The ivory trade and elephant conservation

2004 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 309-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
DANIEL STILES
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Wildlife Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
African Elephant ◽  
Population Declines ◽  
Trade Restrictions ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Quantitative Evidence ◽  
Elephant Conservation ◽  
Ivory Trade

In response to significant elephant population declines in the 1970s and 1980s because of poaching for ivory, the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) banned the international trade in Asian and African elephant species by listing them on Appendix I in 1973 and 1989, respectively. Many southern African countries disagreed with the African elephant trade ban and have continued to argue against it since the mid-1980s. They maintain that their governments practise sound wildlife management policies and actions and, as a consequence, their national elephant populations have reached unsustainable size. They argue that they should not be penalized because other countries cannot manage their wildlife. Further, they say they need the proceeds from ivory and other by-product sales to finance conservation efforts. In 1997, the CITES Conference of Parties voted to allow Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe to auction off 50 tonnes of government ivory stockpiles to Japanese traders on a one-off experimental basis, which took place in 1999. Ivory trade opponents allege that this sale stimulated ivory demand, resulting in a surge of elephant poaching. Nevertheless, CITES voted again in 2002 to allow Botswana, Namibia and South Africa to auction off another 60 tonnes of ivory after May 2004. Trade opponents have launched an active campaign to prevent the sales, warning that they could provoke a renewed elephant holocaust. This paper reviews available quantitative evidence on ivory trade and elephant killing to evaluate the arguments of the ivory trade proponents and opponents. The evidence supports the view that the trade bans resulted generally in lower levels of ivory market scale and elephant poaching than prevailed prior to 1990. There is little evidence to support claims that the 1999 southern African ivory auctions stimulated ivory demand or elephant poaching. Levels of elephant poaching and illegal ivory trading in a country are more likely to be related to wildlife management practices, law enforcement and corruption than to choice of CITES appendix listings and consequent extent of trade restrictions. Elephant conservation and public welfare can be better served by legal ivory trade than by a trade ban, but until demand for ivory can be restrained and various monitoring and regulation measures are put into place it is premature for CITES to permit ivory sales.

scholarly journals The African elephant: conservation and CITES

Oryx ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-119
Author(s):  
Robin Sharp
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Endangered Species ◽  
Loxodonta Africana ◽  
African Elephant ◽  
The Political ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Medium Term ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Elephant Conservation

Human beings have been making (and almost certainly trading in) ivory artefacts for some 10,000 years. Yet it is only 8 years since the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) placed a complete ban on international trade in elephant products by listing the African elephant Loxodonta africana on Appendix I at Lausanne in 1989. Nevertheless, at the 10th Conference of the Parties to CITES in Harare this coming June, the listing will be challenged again by three of the Southern African countries who originally opposed it. This article describes what has happened on the ground since 1989, the political developments, examines the downlisting proposals, and looks at possible ways forward in the short- and medium-term. The views expressed are personal to the author.

CITES and the African Elephant

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-70
Author(s):  
Tatenda Leopold Chakanyuka
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Endangered Species ◽  
African Elephant ◽  
Illegal Trade ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Illegal Markets ◽  
Current Population ◽  
Ecological Imperialism ◽  
Ivory Trade ◽  
The Impact

Abstract This article focuses on the impact of the ban of international trade of the ivory of the African elephant under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. This species is overpopulated in some countries and threatened in other countries. Overall, its current population and the level of decline suggest a species that is endangered. The population disparities have created misunderstandings in terms of how to address the issues. Controversy has surrounded the two instances of legal sales of ivory, and the continuing ban on ivory trade from 1989 has contributed to animosity between pro-ban Western ‘conservationists’ and anti-ban African countries, with accusations of ‘ecological imperialism’ being levelled at some of the protagonists. The article observes that the vast global ivory market has largely been sustained by countries that have failed to effectively enact laws and/or enforce them, as well as failing to deal with corruption and illegal markets within their jurisdictions. It is argued that identifying such culprit countries and their role in promoting elephant poaching and ivory trade, and identifying the reasons behind the poaching and illegal trade, is crucial in reducing the incidence of poaching. The article argues that with a better understanding of the illegal trade, CITES can take deliberate steps to assist countries involved in the ivory trade where they need that support.

scholarly journals The Conservation of African Elephants under the CITES International Ivory Trade Ban

2021 ◽  
pp. 71-83
Author(s):  
Tatenda Leopold Chakanyuka
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Economic Incentives ◽  
Domestic Market ◽  
Illegal Trade ◽  
African Elephants ◽  
Elephant Conservation ◽  
The One ◽  
Ivory Trade ◽  
Opening Up

1989 CITES decision to put a total ban on international trade in ivory and the decisions to allow the 1999 and 2008 one-off-sales have generated polarized debates on whether or not these decisions are the reasons behind increasing levels of poaching in Africa. An undisputed fact is that; international illegal ivory trade has promoted rampant elephant poaching in Africa. What has and is contested is whether the ban or the one-off sales have a role to play in the current elephant poaching and increase in the illegal ivory trade. The Southern African range countries blame the international ivory trade ban for the current ivory poaching levels, while Countries such as Kenya, Benin and Uganda have blamed the sales for reigniting international appetite for ivory. The available evidence suggests that the international ivory trade ban with an unbanned domestic market has promoted poaching and negatively impacted on range countries’ ability to effectively and sustainably protect elephants. Besides the reduction or elimination of revenue, the ban undermined the economic incentives associated with elephant conservation, thereby making elephant conservation unattractive, unachievable and subsequently opening up to poaching and illegal trade.

scholarly journals The influence of socioeconomic factors on the densities of high-value cross-border species, the African elephant

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e2581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah-Anne Jeanetta Selier ◽  
Rob Slotow ◽  
Enrico Di Minin
Keyword(s):  
Population Density ◽  
Socioeconomic Factors ◽  
Land Use Planning ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Far East ◽  
African Elephant ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Elephant Conservation ◽  
The Impact

Unprecedented poaching levels triggered by demand for ivory in Far East Asia are threatening the persistence of African elephantLoxodonta africana. Southern African countries make an important contribution to elephant conservation and could soon become the last stronghold of elephant conservation in Africa. While the ecological factors affecting elephant distribution and densities have extensively been accounted for, there is a need to understand which socioeconomic factors affect elephant numbers in order to prevent conflict over limited space and resources with humans. We used elephant count data from aerial surveys for seven years in a generalized linear model, which accounted for temporal correlation, to investigate the effect of six socioeconomic and ecological variables on the number of elephant at the country level in the Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area (GMTFCA). Important factors in predicting elephant numbers were the proportion of total land surface under cultivation, human population density and the number of tourists visiting the country. Specifically, elephant numbers were higher where the proportion of total land surface under cultivation was the lowest; where population density was the lowest and where tourist numbers had increased over the years. Our results confirm that human disturbance is affecting elephant numbers, but highlight that the benefits provided by ecotourism could help enhance elephant conservation. While future studies should include larger areas and more detailed data at the site level, we stress that the development of coordinated legislation and policies to improve land-use planning are needed to reduce the impact of increasing human populations and agriculture on elephant.

The Reasoning Structure in Legal Disputes on the International Trade of Biotechnology: From a Judicial Balance by Chance to a Judicial Balance by Design

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Alessandra GUIDA
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Technology Innovation ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Trade Restrictions ◽  
Competing Interests ◽  
The World ◽  
National Economies ◽  
Biotech Products

The international trade in biotech products boosts national economies and advances scientific as well as technology innovation. However, while trading these products increases the spread of benefits on a global scale, it also increases risks to human health and the environment (ie biosafety). This is because the effects of this technology on biosafety are still highly uncertain. Against this background, the judicial bodies under the World Trade Organization (WTO) find themselves in the middle of an intricate and polarised debate in which a proper judicial balance between free trade and biosafety becomes fundamental in order to determine whether requests for ensuring human and environmental health justify trade restrictions. This paper aims to highlight that the WTO is institutionally unready for balancing economic and non-economic values. In suggesting how to rationalise the judicial balance between the competing interests in the context of biotechnology, this paper demonstrates that the judicial adoption of a well-structured proportionality analysis can turn the current balance by chance into a balance by structure.

scholarly journals Forecast of International Trade of Lithium Carbonate Products in Importing Countries and Small-Scale Exporting Countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1251
Author(s):  
Yichi Zhang ◽  
Zhiliang Dong ◽  
Sen Liu ◽  
Peixiang Jiang ◽  
Cuizhi Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Prediction Method ◽  
Lithium Ion ◽  
Lithium Carbonate ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Trade Restrictions ◽  
Energy Field ◽  
Structure Of Trade

As the raw material of lithium-ion batteries, lithium carbonate plays an important role in the development of new energy field. Due to the extremely uneven distribution of lithium resources in the world, the security of supply in countries with less say would be greatly threatened if trade restrictions or other accidents occurred in large-scale exporting countries. It is of great significance to help these countries find new partners based on the existing trade topology. This study uses the link prediction method, based on the perspective of the topological structure of trade networks in various countries and trade rules, and eliminates the influence of large-scale lithium carbonate exporting countries on the lithium carbonate trade of other countries, to find potential lithium carbonate trade links among importing and small-scale exporting countries, and summarizes three trade rules: (1) in potential relationships involving two net importers, a relationship involving either China or the Netherlands is more likely to occur; (2) for all potential relationships, a relationship that actually occurred for more than two years in the period in 2009–2018 is more likely to occur in the future; and (3) potential relationships pairing a net exporter with a net importer are more likely to occur than other country combinations. The results show that over the next five to six years, Denmark and Italy, Netherlands and South Africa, Turkey and USA are most likely to have a lithium carbonate trading relationship, while Slovenia and USA, and Belgium and Thailand are the least likely to trade lithium carbonate. Through this study, we can strengthen the supply security of lithium carbonate resources in international trade, and provide international trade policy recommendations for the governments of importing countries and small-scale exporting countries.

International Trade and Economic Performance in Tanzania: Further Evidence

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Ally A. L. Kilindo
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
International Trade ◽  
Economic Performance ◽  
Trade Restrictions ◽  
Correction Model ◽  
Spurious Regression ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Reform Period ◽  
Manufactured Goods

Abstract The study investigated the role of international trade in economic performance in Tanzania for the post reform period, from 1980 to 2018. International trade is measured by disaggregated imports and exports while economic performance is measured by GDP growth. Exports are disaggregated into manufactured goods and non-manufactured goods while imports are disaggregated into capital goods and intermediate goods. To obtain robust non-spurious regression results, Dickey-Fuller (D-F) and Phillips-Peron (PP) Unit Root tests were performed. Johansen Co-integration tests were employed to investigate long-run relationships between export, imports and economic growth. The Johansen test suggested a long-run relationship between international trade and its components and economic development. In addition, the Error Correction Model (ECM) results further supported a long-run relationship between international trade and economic growth in Tanzania. This calls for further opening of the economy and further liberalisation of trade restrictions.

Chairman cotton: Socialist Bulgaria’s cotton trade with African countries during the early Cold War (1946–70)

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Jan Zofka
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Foreign Trade ◽  
Economic Assistance ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Mutual Economic ◽  
Mutual Economic Assistance ◽  
Globalization Studies ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Cotton Trade

Abstract This article follows Bulgarian officials engaged in cotton and textile exchange with African states in the early Cold War. These officials founded enterprises for carrying out transactions, collected information on prices at international cotton exchanges and attended meetings of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) to coordinate trade activities in capitalist markets. Exploring how Bulgarian foreign trade organizations positioned themselves on the scene of international trade, this article argues that cotton traders, instead of upholding the supposed bloc bipolarity of the Cold War, followed the logic of the markets they worked in. A focus on trade infrastructures in particular shows that early Cold War East–South trade was not as strictly bilateral as official agreements and statistics suggest and reveals the systematic embeddedness of the socialist traders’ practices in global capitalist structures. In the field of cotton, the globalizing economy of the early Cold War was not cut in half, as globalization studies have implied.

scholarly journals Human impacts on the environment and wildlife in California’s past: Lessons from California archaeology

2021 ◽  
Vol 107 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-319
Author(s):  
Julia Renee Prince-Buitenhuys ◽  
Colleen M. Cheverko ◽  
Eric J. Bartelink ◽  
Veronica Wunderlich ◽  
Kristina Crawford
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Wildlife Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Niche Construction ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Central California ◽  
European Contact ◽  
Human Niche Construction ◽  
Ecological Baselines

The long history of human-animal interactions in California prior to European contact is frequently not considered when setting ecological baselines and, by consequence, when planning conservation and management expectations and strategies for native species. This article reviews archaeological perspectives that explore the relationship between human niche construction, plant and wildlife populations, and human health in pre-European contact Central California, with an emphasis on the Central Valley and Delta, the surrounding foothills, and the San Francisco Bay Area. A summary of the archaeological record for Central California is provided, along with how niche construction and related evolutionary based models have been used in prehistoric California. Examples of the influences of human niche construction on flora, fauna, and human health from the archaeological and ethnographic record are then discussed. This information is tied to modern wildlife research and management practices that would serve contemporary fish and wildlife management given that human influences on species “natural” habitats and ecological baselines extends much further into the past than current ecological baselines and wildlife management strategies traditionally recognize.

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