Who has the largest illegal wildlife trade with China?

If you thought it was Zimbabwe, you are wrong. For now. More information is needed and there could be an answer within the next 12 months according to Britain’s Minister of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, George Eustice.

He told the British parliament on Monday that further knowledge was needed about the trafficking of the products of poaching of wildlife from source countries to consumer countries, particularly in Asia.

Eustice had been asked by Jim Shannon what assessment he had made of which countries in Africa had the highest incidence of illegal killing of wildlife and had the largest illegal trade in wildlife with China.

Surprisingly, despite reports of hundreds of killings of elephants in Zimbabwe, it was not among the primary sources of ivory listed by Eustice.

He said the CITES secretariat had identified the following African counties as primary source countries for ivory: Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda, the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the United Republic of Tanzania.

Britain had paid £270 000 to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) secretariat since 2009 to undertake work like the Monitoring of the illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) and the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS).

Eustice said assessments had shown that illegal killing poses a significant threat to rhinoceros populations, particularly in Zimbabwe and South Africa.

He said 40 countries agreed in London to look at illegal trafficking and would assess the markets and dynamics of the illegal wildlife trade, and the progress made in combating it in the next 12 months.

Q & A

Jim Shannon (Shadow DUP Spokesperson (Health); Strangford, DUP): To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of which countries in Africa (a) have the highest incidence of illegal killing of wildlife and (b) have the largest illegal trade in wildlife with China.

George Eustice (The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Camborne and Redruth, Conservative): As a Party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the UK supports work to monitor the illegal killing of wildlife. My Department has provided £270,000 since 2009 to support the CITES Secretariat to undertake such work, including the MIKE (Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants) project and ETIS (Elephant Trade Information System).

In response to assessments made of illegal killing, the CITES Secretariat has identified the following African counties as primary source countries for ivory: Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda, the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the United Republic of Tanzania. Assessments have also shown that illegal killing poses a significant threat to rhinoceros populations, particularly in Zimbabwe and South Africa.

These countries are taking action under CITES, such as producing National Ivory Action Plans, but many are going beyond this. For example, Botswana, Chad, Ethiopia, Gabon and Tanzania announced the Elephant Protection Initiative at the London Conference in February. This initiative aims to secure new funding from private and public sources for the implementation of the African Elephant Action Plan. Other recent developments include Gabon announcing plans to impose new penalties for poachers and traffickers, and Ethiopia committing to destroying its ivory stockpiles.

Further knowledge is needed about the trafficking of the products of poaching of wildlife from source countries to consumer countries, particularly in Asia. The Declaration adopted at the recent London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade took an important step forward in relation to this, with over 40 countries agreeing to undertake further assessment, initially over the next 12 months, of the markets and dynamics of the illegal wildlife trade, and the progress made in combating it.

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