【20140212 每日电讯】China holds the key to saving Africa’s wildlife

青蛙小王子

[size=1.4em]Just 25 years ago, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) banned the worldwide trade in ivory products. This agreement marked the first co-ordinated international effort to stop the slaughter of endangered elephants and rhinos in Africa. Yet despite a fall in poaching levels in the Nineties, they have risen once more, fuelled by demand from the Far East for “medicinal” products.

[size=1.4em]According to a recent United Nations report, only 25,000 rhino remain in the wild and more than 1,000 were killed in South Africa alone last year. Prices for horns and tusks have never been higher. Between 5 and 10 per cent of Africa’s remaining 400,000 elephants are killed each year. If something is not done, they could be extinct within two decades.

[size=1.4em]These stark figures form the backdrop to the conference opening today in London, when ministers and wildlife campaigners from 50 countries will gather in an attempt to crack down on this grotesque trade – a trade so lucrative that it has wider implications than wildlife preservation. The knock-on effects cause political instability in the countries concerned, with international criminal networks, rebel militias and terrorist groups drawn to the profits that can be made. The human cost is high, too, with more than 1,000 rangers killed in recent years trying to stop the poachers.

[size=1.4em]What can be done? It is hard to deter poachers by force, given the money that can be made; even lengthy jail sentences fail to deter, since few prosecutions are ever mounted. No, the real key to ending this despicable trade is to tackle the demand side – and it is to countries in eastern Asia, notably China, that we must look for urgent action.

[size=1.4em]Beijing continues to operate a legal market in ivory as a result of a one-off exemption granted in 2008. This is stoking demand, and must be closed down if any progress is to be made. The Chinese also need to embark on education programmes to debunk the idea that tusks, horns and tiger bones have any useful medical properties.

[size=1.4em]Today’s conference – which owes much to the efforts of the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge – will indeed include a delegation from China, whose presence was not assured until recently, as well as several African heads of state. The great danger with such meetings is that they end up making many fine statements, yet little happens. In a speech at London Zoo yesterday, the Duke claimed that a powerful alliance was being forged to combat the sophisticated criminal elements involved in poaching. But until demand is suppressed, its members will be fighting a losing battle.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/telegraph-view/10633604/China-holds-the-key-to-saving-Africas-wildlife.html