Seeing some pictures of Environment and Natural Resources Minister, Champika Ranawaka donating ivory to President Mahinda Rajapakse prompted me to think whether this country would ever overcome some of its servile attitudes and even customs.

I appreciate all the cultures and traditions that had lasted centuries but on the ivory issue, I strongly believe we need to rethink some of our deeply rooted practices.

For starters, ivory trading is illegal here. Then gifting should, at the least,  raise ethical considerations.

Besides, some activists openly oppose elephants being used in the Esala Perahera in Kandy or them being used by the logging industry.

When one considers the world’s insatiable greed for ivory, it is natural that ivory trading continues. Will the minister also suggest that culled ivory be traded for elephant conservation, as done by some African nations?

Ivory trading

On a more serious note, the ivory debate is strong elsewhere and so are the issues connected. The African nations are looking at ivory trading through new eyes and to stop poaching, efforts are now being made to legally sell stockpiled ivory while the prohibition on culling ivory continues. And the ground rule is that the culled stocks can only be sold for elephant conservation efforts under trade monitoring.

For example, in 2008, some US $ 15 million was raised for elephant conservation through sales according to CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.The massive raising of funds of over US $ 15 million for African elephant conservation and local African communities was accomplished through the sale of 102 tonnes of stockpiled ivory.

Through four auctions, conducted under the strict supervision of the CITES Secretariat, four African countries sold their stockpiled ivory in a bid to protect a species that is severely under threat with increased poaching and the expansion of the ivory market. Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe sold 102 tonnes of ivory to Chinese and Japanese accredited traders for a total amount of US $15,400,000.

The average price paid was US $ 157 per kg, which contrasts sharply with the prices allegedly paid for ivory that has entered the market illegally over the past year that ranges between US $ 750-US $ 850.The idea conveyed is that legal trading can and will fetch much more than illegal trading that has been the bane of the African elephant.The CITES monitored ivory sale was all from legal, government-owned stocks; most of it from elephants that died of natural causes during the past two decades or were culled before 1994 as part of an elephant population control programme.

The proposed sales were unanimously authorised by the 172 CITES member states in July 2007.The trading has nevertheless drawn sufficient criticism that legal sales of ivory indirectly boost illegal trade as it offered a contrast in prices and brings back focus to ivory itself. The levels of poaching and illegal trade have been closely monitored by CITES since the first experimental sale took place in 1999.

 Illegal ivory trade

CITES argues that the levels of illegal ivory trade had decreased in the two years following the first one-off sale. Poaching levels appear to be more closely related to governance problems and political instability in certain regions of the continent.

While the 2008 auctions are considered a record breaking success in terms of the funds raised, the first ivory auction in 2008 held in Windhoek, Namibia paved the way for massive fund raising for African elephant conservation through ivory sales.

The first auction in Namibia caused the sale of some 7,226 kg of ivory and was sold for a total of US$ 1,186,260.At the second auction, held in Gaborone, Botswana, on October 31, 2008, another 43,153 kg of ivory was sold for a total of US $ 7,093,550. At the third auction in Harare, Zimbabwe, on November 1, 2008, some 3,700 kg of ivory were sold for a total of US $ 500,000. At the fourth auction held in Pretoria, South Africa, on November 6, 2008, the largest pile of ivory, some 47,356 kg were sold for a total of US $ 6,703,000.

Affected by poaching

It is important to note that the African nations have been struggling to conserve their species without upsetting old lifestyles and economic practices, which eventually led to poaching, elephant population getting drastically affected by poaching and a host of other problems connected to illegal trading.After banning all international commercial ivory trade in 1989, CITES agreed in 1997 to allow Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe to make the first experimental sales from their existing legal stocks of raw ivory.

The ivory — which weighed almost 50 tonnes and represented 5,446 tusks — was sold to Japan in 1999 and earned some US $ 5 million. The funds were used for elephant conservation activities and the poaching levels in Africa decreased during the two years subsequent to the sale of ivory.The 2008 buyers were all approved traders from China and Japan, which had been given the green light to buy the ivory in July this year, after the CITES Standing Committee concluded that they had adequate national legislation and controls to ensure that any ivory imported would not be re-exported and that domestic manufacturing and trade requirements had been met.     Under the agreement reached by CITES in July 2007, the countries that sold the ivory are obliged to use the funds raised exclusively for elephant conservation and community development programmes within or adjacent to the elephant range.