Zimbabwe seeks to sell its stockpile of ivory

Zimbabwe sought the support of the European Union (EU) on 16 May to sell the $600 million (R9.7 billion) worth of confiscated ivory the country had accumulated.

Seized ivory. Picture: Flickr Commons/ USFWS Mountain-Prairie

Envoys from the Netherlands, Germany, France, Britain, Switzerland, Canada and the United States were shown the nation’s vault of ivory and rhino horn.

According to Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority director-general Fulton Mangwanya, Zimbabwe has 163 000 tonnes of ivory and 67 tonnes of rhino horn.

Zimbabwe is set to host an elephant summit in May with representatives of 14 other African countries, as well as China and Japan, to consider ways to manage elephant populations going forward.

Zimbabwe has 100 000 elephants, which Mangwanya says is double the carrying capacity of its national parks. ‘We need assistance. These elephants are multiplying at a dangerous rate, 5% per annum’ he said.

‘It will be very difficult for us to do anything but culling which is opposed by everyone,’ Mangwanya added, where together with Botswana, Zimbabwe is home to 50% of the world’s elephants.

The two countries argue that they are struggling to cope with the increasing numbers and requesting to sell their stockpiles to fund further conservation efforts. A similar request was rejected at a Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meeting in Geneva, 2019.

The argument for legalising ivory

The ivory trade was banned in 1989 following a CITES agreement between 181 governments to ensure its trade does not threaten elephant survival.

But the argument coming out of Zimbabwe is that the country should be allowed to sell its confiscated stockpile because the revenue from sales can be used to fund conservation.

Zimbabwe spends around $13 million every year on retrieving and storing ivory and with the country’s economy in turmoil, it cannot sustain such an expenditure.

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