SADC moves to start legal wildlife trade outside CITES

From the soil: SADC countries are fighting for the right to set their own conservation agendas
From the soil: SADC countries are fighting for the right to set their own conservation agendas

JOHANNESBURG: Last week a number of SADC countries made formal declarations refusing to accept anymore of what they say is CITES’ ‘unfair, harmful and prohibitive’ trade rules regarding wildlife and wildlife products.

The states dismissed the CITES voting process and reinforced their position that the UN agency’s trading rules are “tainted, rigged and not free and fair.”

After the 18th CITES conference voted to block the SADC countries from trading in specific animals in August, some of them recently officially filed reservations with CITES to ignore the vote, a dramatic action the CITES treaty permits. The SADC states have declared that they would not abide by the CITES restrictions that are detrimental to conservation and development in their countries.

Editor's Comment
BDP primaries leave a lot to be desired

The BDP as a party known to have ample resources has always held its primaries well in time, but this time around that was not the case. The first leg of the primaries was held last weekend, with the final leg being billed for the coming weekend. This time around, the BDP failed to shine in its primary elections. The elections were chaotic; most if not all polling stations didn't open at the specified time of 6am. Loyal BDP members braved the...

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