Botswana has said that it is against the Kenyan proposal to extend the ban on selling ivory from nine to 20 years.

Briefing the media in the capital Gaborone ahead of the Doha meeting, Environment, Wildlife and Tourism Minister Kitso said the proposal undermined the successful conservation efforts of Southern African countries such as Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

“It negatively affected rural communities who co-exist with elephants and were also victims of poverty. The Kenyan proposal, which is also co-sponsored by Ghana, Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Liberia, was surprising because the nine-year moratorium has not elapsed,” he said.

Botswana, together with neighbors Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa, are expected to shoot down Kenya’s call for the CITES Conference of Parties (COP) to impose the 20-year moratorium on trade of ivory or re-transfer of elephants.

Mokaila will attend the 15th CITES Conference of Parties in Doha, Qatar, from 13-25 March.

“Botswana is strongly opposed to the proposal because it would prohibit the country and other states whose elephant populations were not endangered from down-listing their populations for the purpose of trade in elephant products and derivatives,” the minister said.

According to Mokaila, the proposal by Kenya and her allies was against the spirit of international cooperation and was intended to undermine the consensus reached at the 14th CITES Conference of Parties.

He said CITES agreed that after a nine-year moratorium, the impact of ivory auction sales would be assessed.

Source African Press Agency

African News from NetNewsPublisher.com

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