adminTHE Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZPWMA) is running out of storage space for ivory with reports that it is sitting on 62 374 tonnes of ivory valued at about $15,6 million.
The authority cannot trade in ivory since there is a nine year moratorium on ivory trade that expires in 2017.
The moratorium was imposed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites).
ZPWMA last sold three tonnes of ivory to Chinese and Japanese buyers in 2008 after Cites approved the trade.
In a statement yesterday, ZPWMA public relations manager Ms Caroline Washaya-Moyo said, come December, they would have no space to store more ivory.
She said their stores could only accommodate 65 000 tonnes of ivory.
“The authority is running out of storage space for its elephant tusks. Currently the authority is sitting on 62 374,33 tonnes of elephant tusks valued at approximately $15,6 million. This leaves the authority with less than three tonnes to fill up the remaining space. Elephant tusks are collected monthly at an average of 1,1 tonnes,” said Ms Washaya-Moyo.
She said ivory was being obtained from different sources including problem animal control, natural deaths, breakages, confiscation and those picked from national parks.
Ms Washaya-Moyo said it should be made known that while governments the world over fund conservation, ZPWMA was funding its own operations.
“The authority is therefore saying elephant ivory in store represents animals that are already dead and why should we not use the dead to look after the living animals,” she said.
“Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority is struggling to fund its statutory obligations, staff costs and law enforcement which are one of the functions of the authority. Law enforcement ensures that the authority undertakes its obligation of enforcing Statutory Acts including the Parks and Wildlife Act(Chapter 20:14),Trapping of Animals Act, Prevention of Cruelty against Animals Act, the Bees Act and the Quelea Control Act. Law enforcement requires operational equipment such as patrol kits, uniforms, radio communication kits, vehicles, boats, tracking equipment which the authority is in dire need of. Currently most of the existing field equipment is old and obsolete.”
Ms Washaya-Moyo said other challenges they were facing included understaffing in rhino intensive protection zones and elephant ranges, inadequate game water supply, quelea control, problem animal management, lack of funds to carry out conservation and environmental awareness campaign programmes, invasive plant species management and international conventions and agreements obligations which did not allow the country to trade in ivory.
Zimbabwe’s elephant population is estimated at 100 000.
Online Reporter