applied and that robust strategic environmental
and social assessments accompany the roll-out
of the package.
“The challenge now is
to translate these commitments into concrete
projects that will deliver social and environmental
benefits and therefore effective sustainable
development for all,” said Laurent Some,
Director of External Relations and Partnerships
at WWF Africa Programme. “WWF will engage
with governments, businesses and other actors
to help this happen.”
At the conference, China
also pledged for the first time to increase
efforts to protect forests and improve forest
management in Africa, a decision welcomed
by WWF.
Africa’s forests are
estimated at 17 per cent of global forest
cover, and include the Congo Basin – the
second largest forest in the world. These
ecosystems are essential for the livelihood
of African communities, for the development
of national economies as well as for the
world’s climate.
“We hope that China
will become a driver for sustainable development
in Africa, based on transfer of clean technologies
and best practices. China and African countries
have an opportunity to shape the economics
of the future,” said Dr. Li Lin, Leader
of the WWF’s China for a Global Shift Initiative.
Established in 2000,
the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC)
is the highest political platform for dialogue
between China and African countries. Every
three years a Ministerial Conference defines
principles and commitments for Chinese investment
in Africa in the following years.
