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BACKGROUND
P.17
1.
Mr Nicholas Soames, MP and Mrs Kent of "Friends of Conservation"
are calling on the Minister to discuss African elephants. Mrs Kent's
letter to Mr Soames is attached. Mr Tom Sackville, MP is calling
separately to discuss the situation in Zimbabwe regarding elephants/ivory trade and black rhinos.
2. The plight of the African elephant has recently been highlighted by a spate of television programmes and articles. It is currently listed
This
on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to which UK is a party. means that trade in ivory may take place only if certain strict criteria are met, for example, exports of raw ivory must not exceed quotas set by
the CITES Secretariat. UK now believes that there is a case for
transferring the African elephant to Appendix I which imposes a worldwide complete ban on all trade in raw and worked ivory. This will be discussed at the next CITES Conference in October.
3. At the recent EC Environment Council, UK proposed an immediate ban on the import into the Community of all raw and worked ivory. This was strongly supported by other member states but, since the Danes were not
empowered to act formally at that point, the Commission is to put forward a formal proposal soon. In the meantime, member states may take their own measures, and UK will bring in an immediate ban.
4. The assistance we currently give for conservation of elephants is
limited. We are most actively involved in Kenya: we are funding a wildlife edviser and two game wardens in the Wildlife Department; one of the game wardens acts as the co-ordinator of the Kenya Rhino Rescue Project. The UK (MoD) has also provided 19 British Army Bedford lorries for use in anti-poaching activities. We are discussing with the Kenyan
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