by Admire Ndhlovu

Elephant range countries in the Zambezi Basin will continue to trade in elephant products following recognition of their conservation efforts by other African range states at a recent CITES meeting.

The 14th Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, commonly known as CITES, held at The Hague early June, ended with a decision to allow Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe further one-off sales of their ivory stockpiles.

The decision which followed intense negotiations among African range states paved the way for Botswana to dispose of 70,000kg of their ivory stocks while Namibia is allowed to sell 50,000 kg and Zimbabwe 15,000 kg of their raw ivory stocks registered by 31 January 2007.

Outside the Basin, South Africa was allowed a one-off sale of 40,000 kg of its ivory stocks.

The agreement also stipulates that once this sale has been completed no new proposals for further sales from these four countries are to be considered by CITES during a “resting period” of nine years.

The long-running global debate over the African elephant focused on the benefits that income from ivory sales may bring to conservation and to local communities living side by side with elephants. The debate also focused on concerns that such ivory sales may encourage poaching.

Going to the conference Zambezi River Basin states faced stiff opposition from some other African range states on their proposal to be allowed controlled trade in ivory and other elephant products.

The opposition led by Kenya and Mali called for a 20 year ban on all forms of trade in elephant products. The two countries were arguing that despite the successful conservation efforts by the Basin states any trade in ivory would boost elephant poaching.

However, following discussions on the sidelines of the conference a compromise deal was reached.

“This African solution to an African problem marks a great step forward for wildlife conservation,” said CITES Secretary-General Willem Wijnstekers.

“It is good news for the elephant, good news for the people who live alongside them and good news for regional cooperation in Africa,” said Wijnstekers.

In 1989 CITES banned trade of ivory as the international demand for ivory promoted poaching and threatened the survival of some elephant populations.

In the Zambezi basin, however, sound management has seen an increase in the elephant populations.

Most countries in the basin now have elephant populations higher than the range can support.

According to the African Elephant Status Report 2007, produced by the African Elephant Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, southern Africa has the largest number of elephants in Africa at nearly 321,000.

This is double that for eastern Africa which boasts about 166,500 elephants, mostly in Tanzania.

Zimbabwe has more than 100,000 elephants yet its carrying capacity is about 40,000.

Botswana has an elephant population of 106,000 which is more than double the country's carrying capacity of 50,000.

Tanzania has greater carrying capacity but also has a high population of elephants, which has increased from 55,000 in 1989 to 141,000 in 2006.

It is estimated that by the year 2020, there will be 400,000 elephants in southern Africa alone, a potentially calamitous situation given the inability of the natural environment to support existing numbers.

Of particular concern is the combined effect of large elephant populations, uncontrolled bush fires and climate change impacts on biodiversity in the Zambezi Basin.

The major effects of the increase in elephant population include soil erosion, vegetation damage and the loss of biodiversity.

The loss of tree cover causes soil erosion, resulting in siltation of water points.

With concerns that climate change will cause unreliable rainfall in the basin this will put more pressure on existing freshwater sources as competition for water increases especially between the larger mammals as well as between communities and wildlife. 

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