Afternoon tea at the Four Corners
Mbongeni Mguni | Friday April 3, 2015 11:13
In a rarity, the wildlife of Kasane had a feel of what the fuss is about staring. Being the traditional centres of attraction in the northwestern tourism heartland, the wildlife are used to being gawked at for hours on end by enamoured visitors.
Last week, they returned the favour, gazing at the hundreds of delegates who crammed into the tourist town for three days of intensive, high level negotiations on ending the $10 billion per annum industry that is illegal trade in wildlife.
Kasane – situated near Africa’s Four Corners where the edges of Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia nearly meet – could barely accommodate the visitors, who snapped up each bed, stretcher and perhaps even hammock available.
As Kasane’s population of 10,000 and even greater wildlife species looked on, well-researched and determined delegates from Australia to Zimbabwe sat down and attempted to seal greater agreement on the protection of wildlife across the world.
Ending illegal wildlife trade – which involves target species ranging from rhinos and elephants to pangolins and tigers – sounds like an initiative no country should have to be persuaded about. It should only be logical that wildlife populations are not decimated by being snared or shot, then mutilated in one country for commercial gain in another country.
And yet, over afternoon tea during a closed session on March 24 in Kasane, the 32 countries represented, including the European Union and 10 NGOs, spent hours hammering out mutually agreeable targets and objectives, to form the agenda of the main March 25 conference.
Environment, Wildlife and Tourism minister, Tshekedi Khama, believes two of the greatest drawbacks in the fight to end illegal wildlife trade, are political will and corruption.
“We have a lot of countries who are saying what they are doing about illegal wildlife trade, but what we don’t have is the proof of that,” he says.
“Countries are saying ‘we are going to do this and that’, but we don’t have information to measure the deliverables.
“When we say we are not going to allow the sale of ivory, we need to be able to say let’s agree to count the stockpile and audit it.”
Critics say the foot-dragging on corruption is evident in that while the audit of ivory stockpiles is among 14 urgent measures adopted by 30 countries during the December 2013 African Elephant Summit held in Gaborone, the Kasane Statement issued on March 25 was mum on the matter.
While the Kasane meetings covered all wildlife species, elephants are regarded as central to the war against poaching, given their declining numbers. In addition, the international momentum already made in their protection is regarded as a blueprint for other species.
According to Khama, the lack of political will and corruption can also be seen in the fact that the billions of US dollars pumped into anti-poaching and conservation worldwide appear to be of little effect in some of the countries receiving the greatest share of these funds.
“More action and less talk and more from the leadership is required,” he says.
A subtle indicator of political will can be seen in that when the London edition of the illegal wildlife conference was held last year – being the inaugural – Botswana sent President Ian Khama, the leader of the republic. Some countries sent vice presidents, while others sent environmental ministers.
This time in Kasane, President Khama was again present and officiating, while his only peer was Gabon leader, Ali Bongo Ondimba. Tanzania, Zambia and Namibia sent vice presidents, while the rest of the 32 states sent mostly environment ministers.
“We need to see commitment from the top to say I buy into this thing,” Khama emphasises.
Senior vice president of Wildlife Conservation at the World Wildlife Fund, Ginette Hemley, believes the sheer numbers in Kasane were a sign of greater commitment among world leaders.
“We have never seen the type of political will we saw in Kasane on this issue and this is significant,” she says from her Washington, DC headquarters.
“It is not enough, but it is a step in the right direction.”
Along with the wildlife observing the Kasane events, was an elephant in the room few were willing to tackle and least of all head-on.
Representatives from China, the main market for poached animals and the nirvana for industry kingpins, attended both the London and the Kasane meeting and by most reports left largely unscathed.
According to one source, the diplomacy of challenging China’s commitment to tackling illegal wildlife trade is difficult, given the fact that some of the African source markets are beholden to the Oriental giant economically and in terms of development aid.
Beijing representatives in Kasane were quick to point out their government’s many initiatives to both stamp out demand and also assist source countries. It was stressed that China in February imposed a one-year ban on imports of African ivory carvings and had also offered $10 million in aid for wildlife protection in Africa last year.
In addition, Beijing last year organised Cobra Cobra II, an operation which cleared up 350 cases, captured three tonnes of ivory, 1,000 hides, 36 rhino horns and other products.
Critics, however, believe the efforts are infinitesimal given the country’s status as the largest consumer of illegal wildlife products.
“China is an interesting player in all of this and the skyrocketing demand has come from the growing middle class there,” says Hemley.
“What we don’t have a good handle on is what is driving consumer demand in China and how to persuade the middle class against that. That is where there’s a lot of work to be done.
“Unless China takes this very seriously, there will be no progress.”
China’s role in illegal wildlife is also accentuated by evidence that it harbours or produces the greatest number of poaching kingpins and also acts as the Promised Land for poaching syndicates.
Where it failed to secure tangible political commitment and nail China’s cooperate, the Kasane tea party will, however, be remembered for taking the first global action against poaching kingpins.
Through a ‘follow the money’ approach, the 32 countries agreed to amend their laws so that offences connected to illegal wildlife trade are treated as ‘predicate offences’ meaning they underlie money laundering and are thus actionable under domestic proceeds of crime legislation.
“The commitment to follow the money is a huge, innovative step that provides a mechanism to bring down the trafficking kingpins by hitting them where it hurts – in their pockets.
“It should also help to stamp out the corruption that so often undermines enforcement actions,” says Steven Broad, the executive director of TRAFFIC, the world’s leading NGO on illegal wildlife trade.
The network from armed poacher, to middle-man, to corrupt customs official, through kingpin to market, is under threat, through the new ‘follow the money’ initiative.
“Governments are getting better at seizing contraband, but when they do, they publicise it instead of using the information to get to the intended destination; to track the money down and crack the code,” Hemley says.
The outstanding issues of political will, corruption and China’s role, are set to inescapably enter the agenda of the next global meeting to be held in Vietnam next year. The Asian state, like China, is a major consumer of poached animals and will be firmly on the backfoot.
“Vietnam will be really interesting because they have been the driving market behind the rhino horns poached in South Africa and the world will be on their doorstep,” says Hemley.
In Vietnam, actions are expected to speak louder than words.