THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS ON THE ISSUE OF TRADE IN RHINO HORN

THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS ON THE ISSUE OF
TRADE IN RHINO HORN


by BRIAN KAJENGO
Recent media reports on the issue of possible trade in rhino horns by
South Africa have been mischievous and have evidently playing to
the gallery by seeking to create confusion with regards to the
government=E2=80=99s position on the proposed trade in rhino horns.


The South African government is well aware of the worldwide assault on
wildlife, particularly rare and endangered species. South Africa, as
home to more than 80% of the world=E2=80=99s rhino population, has been facing
an onslaught from rhino poaching syndicates since 2008.

“Our initiatives to address rhino poaching have incorporated not only
increasing the number of rangers protecting our wildlife, but also
improving regional and international collaboration with range and
consumer states. It has also included introducing legislation and policy
measures to support the tasks of those working to ensure rhino and other
wildlife threatened by poachers and crime syndicates protected and
will not become extinct.

“While the Department of Environmental Affairs was authorised by Cabinet
last year to explore the possible legalisation of trade in rhino horn
with CITES at the 17th Conference of Parties in 2016, no final proposal
compiled, or decision made, regarding the future legal trade in
rhino horn as an additional intervention to reduce the levels of
poaching.” Mr. Fundisile Mketeni said.

Fundisile says this means no final proposal compiled regarding the future
legal trade in rhino horn as an additional intervention to reduce the
levels of poaching.

Since the start of 2014, 442 rhino have poached in South Africa
and 123 suspected poachers arrested.  The Kruger National Park has lost
293 rhino to poachers, with 56 people, including a former ranger and two
policemen arrested for poaching.

“Of the total number of rhino poached, 48 rhino killed in
Limpopo, 41 in KwaZulu-Natal and 28 in North West.” He said.

International anti-trade campaigns gather momentum, it is of
critical importance to emphasise that South Africa=E2=80=99s position regarding
the trade in rhino horn is being distorted by the anti-trade lobby and
the media.

A Panel of Experts, under the chairmanship of the Deputy Director
General: Biodiversity and Conservation in the Department of
Environmental Affairs, Mr Fundisile Mketeni, appointed to
assist the Inter-Ministerial Committee appointed by Cabinet to
deliberate on the matters relating to a possible trade in rhino horn.

“The Panel of Experts has started its work and will, in the coming
months, listen to all sides of the trade debate before submitting a set
of recommendations to the Inter-Ministerial Committee.   No proposal to
CITES will be finalised until all the questions related to the trade in
rhino horn comprehensively debated and investigated.” Fundisile Mketeni said.

The proposal tabled to CITES in 2016 based on sound
research, take into consideration the terms of the recent London
Declaration.  It will not be influenced by any individual wanting to
=E2=80=9Cline their pockets=E2=80=9D or any group opposed to South Africa=E2=80=99s
sustainable utilisation policies. The proposal is part of a set of
holistic interventions introduced by government, SANParks and
conservation institutions to stem the tide of rhino poaching.

The suggestion by the Director of the University of Pretoria=E2=80=99s
Conservation Ecology Unit, Professor Rudi van Aarde, that poaching is
not an ecological, but a political problem and that the remark by
Environmental Affairs Minister, Mrs Edna Molewa, in which she was quoted
as saying that South Africa =E2=80=9Cdid an ivory once-off sale and elephant
poaching has not been a problem since=E2=80=9D is mischievous.

Minister Molewa=E2=80=99s remark was made during an interview with a foreign
news agency at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in the field
of Biodiversity and Conservation between South Africa and Mozambique in
the Kruger National Park on 17 April 2014.

It is important to note that South Africa=E2=80=99s elephant were not affected
by poaching for more than a decade following the once-off sale, approved
by the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of
Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 2007. The sale of ivory by South Africa,
Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe in November 2008 to approved Chinese and
Japanese buyers was authorised by CITES, and was the first sale
permitted following a ban on the trade in elephant and elephant products
by CITES in 1989.

While South Africa has been fortunate to escape the onslaught on
elephant populations by poachers across Africa in recent years, the
country is ready to deal with any elephant poaching incidents.  Safety
and security measures developed, and actions taken, alongside
steps to address the menace of rhino poaching, to ensure elephant
poaching does not increase in South Africa.

South Africa has been mindful of any attempts by international criminal
syndicates to expand their elephant poaching operations across the
country=E2=80=99s borders, particularly since South Africa was warned at the
16th Conference of Parties to CITES in Bangkok, Thailand, in March 2013,
that elephant poaching was expected to become a problem as of the start
of 2014.

The cross-border crime of rhino and elephant poaching, as with all
wildlife crimes, requires coordinated and joint responses not only by
individual countries and environmental authorities, but also by
domestic, regional and international security agencies to ensure that
terrorist groups and well-organised cross border crime syndicates are
unable to benefit from particularly endangered species such as the rhino
and elephant.

Poaching remains the biggest threat to South Africa=E2=80=99s rhino and our
successful conservation track record.  Addressing this scourge is not
simple and there is no single solution. South Africa believes that the
decision to table a proposal at the next CITES COP is timeous, and may
be a step towards addressing a scourge that is decimating one of our
iconic Big Five species.   South Africa is however not in any way
insinuating that the possible trade in rhino horns would be a panacea to
the problem of poaching.

While the government=E2=80=99s decision on whether to table a proposal at the
CITES COP17 or not will be based on the outcome of the Inter-Ministerial
process, South Africa believes that legalising the trade in rhino horn
will in no way contribute to increased poaching.
 South Africans and members of the international community are
encouraged to report incidents of poaching and tip-offs to the anonymous
tip-off lines 0800 205 005, 08600 10111 or Crime-Line on 32211