Posted on 25 September
2012 - New York - Poaching and the illicit
trafficking of wildlife products were raised
on the floor of the United Nations General
Assembly for the first time Monday during
discussions on strengthening national and
international governance. World leaders
gathering in New York for the global body’s
67th annual meeting highlighted wildlife
trafficking along with other severe threats
to the rule of law such as corruption and
drug running.
In a written statement,
permanent Security Council member United
States highlighted “the harm caused by wildlife
poaching and trafficking to conservation
efforts, rule of law, governance and economic
development.” The rapidly-growing illicit
international trade in endangered species
products, such as rhino horn, elephant ivory
and tiger parts, is now estimated to be
worth $8-10 billion per year globally.
“Such organized crime
is increasingly affecting the environment
and biodiversity through poaching and illegal
fishing,” Gabon’s President Ali Bongo said
during the High-level Meeting on the Rule
of Law. “Gabon intends to strengthen its
criminal justice system to combat this phenomenon.
But such efforts will require a greater
international legal cooperation.”
Permanent member France
also emphasized the severity and negative
impacts of wildlife crime. “There are still
entire sectors of activity without any legal
safety,” French Minister Delegate for Development
Pascal Canfin said. “International law is
lacking when it comes to the plundering
of natural resources, for example, or the
trafficking of fauna.”
President Bongo took
the occasion to reaffirm his country’s commitment
to “combating violations of the Convention
on International Trade [in] Endangered Species
of Wild Fauna and Flora as well as other
conventions to protect the environment and
biodiversity.”
In response to record
levels of elephant poaching in Africa, President
Bongo oversaw the burning of Gabon’s seized
ivory stockpile earlier this year after
a full audit supported by WWF and TRAFFIC.
Organized criminal syndicates, sometimes
linked to armed insurgent groups, are believed
to be behind many of the tens of thousands
of elephant poaching deaths occurring in
Africa each year. Ivory tusks are highly
valuable on Asian black markets.
“Illicit wildlife trafficking
can have severe consequences for people
as well as the environment, yet it is not
considered a serious crime by many governments.
It is often a low risk and high profit criminal
activity, which is a dangerous combination,”
said Wendy Elliott, WWF Global Species Programme
Manager. “Governments have made a significant
step forward by introducing the issue into
this important forum on the rule of law.
We now call on all them to increase their
law enforcement responses to wildlife crime
on a commensurate basis.”
Roland Melisch, Director
of TRAFFIC’s Africa & Europe programmes
said: “Good governance is essential to prevent
crimes such as illicit wildlife trafficking.
Countries need to be held accountable to
their commitments under relevant United
Nations treaties.”
WWF and its partner
TRAFFIC, the wildlife monitoring network,
are campaigning for greater protection of
threatened species such as rhinos, tigers
and elephants. In order to save endangered
animals, source, transit and demand countries
must all improve law enforcement, customs
controls and judicial systems. WWF and TRAFFIC
are also urging governments in consumer
countries to undertake demand reduction
efforts to curb the use of endangered species
products.
+ More
African religious leaders
join forces to help stop illegal wildlife
trade
Posted on 21 September
2012 - WWF and the Alliance of Religions
and Conservation (ARC) today announced a
first-ever partnership with faith leaders
from across Africa to unite against the
killing of endangered species caused by
illegal wildlife trade. In an unprecedented
move, 50 African religious representatives
from different faiths and countries have
come together to call for the end of illegal
wildlife trade which is annihilating the
continent’s elephant and rhino populations.
WWF and ARC have worked
with leaders from Christian, Muslim, Hindu,
Jewish, Buddhist and traditional faiths
to align around the wildlife crisis facing
Africa and held several meetings including
a wildlife safari in Nairobi National Park
during which the religious leaders discussed
the role of religion in Africa to halt the
trade. The leaders gave a moving tribute
to all the wildlife exterminated due to
the trade and also prayed for the wellbeing
of local communities and for the many hundreds
of rangers that have lost their lives protecting
wildlife across Africa.
“Halting wildlife trade
is a moral issue,” says Dekila Chungyalpa,
WWF’s Sacred Earth program director. “Faith
leaders are the backbone of local communities,
providing lessons and guidance that shape
how people live their lives. Having religious
leaders from all major faiths come together
to call for the protection of wildlife on
religious grounds and urge their congregations
to view the slaughter of elephants and rhinos
in Africa as a serious crime may turn the
tide of the disaster we face today.”
Illegal wildlife trade
is the greatest threat to many endangered
species, jeopardizing decades of conservation
work and threatening their survival. 2011
saw the highest recorded rates of killings
on the continent in more than two decades
and the largest scale illegal ivory seizures
than anytime in recorded history (equaling
the tusks from more than 4,000 dead elephants).
Rhino poaching in South Africa has increased
more than 3,000 percent in the last five
years. Poachers wipe out tens of thousands
of African elephants every year. Tanzania
and Kenya function as major conduits through
which large-scale illegal ivory goods are
moved through the Congo Basin to international
Asian markets including Vietnam, Thailand
and China.
“Wildlife poaching is
a highly organized crime backed by international
syndicates who also back other crimes such
as gun and drug trafficking. The victims
of illegal wildlife trade include not only
rhinos and elephants but also rangers and
local communities. At a wider scale, we
should recognize that illegal wildlife trade
undermines social stability and peace-keeping
efforts in Africa,” said Chungyalpa.
"ARC has been working
with religions over the past 20 years to
help them explore how to take real action
to protect wildlife. Religious leaders are
seeing wanton destruction of the great species
(and the habitat that nurtures them) as
an attack on both creation and the creator.
This is a really welcome initiative coming
from Africa," said ARC Secretary-General,
Martin Palmer
Abstracts from the Faith
Statements include:
Christian:
When we look with eyes of faith at the wonders
of all that God has created: at the strength
of the lion, the beauty of the gazelle,
the swirling patterns of the birds of the
air and the fish in the waters. When we
see the flowers of the field greater in
their beauty than even Solomon in all his
riches, we should rejoice that God has placed
us in the midst of such a glorious world.
Therefore, when we see this glory diminished
by our sin, greed and foolishness, we should
he horrified and speak out against this
wanton destruction of the wonder that God
has created. We should both repent and seek
to do all in our power to protect all that
God has created.
In the light of this,
our faith, we call upon all Christians,
but especially those of our tradition, to
protect the gifts of God in nature. In particular,
in this time of deep crisis of creation,
caused by human folly and sin, we ask all
Christians to protect and defend our most
endangered species in Africa, such as the
rhinoceros, gorillas and the elephant.
Hindu:
Hindus are guided to act according to dharma,
striving to do the right thing in the most
responsible way. As a pathway to dharma,
Hindus are encouraged to always act in goodness,
sattva. Aspiring for the highest, purest
and most excellent form of action. An essential
principle of goodness is ahimsa, non-cruelty
to others. The practice of ahimsa inspires
us to avoid harm to any living being, to
offer respect to all and to develop the
virtue of compassion in our hearts. .
All Hindus are encouraged
to be respectful of all life on earth and
to protect those who are under threat from
exploitation, poaching and extinction. We
particularly encourage Hindus to defend
the most endangered, including the elephants
and rhinos of Africa and the tigers of India.
The beauty and diversity
of life are sparks of God's splendour to
be cared for in a mood of service.
Muslim:
In the light shed by the Qur’an and by the
Hadith we call upon all the Ulumma of the
faithful to remember that on the Dreadful
Day of Judgement, we must answer for any
wasteful use of creation, any destruction
of a part of nature that was not necessary.
We therefore ask all
the faithful to protect those species in
our own lands that are most threatened,
such as the elephant, gorilla and rhinoceros,
and to assist in the prevention of poaching
and the illegal wildlife trade in order
that on the Dreadful Day of Judgement, when
the community of creatures stand before
Allah, we will not be condemned by their
words.
The richness of this
world is a gift and a blessing from Allah.
May we in turn be a blessing to all that
Allah has made and given to our
