Marcas Alares » medio ambiente

Global Law to Stop Wildlife Trafficking

admin — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 10:47:34 +0000

The excessive traffic in wildlife is a problem that needs solving.

Trafficking in wildlife is becoming a major criminal enterprise. Countries are working to identify ways to improve the international law enforcement response and protect endangered plants and animals.

The director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Daniel Ashe, explained the need for stronger enforcement March 4 in a briefing with reporters at the beginning of the conference on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) getting under way in Bangkok.

Speaking as head of the U.S. delegation to the CITES conference, Ashe said adopting international regulations for species protection is just one step, which must be followed by effective enforcement.

“How can we provide appropriate assistance so that countries, particularly developing countries, will have the law enforcement capacity, the management capacity, to ensure that these provisions are carried out?”

Ashe asked. He said this is an important question being discussed by representatives of the 178 nations that are parties to the convention.

The CITES meeting began March 3 with CITES Secretary-General John Scanlon telling the delegates, “We know the way, but we need the collective will.” He spoke to about 2,000 delegates representing member nations, nongovernmental organizations and intergovernmental organizations.

Effective enforcement is one key activity to protect endangered species, Ashe said, but so is public education. Demand for products made from endangered species is what drives the slaughter of elephants for their ivory tusks, or the hunt for tiger pelts and bones.

Ashe said better educating the public about the harm caused by consumption of these products is another important step in combating the trafficking.

The bones of the tiger, for example, are thought to have great healing powers in some cultures. Ashe said that belief can be changed. “We have worked effectively to develop education campaigns that there are modern medicines, proven medicines, that are much more effective in dealing with the same maladies.”

The elephants, rhinos and tigers are still endangered by poaching

admin — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 09:24:14 +0000

In 50 years of conservation, we have never seen wildlife crime on such a scale. This type of crime is now the most urgent threat to elephants, rhinos and tigers.

The global value of illegal wildlife trade is between $7.8 and $10 billion per year. It is a major illicit transnational activity worldwide—along with arms, drugs and human trafficking. High-level traders and kingpins are rarely arrested, prosecuted, convicted or punished for their crimes.

Even more worrying, these species cannot survive high levels of poaching for long.

Tigers: All Tiger parts sold in the illegal wildlife markets. Poaching is the most immediate threat to wild tigers. Many parts are used for traditional medicine, folk remedies for, and increasingly used as a status symbol among wealthy Asians.

African Elephants: Tens of thousands of elephants are killed each year for their ivory tusks. In 1989, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) banned the ivory trade. However, there are still markets that fuel illegal trade strictly prohibited and punishable.

African rhinos: At least one rhino is killed every day because of the mistaken belief that its horn can cure diseases. The main market is now in Vietnam, where there is a belief that rhino horn cures cancer.

Marking animals can help in controlling the census of endangered species, our ear tags are manufactured using plastic sheeting from the designs, shapes and colors recommended by the specialists of each species. Its clamping system prevents colon project beyond the outline of the animal and prevent tears and snags with vegetation. Moreover, the range of available colors and shapes allow these brands to adapt to the shape of the pinna of each species, mimicking the flexibility of the underlying cartilage.

Rhino hunt in South Africa sparks debate

admin — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 08:32:48 +0000

The South African National Parks (SANParks) has requested help to stop rhino poaching.

South Africa is home to the largest rhinoceros populations in the world, including about 4,500 black rhinos, classified as “critically endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and about 20,000 southern white rhinos. White rhinos are classified as “near threatened” by the IUCN, which means they may face extinction in the near future.

According to the official statistics in 2010, 333 rhinos were hunted in 2011 the number was 448, while 668 were shot last year, mostly in the Kruger National Park, in the northeast of the country, but this year poachers have killed and 96 copies.

These data are more troubling when compared with previous data; between 1990 and 2007 rhino poaching averaged about 15 per year. The rhino poaching has also increased in Kenya, Zimbabwe and neighboring countries.

More than 90 percent of the horns of rhinos are sold in Asia, where you can buy a kilo for 40,000 Euros. In Asia there is a belief that rhino horn has aphrodisiac powers, but not only that, also used in traditional Chinese medicine and in the development of ceremonial daggers.

South African government has engaged the army to try to stop poachers also the South African National Parks have announced significant rewards to anyone with information that may be useful to make arrests and convictions.

The aim is to reduce rhino poaching between 10% and 18% each year for a period of five years, to protect the species and ensure the ecosystem and the environment.

But despite all these efforts by the government, experts agree that the only truly effective measure in the long term to deter poachers would curb demand for horns. This implies a strengthening of law enforcement in the importing countries, and especially education needs of consumers.