High level wildlife indaba kicks off

23 Jun, 2019 - 00:06 0 Views
High level wildlife indaba kicks off

The Sunday Mail

Tanyaradzwa Rusike

ZIMBABWE will lobby for relaxation of conditions in the trade of elephants and ivory during the inaugural Wildlife Economy Summit, which begins today in Victoria Falls, Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Priscah Mupfumira has said.

The summit will bring together countries under the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) and presents an opportunity for the countries to establish a common position on issues of sustainable wildlife management ahead of the CITES meeting in August.

Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe form the KAZA bloc which is home to more than 250 000 elephants out of the estimated 400 000 elephants worldwide.

KAZA nations, including hosts Zimbabwe are pushing for relaxation of the stringent conditions of trade for both elephants and ivory, which have resulted in the elephant population growing beyond the holding capacity of the environment.

Ivory has also stockpiled owing to a worldwide ban on its trade.

As a resultant, Zimbabwe and other regional counterparts are considering withdrawing from the Convention of International Trade on Endangered Species (CITIES).

Minister Mupfumira said the summit will draw participants from over 30 countries.

“This is tMupfumira.

“It gives us a platform to showcase our conservancy successes, share principles on sustainable conservation, and highlight our position on elephant trade as we prepare for CITES in                                                                                        August.

“There are issues we need to look at together and address as part of KAZA.

“These include issues that are subject to much discussion in CITES which include condition for trade and our stocks of ivory.

“Our position is to make sure our communities benefit from the disposal of our ivory.

“We are trying to make sure that we use our resources for the socio-economic benefit of our communities and promote our tourism industry.

“We hope the resolutions will help us achieve our vision.

“The conference also offers us an opportunity to showcase Zimbabwe and our ability to organise such a conference.”

The conference is sponsored by the African Union and United Nations.

Delegates from the United State of America, Germany and the United Kingdom — led by deputy minister of environment Thérèse Coffey — started arriving yesterday.

The summit is expected to receive a high level official opening tomorrow.

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