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Mozambique destroys seized ivory

Monday July 06 2015
986816-01-02

More than six tonnes of ivory is burnt outside Addis Ababa on March 20, 2015. Mozambique has destroyed 2,434.6 kilogrammes of ivory and 86 pieces of rhino horns. PHOTO | ZACHARIAS ABUBEKER

Mozambique on Monday took a hardline stand against wildlife crime by burning its recently seized stockpile of ivory and rhino horns.

The burned animal products comprised 2,434.6 kilogrammes of ivory and 86 pieces of rhino horns.

"Today sends a signal. Mozambique will not tolerate poachers, traffickers and the organised criminals which employ and pay them to kill our wildlife and threaten our communities," said Minister of Land, Environment and Rural Development, Celso Correia, after setting fire to the stockpile.

The southern African nation joins the list of African countries that have taken an uncompromising stand against wildlife crimes.

Other African countries that have burned seized stockpiles in the recent past are Kenya, the Republic of Congo and Ethiopia.

Conservationists are pushing for more African countries holding tonnes of ivory seized from poachers to also follow suit and help keep the momentum against poaching going.

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"The ivory trade is driven by those beyond our shores but it is our citizens and our neighbours who pay the price,” said Mr Correia.

In May, a survey undertaken by the government and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) revealed a 48 per cent decline in Mozambique's elephant population in the last five years. Mozambique lost its last rhino in 2013. The survey results and Mozambique's reputation as a notorious trafficking route for illegal trade have prompted the government to act.

Mozambican police recently seized 1.3 tonnes of ivory and 65 pieces of rhino horns in Matola — the largest amount of trophies seized in the country's history. That seizure was part of what was destroyed on Monday.

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In May this year, 12 of the rhino horns were stolen from the police warehouse, prompting the President of Mozambique, Filipe Nyussi, to remark: “When policemen are caught in the gangs trafficking in rhinoceros horns, elephant tusks, and various drugs, or facilitate these same crimes, I am unable to sleep.”

At least four policemen have been arrested in connection with the theft and a senior provincial police commander has been implicated by the local press as one of the ringleaders in the syndicate.

“This event demonstrates the republic's commitment to protecting its natural resources, and its zero-tolerance to poaching, trafficking and to the organised criminals behind this,” said Dr Bartolomeu Soto, the Director-General of the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC).

Carols Pereira, the head of law enforcement and anti-poaching for ANAC, said concerted efforts were urgently needed to save Africa’s wildlife now and not in the next five years.

“Today's action is an important step in permanently putting ivory and rhino horns beyond economic use, where it cannot be smuggled back into the black market. It follows a detailed inventory and management review in which samples were taken for DNA analysis. It also highlights the good work being done in prosecuting criminals under our new stronger wildlife laws," said Mr Pereira.

Alastair Nelson, the WCS Country Director, who helped in the inventory exercise, said the burning of the stockpiles showed the government’s commitment in tackling wildlife crime which is associated corruption and organised criminal gangs.

Stop Ivory CEO Alexander Rhodes said the destruction adds Mozambique's voice to the growing worldwide consensus that a future for elephants and rhinos is incompatible with trade in ivory and horn.

New measures to combat this wildlife crime in Mozambique include:

  • A new law that criminalises poaching and trafficking;
  • Deploying the new Mozambican environmental police unit to work with ANAC scouts to implement the new law and stop poaching and illegal logging;
  • Training and equipping law enforcement officers;
  • Strengthening partnerships with international organisations;
  • Working with WCS and Stop Ivory organisations to inventory ivory stocks;
  • MoUs signed with Tanzania on 25 May 2015, and with South Africa in 2014, to strengthen cross-border collaboration to tackle poaching and trafficking.

The inventory and the destruction of the seized stockpiles will be officially reported to Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

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