Baraza

Category: Ivory, elephants, enforcement, poaching, wildlife trade | Date: Nov 18 2008 | By: Maina

A coordinated swoop on illegal ivory traders and poachers across 5 African countries yielded one ton of poached ivory and 57 illegal dealers this weekend. The swoop, coordinated by INTERPOL and involving more than 300 personnel from the Lusaka Agreement Task Force (LATF) local police, wildlife authorities and intelligence agencies in the 5 countries, is being described as the biggest crackdown on illegal wildlife trade in the world.

The operation - a result of 4 months of intensive intelligence work which started in June 2008 - was conducted in Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Uganda and Zambia. In Kenya alone, forces consisting of INTERPOL, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), LATF, the National Security Intelligence Services and local police bagged 36 suspects and seized 113 pieces of ivory items weighing 358-kilograms. The Kenya Police and KWS are still tracking four suspects who slipped through the highly coordinated dragnet.

The huge Kenyan operation is summarized thus by the KWS:

A total of 10 KWS field units in areas most prone to illegal ivory trade and trafficking in Kenya participated in the operation. The Kenya Police, Lusaka Agreement Task force, National Security Intelligence Service, Customs Department, the Judiciary and the INTERPOL supported KWS. The operation was conducted in Nairobi, Amboseli, Tsavo East, Mombasa, Isiolo, Marsabit, Narok, Maralal, Nakuru and Aberdares.

The law enforcement agencies in all 5 countries had decided to synchronize the operation in each country so that any suspect who tried to cross borders would be sniffed out and stung at the airports or other crossing points. The approach seems to have worked.

According to the INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K. Noble, Operation Baba is the first in a series of operations of this nature being planned worldwide.

“International co-operation is key to law enforcement today. With the ‘globalisation’ of criminal syndicates, people who abide by the law have no alternative than to confront those syndicates in the international arena,” said Mr. Noble. “This is where INTERPOL’s core function of operational police support services, which can facilitate co-operation between law enforcement agencies in multiple countries, proves its worth.”

I commend all the law enforcement agencies that were involved in this operation and all those who supported the operations either financially, tactically or otherwise. I think with more of these kind of operations in the future, we are finally headed somewhere in the fight against elephant poaching.

Quick Facts:
Operation Baba was so named in honor of Ranger Gilbert Baba, a Ghanaian ranger who was shot and killed by poachers in the line of duty some 10 years ago

The Lusaka Agreement Task Force was created in 1994 by governments in this region as a mechanism for regional co-operation to fight illegal trade in wild animals and plants.

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Tags: elephant, INTERPOL, Ivory, KWS, Lusaka Agreement Task Force, poaching, wildlife trade

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Nov 18 2008 | By: baraza

On the 12th November the International Rescue Committee presented our 2008 Freedom Award to Kofi A. Annan, president of the Global Humanitarian Forum and former Secretary-General of the United Nations, to honor his contributions to the cause of refugees and human freedom. 

Koffi is recognized in Kenya for leading negotiations that ended the post election crisis and conducted two investigations, one that revealed what went wrong during the election process (Kreigeler Report), the other (Waki report) identified the perpetrators of violence who will now be prosecuted.

Lets hope and pray that he has what it takes to find and negotiate a solution to the DR Congo and Zimbabwe.

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Tags: Congo Crisis, Koffi Annan, Kreiger report, Waki report, Zimbawe

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Category: Forests, bushmeat, poaching, wildlife trade | Date: Nov 17 2008 | By: Maina

A US geneticist from the University of Arizona is planning to use DNA testing to study the roaring bushmeat trade in west Africa with a view of identifying “species that can be harvested sustainably”.

According to a report on KTar.com, the geneticist, Hans-Werner Herrmann, will analyze the bushmeat at village markets, track how it got there and study how the information could be used to better manage affected wildlife populations. He hopes that finding species that can be hunted sustainably will curtail poaching and halt wildlife decimation particularly in African forests.

According to Herrmann, rural Africans are driven into bushmeat hunting and trade by extreme poverty and he cannot just say it is bad to hunt without answering the poverty question.

Roughly 1 million tonnes of bushmeat are harvested in the badly ravaged African forests. a CIFOR report that Dr Richard Leakey felt had erred in its recommendations says that 80% of proteins and fats in rural Africans’ diets come from bushmeat. This is a big problem and solutions to bushmeat hunting need to be found before all wildlife becomes extinct.

The study will involve African researchers in Cameroon taking DNA samples from bushmeat in the markets, and sending it to Arizona for analysis and identification. They will then track how the meat got to the market and study how the information can be used to help in management of the affected wildlife populations.

How useful this study will be is subject to debate. Particularly, when they find wildlife species that they perceive to be “bushmeat viable”, does it mean that they will recommend legalization of bushmeat hunting? Perhaps we need this research to prove that there is no way bushmeat can be harvested sustainably.

There are three things that make sustainable hunting virtualy impossible: one, there is not enough wildlife, two, there are too many humans on the planet, and three, our African governments have problems implementing anti-poaching legislation. To me, these are the fundamental questions: not whether wildlife can be harvested sustainably.

Perhaps the researchers - who by the way have applied for a $1-million from the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) for the study - should use these funds to find out how we can prevent the malignant human population growth from overrunning the planet and all wild things that live in it. Better still, these funds could be used to find alternatives sources of protein and income (poverty reduction) for the rural poor in Africa. Alternatives that are not bushmeat.

For wildlife populations to recover, and to avoid imminent mass extinctions, all manner of wildlife trade needs to be stopped - at the very least, as a precaution. We don’t really understand wildlife population dynamics that well to sustainably use it. We haven’t yet fathomed the complex interaction between humans and wildlife to say that we are in control of hunting and trade.

We know a few things though. One, bushmeat hunting has already resulted in the empty forest syndrome, where the forest vegetation is relatively intact but no wild animals live there. Two, governments have good legislation intended to control bushmeat poaching but implementation is weak. Three, losing our wildlife is not good for the planet.

With these truths in mind, perhaps what we need is to stop all human-centric arguments that perpetuate eating of wildlife and start focusing on finding ways to improve wildlife’s welfare.

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Tags: Africa, bushmeat, CIFOR, DNA, extinction, forest, hunting, richard leakey, UNEP, University of Arizona, wildlife, wildlife trade

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Category: Somalia, poaching, wildlife trade | Date: Nov 11 2008 | By: Maina

Yes, it’s hard to believe, but two websites are reporting that military helicopters are leaving the battleships anchored off the Somalia coast to combat Somali pirates, and getting into the mainland to hunt wildlife illegally .

According to a report published today in one of the websites (Garoweonline.com), foreign choppers, which the the local Somali elders have not properly identified, arrived in three separate days and left with live specimens of ostrich and deer. The choppers were later seen landing in warships offshore. Although the elders have not been able to infallibly identify whose warships these are, one was seen to be flying the American flag.

In the other site (Mareeq.com), a reporter, Abdi Guled - despite writing in very bad English - almost certainly believes that the choppers bear the American banner. According to Guled’s report, the local authorities in the pirate infested central Somalia region are colluding with the purported hunters. Apparently, the local chiefs have signed contracts with foreign agencies to transact this illegal business.

The report on Garoweonline says that a local elder in the Maduq region of central Somalia, Mr Mohamed Hussein Warsame, has been interviewed by reporters from the BBC Somali Service about the trade. I have searched for the report on BBC website but I have not yet found it. AllAfrica.com, an aggregator of African news has also carried the report from Garoweonline.

While these might be outrageous allegations, we cannot rule out the possibility of this happening. We have seen foreign military and work forces getting involved in illegal activities in their outposts before. We have all heard the Chinese workforce in Africa being blamed for the escalation of ivory poaching in DRC, Zimbabwe and other states with dysfunctional governments.

If indeed this is happening, then it would be quite a shame. I hope the alleged BBC reporters who have the story can publish it so we can quote from a source perceived to be less biased. A source with a global voice. I hope other independent or big media house journalist can do an independent investigation into that matter. As long as they don’t get kidnapped by Somalia gunmen.

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Tags: battleships, DRC, hunting, Madug, pirates, poaching, Somalia, US troops, wildlife, wildlife trade, Zimbabwe

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Category: China, Ivory, Zimbabwe, elephants, wildlife trade | Date: Nov 10 2008 | By: Maina

Our fears that the one-off ivory auction by four southern Africa states to China and Japan was not going to end well may come true. Not that that is any cause for us to wear a smirk and say “we told you so”, but a time for us to ask CITES to open their eyes.

There are reports in a Zimbabwean newspaper saying that Robert Mugabe’s government - cash strapped and hungry for foreign exchange to pay for imports - is planning to have the Chinese government pay for the ivory with guns Mugabe’s people ordered just before this year’s Zimbabwean presidential run-off. Apparently, Mugabe was facing an imminent end to his three-decade grip on power and decided to buy guns to wage war against the opposition should he loose the elections. The best place to buy these guns was from China since they are not participating in the arms embargo by western nations on Zimbabwe.

The report, published in the Zim Daily, indicate that part of the $480,000 Zimbabwe raised when they auctioned 3.5 tons of ivory last week is earmarked as payment for a cache of military hardware set to be flown into the capital Harare soon. The reports also indicate that in the run up to the ivory auction, “substantial quantities of high caliber weapons” had disappeared from the armory of Zimbabwe’s department of parks and wildlife near State House, Harare. During the same period, 200 elephants are reported to have been killed in the Zambezi Valley bordering Zambia. The Zimbabwe government blames this carnage on foreign animal rights groups which “want to thwart Mugabe’s bid to have CITES relax its trade rules”.

These reports have put the “fear of Mugabe” in conservationists who are now worried that Zimbabwe’s claim of being protector of the elephant is just a sham. Official Zimbabwe reports indicate that the country has 70,000 elephants in the wild, but experts think this is just window dressing by the government to get CITES to approve their proposal to sell all their alleged 20 tons of ivory stockpiles. The head of the wildlife department, Brigadier Albert Kanunga, a retired army officer, had lobbied CITES to allow them to sell 10 tons of ivory but only 3.5 tons were approved.

It is alleged that the ivory auctioned by Zimbabwe was flown out of Harare Airport on Thursday 6 November. If, then, the ivory for guns scam is true, the Chinese will bring Mugabe the guns sooner than latter. Apparently, an earlier shipping of Chinese military equipment bound for Harare had been turned away in the South African port of Durban. That could be the reason why China will fly in the new cache of arms.

Eight years ago in July 2000, a Nairobi based German wildlife conservation organization, ECOTERRA had revealed that Mugabe had sold 8 tons of ivory to China in exchange for firearms. According to the report on BNet website, the ivory had been flown out of Zimbabwe through Libya.

With such a record, it would be feasible to believe that last weeks CITES-backed auction will indeed be used to pay for more guns and ammo some of which - given the mysterious disappearance of arms from the wildlife department’s armory and consequent upsurge of elephant poaching- could be used in “harvesting” more ivory for Mugabe’s government. Which then negates the CITES claim that one-off sales will help elephant protection by reducing the attractiveness of poaching and investing the funds into conservation.

Moreover, Zambian and Senegalese middlemen operating in Zimbabwe organize underground deals through the “close-knit Chinese community” in South Africa to service the high demand for illegal ivory in China. This would imply that even South Africa, the allegorical “Big Brother” of Africa, is not fully in control of the ivory situation. In as much as Big Brother may have a tab of it’s own ivory stockpiles, they cannot rule out being used as a conduit for illegal ivory from tattered Zimbabwe. In short, the entire African continent is not ready for these - in Dr Richard Leakey’s words - ill advised one-off auctions.

In the end, what will save the elephant, in my view, is not how cheap ivory becomes - a la CITES - but how well we convince ordinary Chinese, Japanese and other Asian communities that they can practice their cultural beliefs without Ivory. Remove the demand for ivory and let the elephant roam the sunny grasslands of Africa without fear - like they did for millennia gone by. Legally selling government-held stockpiles will not kill demand.

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Tags: China, CITES, elephant, guns, Ivory, ivory auctions, Japan, Mugabe, poaching, richard leakey, wildlife trade, Zimbabwe

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Category: Ivory, elephants | Date: Nov 06 2008 | By: baraza

Mainstream media like Reuters are reporting good news that Cameroon court has just sentenced a poacher to five years in jail and fined him equivalent of several years of wages for killing eight elephants Local villagers informed the government officials and park guards who caught a young man, Job Akah, 33, with nine elephant tusks and eight tails, fire arms and ammunition in a remote village near the Korup National Park on Cameroons eastern border with Nigeria.

A heavy sentence was passed to deter others. Akah pleaded guilty and will serve his sentence, but something is nagging me. Has justice really been served or are we brushing something really important under the carpet here because it’s easy to do so?

My question is this.. Is Akah’s sentence really justice? Is he really the bad guy? Why would a 33 year old be risking five years of his life and all that money….there’s a slim chance that he’ll survive that ordeal. Even if he does, will he be reformed?

I have been so sad reading all the blog reactions to the story calling this poacher a scumbag, hoping he will rot in jail and that he should even be killed on Care2 website here.

It’s hard to see things from the outside for many people, but having met poachers, I can’t help feeling mad that things are so unfair when it comes to our justice system. Yes he is guilty of killing the elephants and he said so.  But think about it, there is almost no way that this guy was acting alone, the story does not give any other clues.

I for one need three simple answers.

1. Who really is driving the ivory trade in Cameroon? This poacher? Please!
2. Who gave him the guns and ammo? He’s a poor 33 year old….probably one of an army of poachers under someones employment.
3. Who ordered the ivory? Think about it, he is not going to make chopsticks and eat fried rice, he doesn’t need any trinkets, carvings or  ivory jewelry….who is ordering this stuff?

We should be asking who should really be on the docks, in shackles, paying fines, doing time,….not this guy, he’s seeking out a living in a poverty stricken country. Yes he’s wrong, but someone else will continue because we are not addressing the real issue here.

Ofir Drori, director of the Last Great Apes Organisation Cameroon (LAGA) is aware that the trade ivory has flourished in Cameroon in recent years due to the corruption and complicity of some local government officials. This article shows that the corruption is up to the level of the guy who dispenses justice, the police chief!

So, on a personal level I’m not celebrating Akah’s arrest and conviction, I’m weeping for him, because I suspect that those who were involved in arrested him and laying down his sentence, may know better who really should be paying the price for this crime. This system of justice works well for those in the end markets, dealers, traders… especially those from foreign countries.

The recent CITES decision to allow ivory trade auctions has as Richard Leakey says in his latest blog post, “done conservation a great disservice”. Once again ivory prices are rising, and consequently elephants in countries where enforcement is weak like Congo, Cameroon, Kenya and Zimbabwe are up for grabs.

I understand every ones anger every time an elephant dies but maybe I’m getting soft, but I don’t for a second believe that locking up Akah is not going to save a single elephant. I’d appreciate hearing other more balanced views on western blogs especially.

Well, those are my early morning angry thoughts on an issue that really touches a nerve with me..- what do you think about this conviction, has justice been served in this case?

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Tags: Cameroon, CITES, Convictions, elephant killing, ivory trade, richard leakey

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Nov 04 2008 | By: Maina

Tomorrow, the entire world waits for history to be made. For the first time in its 200+ years of independence, the United States of America could have an African American as president. It will be historical indeed as for the first time ever, a person of colour - a minority - will lead the most powerful nation in the world. Now that will be good news to most of the world - if you consider the opinion polls conducted by various agencies around the world.

Elsewhere in South Africa, on 6 November, the last and largest batch of ivory stockpiles will be placed on the block in the ongoing CITES-backed one-off auction between southern African states and China/Japan. They waited 9 years for this and no matter who becomes the next president of the United States, the auction will go on.This is not good news.

It is indeed sad news because selling ivory under the guise of raising funds for elephant conservation just doesn’t make sense. South Africa is not poor. As Paula said in her previous blog at Baraza, the South African proponents of “sustainable” utilization of ivory will be rubbing their hands with glee as they salute what is to them a victory. “We won! we sold Ivory!” is not a phrase that you and I should be surprised to hear being spat out of their grinning mouths. For them it’s more of a statement to the effect that ivory can be exploited sustainably. It has nothing to do with conservation.

It is indeed a bounty in southern Africa this week. Zimbabwe sold 4 tons of ivory on Sunday 2 November raking in a tidy 480,000 American dollars. Namibia which was first to sell its stockpile auctioned 9 tons making $1.2-million. Botswana, which auctioned 44 tons made $1.1-million mostly because their ivory is of lower quality (since the country has the lowest humidity) and is relatively difficult to work. South Africa, with 51 tons in the offing, is hoping to raise more than that. All this money, coming from Chinese and Japanese ivory traders, “will be used in conservation work”, they say.

Kenya, the country of Obama’s late father, is mourning the elephant. They campaigned fervently before and during the CITES Conference of Parties held at the Hague this year for a 20 year moratorium on ivory sales: they got 9. And even before they got the 9, the CITES elite had already given the go ahead for this year’s one-off auction. Now the Kenyan conservationists watch helplessly as the southern African nations bath in wads of cash. Blood money if you ask the Kenyans.

Perhaps an Obama victory will lift their spirits tomorrow. A prize bull has been tethered outside the home of Obama’s paternal grandmother. It will fall when Obama rises. The people of Kogelo will sing, dance and make merry. But after this, they will go on with their life. And on the 6th day of November, 51 tons of ivory will be auctioned in South Africa. The people of Kogelo may not get wind of this. But another group of Kenyans, whose business is to conserve wildlife, will be reminded that it is time to swallow yet another bitter pill of sorrow for the elephant. They will ask themselves what will happen in the next nine years. What will happen tomorrow. Will other African states ask CITES if they can sell their ivory?

Perhaps Barack Obama’s message of change and hope: more specifically “change” will get to CITES. They badly need to change their approach to trade. Some people say that they worry more about the trade than the wildlife. It’s all about the money.

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Category: Ivory, Uncategorized | Date: Nov 03 2008 | By: baraza

Zimbabwe has just sold almost 4 tons of ivory for over $450,000 which they claim will go to the wildlife authority which is practically broke.

The auction of ivory that was sanctioned by CITES started in Botswana  on October 28. The United Nations’ Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) allowed the countries to sell elephant ivory in a one-off trade.

As we’ve mentioned before, to everyones surprise China was approved in July this year as a buyer of legally stockpiled ivory in Zimbabwe, Botswana. Namibia and South Africa. China was approved even though many believe that they do not have adequate means to address illegal domestic ivory trade and to regulate legal trade effectively.

I was especially surprised to read this quote from Crawford Allan, director of TRAFFIC North America - the wildlife trade monitoring network earlier this year in July.

“Now that China has been approved, it has an opportunity to assist African countries, particularly in Central Africa, where elephant poaching and domestic trade goes unchecked, to improve law enforcement capacity, and support conservation programmes,”

It seems terribly premature to state this …even with the ivory sales money, Zimbabwe cannot put elephants protection measures into place at the moment.

Now that Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe have their dosh, it’s South Africa’s turn. They hope to raise R100-million this week, by selling 51 tons of elephant tusks, many of them from culled elephants. Namibia which has the lowest quality ivory (due to low humidity there) realized $150 per kg. If South Africa raises at least this amount per kg they will generate US $750,000 but it’s likely to be more.

Sounds like a lot of money for conservation until you recall that South Africa is not a poor country, with all those diamonds, coal and uranium etc this is small change. One cant help feeling that the glee on some faces is more to do to with winning an argument (that ivory should be sustainably used), rather than relief that a real problem has been solved. Nobody seems to be worried that these sales will put the burden of financing elephant protection in all other African elephant range states. Even if this money was given to other African states it would not make a difference, elephant ranges are notoriously difficult to protect especially when there is a thriving legal trade in a country like China that can bleach any ill gotten ivory.

It’s too late to cry now, but hopefully what these auctions will do is reignite the debate about the value of the ivory trade in this world to elephant conservation.  Is it just me or is there something insane about the lack of logic here. The fact is that the production of ivory trinkets threatens to decimate elephant populations in many parts of Africa and Asia. After spending more than 20 years working on this issue, I know I’ve got a very specific views. But I’m curious about what you think? Should we be legalizing ivory sales to generate funds to protect elephants?
Some people think that there is hope in the 9 year moratorium that will fall into place after the close of auctions. I recommend we all read  the small print, this moratorium is for these four countries only. I predict that Tanzania, Sudan, Congo, Zambia, Mozambie and possibly Angola will seek to sell their ivory stockpiles at the next CITES conference.

Moreover, I suspect that South Africa is likely to continue stockpiling ivory for future sales through it’s elephant culling program which was recently adopted through the new policy “norms and standards for elephant management” dealing with problem elephants in conservation areas.

Unlike elephants we humans seem to have short memories and have forgotten that we put a ban on ivory after we lost more than 80% of Africa’s elephants due to the ivory trade. The culprits were mainly in Japan and China – the same players are still in the game today.

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Tags: Botswana, elephants, illegal killing of elephants, ivory trade, Namibia South Africa, Zimbabwe

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Category: Emergency appeals, Uncategorized | Date: Nov 03 2008 | By: baraza

The tension in the air can be felt in Goma from far away Nairobi. We are in touch with our colleagues on the ground I’ve just heard that the convoy trying to reach Rutshuru (50 miles north of Goma through the CNDP front line) has come across scenes of intense fighting in the recent days with the road strewen with empty shells and casing.

They describe seeing the bodies of Congolese military still lie in road side ditches.  An ugly scene but at least food is moving towards those most in need which will be a huge relief. I’m dreading what they will find when they get there though. All the news agencies are talking about is the humanitarian crisis and are filled with harrowing stories.

The missing rangers are still at large which is very worrying. Where could they be? We hope that they are safe.  At least NGO’s are feeling safer and many have been able to return to Goma.

A tiny piece of potentially good news if true, was reported in the Uganda Monitor “The rebels for now have been persuaded by Rwandan officials, according to several sources, to abandon their plan to occupy Goma which had been abandoned by government troops”.

Our thought are  with all our friends wherever they are in Eastern Congo. We’ll keep you posted as news comes in from the convoy - which is not easy - cell phone networks are on and off.

If you have any messages for the team on the ground please leave them here in comments and we will post the best of the messages here  for them.

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Tags: CNDP, crisis in the congo, DR Congo, Gorillas, Rwanda, Virunga National Park, wildlifedirect

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Category: Ivory, elephants | Date: Nov 01 2008 | By: baraza

Botswana auctions 44 tonnes of ivory

Agence France Presse

October 31, 2008

GABARONE (AFP) — Botswana auctioned 44 tonnes of ivory Friday to buyers from China to Japan at a luxurious resort, officials said, in a closed-door sale expected to rake in millions of dollars.

The auction is the second sale of elephant tusks this week approved by CITES, the international convention that governs trade in endangered species, after Namibia on Tuesday sold more than seven tonnes of ivory for 1.1 million dollars.

Botswana’s wildlife ministry conducted the invitation-only sale at the prestigious Phakalane Resort, but officials declined to give any details of the auction.

The ministry’s deputy permanent secretary Edmont Moabi said a statement would be issued later.

Based on the results of Namibia’s auction, Botswana was expected to earn several million dollars, which CITES requires the country to invest in elephant conservation programmes.

About 108 tonnes of tusks are going on the block around in four southern African countries, in a once-off sale to China and Japan approved by CITES in July.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) approved the auctions — the first in nearly a decade — to sell off tusks from government stocks only to buyers from China and Japan.

While elephant populations in many parts of Africa have been decimated by poaching, CITES says that herds in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe are healthy.

The four countries are home to 312,000 elephants, and their stocks of tusks came from natural deaths or the culling of herds to keep the population under control.

Some conservationists have raised concerns that the sudden arrival of so much legal ivory on the market could make it easier for poachers to slip their ill-gotten wares past regulators.

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Tags: auction, Botswana, China, CITES, ivory sales

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