Environment
Burning Ivory to Conserve Africa’s Elephants
By Florence Gichoya
For a third time, Kenya has made international headlines by burning a stockpile of ivory. On April 30th 105 tonnes of ivory were burnt at the Nairobi National Park. It is the largest hoard of ivory to be destroyed globally. On July 19 1989, former President Daniel Arap Moi burnt 12 tonnes of ivory tusks at the Nairobi National Park. The action was a bold statement against ivory poaching and trade in the world.
“To stop the poacher, the trader must also be stopped and to stop the trader, the final buyer must be convinced not to buy ivory. I appeal to people all over the world.” President Moi said during the historic event. The destruction of the seized ivory was influenced by the drastic drop of elephant population in the country, from 167,000 in 1973 to 16,000.
The action greatly influenced the global ban of ivory trade by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in October 1989. The resolution was supported by 76 states with 11 countries voting against. Interestingly, among the opponents of the ban were African countries that wanted to carry on trading ivory with Asian countries. Burundi, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe did not support the ban on ivory trade that was a source of revenue for their countries.
Similarly, other countries followed suit in burning ivory stockpile as a public statement against poaching and ivory trade. Zambia burned 9.5 tonnes of seized ivory in 1992.
Richard Leakey, chairman of the Kenya Wildlife Service, told Scientific American Magazine that following the 1989 burning of ivory, there was a drastic drop in poaching incidences in Kenya. “The number of elephants being killed in Kenya went down from thousands a year to maybe 100 by the end of 1990, and it remained at that low level for at least a decade.”
On July 20 2011, President Mwai Kibaki, burnt five tonnes of ivory at the Tsavo National Park. “We cannot afford to sit back and allow criminal networks to destroy our common future. Through the burning of contraband ivory, we are sending a clear message to poachers and illegal traders in wildlife about our collective resolve to fight this crime in our region and beyond.” Kibaki said.
He echoed Kenya’s resolve to conserve elephants and fight ivory trade. “Through the disposal of contraband ivory, we seek to formally demonstrate to the world our determination to eliminate all forms of illegal trade in ivory.” He said.
The burning of ivory on April 30th sent a strong message to the world to stand against ivory trade. Richard Leakey believes it’s the best way to change perceptions and attitudes of Asian consumers. “My feeling is that many people who are buying this ivory in China and elsewhere simply don’t know what it is doing to elephants. May be they think that it is coming off elephants that have died of natural causes. When Kenya burns $100 million worth of ivory, they’ll say, ‘What the hell was that about?’ It will help open their eyes to what is actually happening.” Richard Leakey told Scientific American.
According to World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), 14 countries have destroyed over 130 tonnes of ivory since 1989. Countries have chosen to either burn or crush their seized ivory, including; Gabon, Chad, Congo, Ethiopia, France, China, Philippines, USA, China and Hong Kong
Still other countries have opted to sell their ivory, with clearance from CITES. In 1999, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe sold 49.4 tonnes of ivory to Japan. The sale precipitated high demand of ivory in Asia, which led to increased incidences of poaching of rhinos and elephants in Africa.
In 2008, CITES permitted Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe to sell 102 tonnes of ivory to China and Japan. Again, the deal saw a surge in elephant poaching.
Kitili Mbathi, the Director General of Kenya Wildlife Service, stated why Kenya was burning the largest stockpile of ivory in the world. “Kenya has decided to burn ivory because the moment you burn it, you are making it beyond economic use. Trophy disposal is left for countries to decide, some opt to crush it.” He said.
Mbathi emphasized that “Ivory is only valuable to Elephants,” and should not be used for other adornments.
According to the Wildlife Conservation Society, 96 elephants are killed every day in Africa, due to the high demand of ivory in Asia.
Demand drives supply
Other endangered species include the Rhinos, which are an easy target for poachers due to the value of their horns. In some Asian countries, the Rhino horn is perceived to have medicinal value. The rhino horn is more valuable than gold, a kilogram sells at more than Ksh 1 million in the black market.
Kenya is home to the third largest Rhino population in the world. According to African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), the poaching of Africa’s rhinos increased by 9,200 per cent between 2007 and 2014, with South Africa losing 1,215 rhinos in 2014.
The biggest challenge is in replenishing the population of elephants and rhinos that have long duration gestation periods. The tragic reality is that high rate of poaching means; there are more rhinos and elephants being killed than those that are being born. A rhino’s gestation period is about 16 months while elephants have a gestation period of almost two years.
Parliament enacted the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act 2013, the law has boosted efforts of wildlife conservation and conviction of poachers. Though the number of arrests has increased, there should be more convictions of poachers, ivory traffickers and their masterminds. Last year, Feisal Mohamed Ali, an ivory smuggler suspect was released from custody yet he is accused of smuggling ivory worth 2 tonnes.
Poaching of African Elephants and Rhinos thrives because of a complex network of cartels, which corrupt law enforcers, custom and immigration officials. The well-organized syndicates are elusive to justice and continue to carry out their crime across borders. Kenya’s cases of poaching have reduced. However, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and Mombasa port continue to be transit points for ivory from Tanzania and Central Africa.
Our coveted wildlife is declining at an alarming rate
By Florence Gichoya
Kenya is losing wildlife at an alarming rate and if something is not done soon we might lose our heritage. Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), the institution mandated to protect our wildlife, has not been up to the task in effectively fighting poaching. Recently the Director General William Kiprono dismissed wildlife conservationists’ call on the President to declare poaching a national disaster.
The question is: When will poaching be, at least, declared a crisis? When we no longer have elephants and rhinos in our parks? KWS is showing laxity and not reigning on the poachers as expected.
The most affected animals are rhinos and elephants and this year, we have so far lost 18 rhinos and 51 elephants. Last year, we lost 59 rhinos and 302 elephants and if the trend continues, in a few years to come, we will not have these animals. Technically, simple calculations dictate that the rate at which rhinos are massacred far out numbers the calves born. A rhino’s gestation period is about 16 months while elephants have the longest gestation period of almost two years.
We pride ourselves in being a home of the Big Five, yet experts have warned us that if something is not done, then we might lose our heritage and our wildlife may one day be a subject in history books. Conservationists have alleged that there has been increased poaching in Africa because of the high demand of ivory in Asian countries especially Vietnam and China. The rhino horn is perceived to have medicinal value in some Asian communities, a kilogram of rhino sells at more than Sh1 million.
Kenya is not the only country facing the brunt of poaching. Last year, South Africa lost more than 1,004 rhinos through poaching, an activity that thrives in a complex network of cartels taking advantage of our porous borders and corrupt law enforcers.
Organised cartels
The culprits seem to be well organized syndicates that use superior weapons and have a network of funders, traffickers and traders who remain elusive to authorities. Although Parliament can be commended for enacting the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act which became operational this year, more needs to be done to end the vice. The security forces must be proactive and make arrests before the killings take place. They also need to conduct thorough investigations so that we can see more convictions from the courts. If poaching is not stopped, it will have a negative ripple effect on the economy.
Tourism is a major foreign exchange earner that heavily depends on our wildlife. The revenue could drastically drop if there are no interventions. For Kenya to retain its position as the world’s ideal safari destination, tougher measures should be adopted to deal with poaching. Right now, the poachers seem to be one step ahead.
Deliberate awareness
New technology need to be adopted to reduce the number of animals killed. The fight against poaching should also involve communities and the private sector. Just like the ‘Nyumba Kumi initiative’, deliberate awareness should be made to communities living in the environs of our national parks and conservancies. Community conservation policy should be encouraged so that people will be on the lookout of suspects and report incidences to the authority. President Uhuru Kenyatta recently said he is disgusted on the rising cases of poaching. He also said he will decisively deal with the matter. Moving forward, the long term solution includes a global ban against ivory and rhino horns trade. The Kenyan government through the African Union should aggressively lobby for the ban, especially in Asian countries. As Kenyans, it is our collective responsibility to speak up and safeguard our wildlife which is our national treasure and pride.
Kenya can set the standard and avoid the ‘oil and minerals curse’
By Florence Gichoya
Many African countries that are rich in minerals and oil have had a symbiotic relationship with conflict. Where oil, gold and diamond thrive in plenty, conflict has not been far from these countries.
Kenya recently exported the first batch of base titanium to China and we could soon become an oil exporter. But when we strike the ‘black gold’ and it becomes viable, will it boost our GDP or do we have to worry about the ‘oil curse’? For a long time Kenya has been the biggest non-mineral economy in Sub-Sahara Africa.
Already, there have been numerous cases of demonstrations by people in Turkana County who demanded for more employment opportunities from the exploration company Tullow Oil. The local leaders have also been agitating for a bigger share of the oil revenue should benefit the locals. The county had been marginalized consistently by previous regimes and with the recent discovery of oil and water aquifers shows that God has finally smiled on the region.
But even as we celebrate our new found wealth, we need to be deliberately cautious so that we don’t become another statistic. The worldwide demand of oil and other minerals supersedes the supply and that’s why pundits have always said that oil revenues tend to increase corruption, incidences of anarchy and dictatorship.
Africa has many bad examples of the trend, for instance the conflict in Niger Delta region in Nigeria between oil companies and local communities. South Sudan has now been plunged into violence and there is the narrative in media reports that the conflict is due to power struggles between President Salva Kiir and former Vice President Riek Machar. However, one can’t ignore the hidden agenda of controlling the country’s vast oil resource. Central African Republic (CAR) has also recently fallen to anarchy with violence between different factions. The country has seen a lot of instability over the years because of coups and counter coups. CAR has large deposits of gold and diamonds. In fact, 80% of the CAR’s diamonds are gems which are of higher value than industry diamonds and their quality is ranked fifth best in the world.
DRC is a another gloomy statistic of how minerals have been exploited by vested interests at the expense of conflict, human rights violation and high levels of poverty among the people. The illegal mining of cassiterite, coltan, gold and tungsten is managed by rebels and illegal cartels that fan conflict so that they can support the supply chain to multinationals that manufacture computers and mobile phones. These companies’ silence on use of conflict minerals is proof of their culpability. So far only one multinational company, Intel, has stated that it’s no longer using conflict minerals in making their products.
All the same oil and minerals are our heritage and can be a blessing if managed well. Kenya can learn a lot from Norway and Canada. The countries have observed democracy over the years and managed to use their oil revenue responsibly. They have invested in education, health, infrastructure and their citizens reap directly from their resources. Here in Africa, Botswana has managed to avoid conflict as it is a major diamond exporter.
We have to do things differently on how we manage our oil and minerals. Transparency and accountability by the government and stakeholders is key. The public should be aware of the flow of minerals from the source, export and process to the final product. Most of the conflicts arise from inequitable sharing of revenue and corruption by government officials.
Mistari Yangu 