It is an insidious maneuver that plagues politics at all levels: achieve a precedent so you can more easily repeat the bad policy later. So it is with the sale of elephant ivory confiscated from the illegal trade. Robert Mugabe was able to convince CITIES to allow Zimbabwe and three other south African nations with substantial elephant populations to allow a "one-time" sale of 50 tons of confiscated ivory in 1997. That was seven years after the banning of ivory sales worldwide. When the ban came into effect poaching levels across Africa dropped, and the crash of elephant populations halted (1.3 million individuals down to 625,000 in the decade of the 80s). After the "one-time" sale in 1997, poaching levels rose, undoubtably stimulated by new demand for ivory. In 2007-08 CITIES repeated the mistake and allowed another "one-time" sale of 100 tons. To make matters worse, China was made an official ivory buyer, despite its terrible record of enforcing the ivory ban. In Kenya the number of elephants killed by poachers rose from 47 in 2007 to 98 in 2008 and 214 in 2009. According to the Independent, at least 15 tons of tusks and pieces, equal to 1,500 elephants, were seized en route to Asia last year.Now Tanzania and Zambia want to their turn to sell official stockpiles of ivory. Their application will be voted on at the next meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in March. Conservationist fear this sale could be the death knell of the African elephant. Loosing habitat at a fantastic rate, and under extreme pressure from poaching, the large herbivores may disappear from the wild. Allowing another "one-time" sale is simply bad conservation even if it appears unfair to the applicants. Other African countries led by Kenya and Mali oppose more sales. The concession to Robert Mugabe should never have been allowed. It is now clear the official sales stimulate more demand for ivory. There is no justification for repeating the mistake. Are the ultimate sacrifices of dedicated rangers (100 a year die fighting poaching) trying to protect their heritage wildlife to be rendered meaningless? We in the industrialized world have a moral obligation to protect what remains of the world's natural heritage for future generations to enjoy. Urge Secretary of State Clinton to vote against more sales of ivory stockpiles.
[photo: Namib desert bull, US Person]