Harare: Zimbabwe's ivory stockpile has
rocketed to 42,000 kilos up from a previous record of 29,000,
but the country cannot sell it due to a ban, state media
reported on Sunday.
"At the moment there is a nine-year moratorium on the
international sale of ivory from Zimbabwe, it will end in
2016," Romana Nyahwa, acting director for Zimbabwe National
Parks and Wildlife told the Sunday Mail newspaper.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) imposed the moratorium
in an attempt to curb pouching.
"But it is not definite that after 2016 we will be able to
sell our ivory," added Nyahwa.
She said the country would have to apply for a special
permission from CITES to sell the tusks. It costs Zimbabwe $13
million annually to secure the stockpile.
"The proposal will be discussed and if it passes,
permission will be granted for the sale to take place. The
sale will be conducted under some agreed conditions, for
example, selling to specific countries," she said.
Most of the tusks, valued at $10 million, were collected
from conservation areas and rural districts countrywide.
In 2008, the southern African country sold 3.7 tonnes of
ivory for $487,162 approved under an international agreement.
The auction was open only to buyers from China and Japan,
who were required to only sell it within their countries.
According to official statistics, Zimbabwe has an elephant
population of 100,000 but a large number fell prey to poachers
during the country's economic crisis.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, February 06, 2011, 18:16