Partnership on wildlife: the future is in our hands
Correspondent | Thursday March 3, 2016 16:20
This is an opportunity to celebrate the beauty and variety of all wildlife and to raise awareness of the benefits of conservation. It is a reminder of the urgency of the fight against wildlife crime and its economic, environmental, and social impact. This year, World Wildlife Day’s theme is “The future of wildlife is in our hands”, with the sub-theme, “The future of elephants is in our hands.” Botswana hosts the largest remaining population of elephants on Earth and its conservation leadership is vital, as is the cooperation of nations around the world.
We are privileged to represent our countries in Botswana and recognise our host country’s rich endowment of wildlife, robust history of leadership in combating the scourge of poaching, and the vital importance of an urgent, global commitment to cooperation and effective action.
Botswana’s leadership has been crucial in light of the heartbreaking stories and statistics we hear all too frequently about poachers in the region slaughtering countless numbers of various species, especially rhinos and elephants, for use in illegal trade. Not only wildlife suffers -- this multi-billion dollar transnational criminal activity undermines conservation efforts, fuels corruption, threatens the rule of law, and destabilises communities that depend on wildlife for biodiversity and eco-tourism revenues.
In early February, we travelled to the Chobe District to see firsthand the Government of Botswana’s efforts to simultaneously safeguard wildlife from poachers while supporting human-wildlife coexistence. We listened to a wide variety of voices, including members of local communities living in close proximity to wildlife, senior policymakers, conservation biologists, tourism experts, and the brave rangers and security forces on the front lines.
We learned elephants -- unable to move easily across their full natural migration range -- are becoming increasingly concentrated, with serious consequences for the habitat of the region and increasing human/wildlife conflict. Managing this balance is no small challenge. The Government of Botswana deserves great credit for the innovative solutions it is pursuing, including efforts to advance regional cooperation. In addition, the government’s proactive enforcement measures have checked the large-scale, organised poaching seen elsewhere.
We are also heartened by steps taken around the world over the past year. Last July, the United Nations General Assembly passed its first resolution on wildlife trafficking.
In September, it adopted new global Sustainable Development Goals, which call on members to take urgent action to end poaching and the trafficking of protected species, to address both the demand and supply of illegal wildlife products, and to enhance global support for efforts to combat poaching and trafficking of protected species, including by increasing the capacity of local communities to pursue sustainable livelihood opportunities. These international actions clearly acknowledge the inextricable link between wildlife, people, and sustainable development.
On September 25, 2015, President Xi and President Obama committed to take positive measures to address this global challenge, pledging to enact nearly complete bans on ivory import and export, including significant and timely restrictions on the import of ivory as hunting trophies, and to take significant and timely steps to halt the domestic commercial trade of ivory. Together, the United States and the People’s Republic of China will cooperate in joint training, technical exchanges, information sharing, public education, and international law enforcement in a comprehensive effort to combat wildlife trafficking. Both our nations are also firmly committed to strengthening our cooperation with other nations and international organisations to combat wildlife trafficking.
We welcome the actions and commitments taken to date by all countries and are confident -- with concerted and sustained cooperation among source, transit, and destination countries -- together we can conserve wildlife for its own sake and for the sake of future generations. The future of wildlife is truly in our hands.
A joint op-ed by US Ambassador Earl R.Miller and Chinese Ambassador Zheng Zhuqiang to commemorate World Wildlife Day today, the 3rd of March.