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United Arab Emirates officials examine confiscated
elephant tusks before they are crushed, to send a message against poaching, in
Dubai, while in Africa two presidents burned five tons of ivory (AP
Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
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The presidents of Republic of Congo and Chad on Wednesday set
fire to five tons of ivory seized from poachers, using seized timber, to mark
their commitment to the fight against poaching on the continent.
The burning took place on
the sidelines of the International Conference on the Illegal Exploitation and
Illegal Trade in Wild Flora and Fauna in Africa. Leaders are drafting the first
pan-African strategy to combat the illicit trade in flora and fauna, which will
be presented to the African Union in June in Johannesburg, the United Nations
Development Program said in a statement.
"We have liquidated
all of our ivory stock from fraudsters, because this is a dirty product, and we
must draw a line," said Republic of Congo minister of forest economy Henri
Djombo.
The country's president
Denis Sassou N'Guesso said poaching is one of the most savage practices of the
time. "This phenomenon is of a criminal dimension," on a continent
that has 450,000 elephants now compared to more than 1 million in 1980, he
said.
Chadian President Idriss
Deby called for international coordination to stop poaching in Africa.
Higher demand for ivory
is fueling elephant killings by poachers across Africa. Save The Elephants said
last year that 100,000 elephants were killed in Africa between 2010 and 2012.
Ginette Hemley, senior vice
president of wildlife conservation at WWF in the U.S., said in a statement
Wednesday: "Illegal ivory trade not only leads to the wholesale slaughter
of wild elephants, it is also risks the lives and livelihoods of local
communities, facilitates the growth of corruption, and undermines national and
regional security."
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