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Namibia considering internal trade of ivory products – Shifeta

Namibia considering internal trade of ivory products – Shifeta

Staff Reporter

THE Minister of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, Pohamba Shifeta, amidst mounting international criticism over the culling of more than 700 wild animals for drought, has said that the country will utilise its natural resources for the benefit of Namibians. He added that the country is also considering the setting up of local industries to trade in the stockpile of ivory tusks it currently holds.

Shifeta made these remarks in response to questions posed in parliament by Minister of Defence, Frans Kapofi, who queried Shifeta on his response to mounting pressure from welfare groups opposing Namibia’s intention to cull 723 wild animals, which include, 83 elephants.

“We must be able to look at the constitution. Article 95 states that we should not only maintain our biodiversity and environment, but also ensure that our current and future generations benefit from that. We have to sustainably, from time to time, harvest from our natural resources. I have responded to international media on the issue, such as the BBC and CNN—there are so many of them. I told them, now that you have finished your animals, you think you can protect ours. Now you have nothing; all you have is what you have in the zoos,” Shifeta said.

SEEKING IVORY TRADE: file photo for illustrative purposes only. Photo: contributed.

He added that the culling is not done in a haphazard way, but in a scientific manner.

“We calculate the number of animals which need to be culled by area. We need to cull and distribute to our people, and this is what we are doing. There is nothing really to this other than people looking for media attention. This is how these NGOs make money. They want to tell people who don’t understand that in Africa, these Africans don’t understand—they are just killing animals. But they forget that we have these animals due to prudent conservation programs. There was a summit for heads of state some years ago, and this year, at the Kavango–Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA) Summit, heads of state decided that we must utilise our natural resources sustainably, even if it’s to sell our products in our bags, e.g. rhino horns or ivory,” Shifeta said.

He added that African countries have been barred by the watchdog, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), from selling their stockpile of elephant and rhino tusks, mostly confiscated from poachers.

“CITES refused these sales. The only time we were allowed to sell was in 2007. But since then, they have always been saying, ‘next year, next year.’ If anyone comes and says they want to buy rhino horns and set up a pharmaceutical company, as some are proposing, it is good for us, as it will attract medical tourism. This is domestic trade. It has nothing to do with CITES. CITES regulates international trade. Zimbabwe has done it. They sent 200 elephants to China, and people were making noise. Zimbabwe told them, ‘These are our animals, and if the receiving country gives an import permit, we have accepted that,'” Shifeta said.

In 2021, Shifeta announced that Namibia currently has an ivory stockpile valued at over N$1 billion.

SEEKING IVORY TRADE: file photo for illustrative purposes only. Photo: contributed.

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