mom person
07-16-2008, 01:20 PM
:cry:
Return of ivory trade as Britain backs China
By Michael McCarthy and Colin Brown
Wednesday, 16 July 2008
MPs were threatening to table a protest motion against the Government for supporting China in the vote
China was given permission to become a licensed buyer of ivory yesterday, provoking widespread condemnation from environmentalists and politicians, who said the move was a grave threat to the future of wild elephants in Africa and Asia.
The British Government came in for fierce criticism after voting – as forecast by The Independent – for China at a UN meeting in Geneva, despite opposition from several African countries.
The Green MEP Caroline Lucas called the vote "a dark and irrevocable stain on the UK's wildlife conservation record overseas".
The vote, at a meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), gives China the right to buy ivory auctioned by four southern African countries, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
Environmentalists claim that the entry of China into the market will provide a substantial opportunity for the laundering of illegal ivory, and provide the impetus for further poaching across Africa, where more than 20,000 elephants are illegally killed every year.
China is the centre of the world's illegal ivory trade, although the government is cracking down on it.
more at:
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/return-of-ivory-trade-as-britain-backs-china-868707.html
Return of ivory trade as Britain backs China
By Michael McCarthy and Colin Brown
Wednesday, 16 July 2008
MPs were threatening to table a protest motion against the Government for supporting China in the vote
China was given permission to become a licensed buyer of ivory yesterday, provoking widespread condemnation from environmentalists and politicians, who said the move was a grave threat to the future of wild elephants in Africa and Asia.
The British Government came in for fierce criticism after voting – as forecast by The Independent – for China at a UN meeting in Geneva, despite opposition from several African countries.
The Green MEP Caroline Lucas called the vote "a dark and irrevocable stain on the UK's wildlife conservation record overseas".
The vote, at a meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), gives China the right to buy ivory auctioned by four southern African countries, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
Environmentalists claim that the entry of China into the market will provide a substantial opportunity for the laundering of illegal ivory, and provide the impetus for further poaching across Africa, where more than 20,000 elephants are illegally killed every year.
China is the centre of the world's illegal ivory trade, although the government is cracking down on it.
more at:
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/return-of-ivory-trade-as-britain-backs-china-868707.html