JKY Urges total ban on ivory trade

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President Jakaya Kikwete chats with the British Foreign secretary Mr. William Hague at the later's office in London on Wednesday evening where they held talks on various bilateral issues. President Kikwete is attending the London conference on illegal wildlife trade which began on Thursday.

Tanzania’s Blood Ivory: “This is madness now”

“At independence Tanzania had 350,000 elephants… in 1987 there were only 55,000 elephants left.”

That’s the dire message from the president of Tanzania, who spoke to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour about his country’s battle against wildlife poaching.

President Jakaya Kikwete joined Amanpour in London, where heads of state are meeting to find a solution to end illegal poaching before it’s too late.

“This is madness now, it is just impossible… it’s a serious matter.”

Incidents of poaching are on the rise fueled by a growing demand for ivory and rhino horn in Asia. There are also concerns that poaching is helping to fund violent groups in the region.

When it comes to destroying ivory stockpiles, as countries like the United States and China have done in the past, President Kikwete says his country is considering doing the same thing to show it is an unacceptable trade.

“We have about 112 tonnes of ivory… we used to have the idea of asking permission to sell, but we don’t think, these are not the times”.

It’s not the right time, he says, because it was the relaxation of laws that opened the door to more poaching in the first place.

watch video on the link below

http://amanpour.blogs.cnn.com/2014/02/13/tanzanias-blood-ivory-this-is-madness-now/

MINISTER NYALANDU MEETS WITH MEDIA IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND COMMUNICATING GOVERNMENT EFFORTS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST POACHERS

Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism Hon . Lazaro Nyalandu speaking and Executive Editor of the Daily Mail newspaper of Britain mr. Guy Zitter ( middle ) and Editor of the Mail on Sunday newspaper  Mr . Geordie Greig (right ) visited the offices of The Daily Mail in London , United Kingdom to describe the various efforts made ​​by the Government in Fight Against Poaching in the country.

Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism Hon . Lazaro Nyalandu ( medium) was introduced Affairs Advisor in the UK Media mr. David Tarsh (right ) with Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Hon . Bernard Membe in London , UK to attend the International Conference on the Illicit Trade in Wildlife.

Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism Hon . Lazaro Nyalandu doing an interview with the author of The Independent newspaper in the UK in relation to the various efforts made ​​by the Government in Fight Against Poaching in the country.

Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism Hon . Lazaro Nyalandu an interview with the BBC presenter Bola Mosuro News Day in Studio BBC World Service in London , England wants to attend the Conference of Illegal Wildlife Trade , where he had the opportunity to describe the various efforts made ​​by the Government in Fight Against Poaching in the country.
( All photos by Pascal Shelutete , TANAPA )

TANZANIA WILL NOT SELL ELEPHANTS TUSKS

The Tanzania Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism Hon. Lazaro Nyalandu

Minister Nyalandu said that the government’s decision was reached since late last year after signing government’s commitment to support the former U.S. president’s wife institution known as Clinton Global Initiative, Hilary Clinton, advocating a ban on elephant tusks trade in the world.
In addition, Minister Nyalandu noted that in the past three years, 19.7 tons of elephant tusks have been seized globally and among those 15.2 tons were seized by the Government of Tanzania in collaboration with other various institutions including the International community.
Minister Nyalandu said that the government is in the process of conducting a major national census which will give the actual number of elephants in the country and that the recently conducted census in the ecosystems of Selou - Mikumi and Ruaha - Rungwa were to provide initial data that indicated the presence of 13,084 elephants in the eco- system of Selou - Mikumi and more than 20,000 in Ruaha– Rungwa.

The Tanzania government will not submit an application to sell its reserves of elephant tusks to CITES, as part of supporting efforts by the international community to ban the illegal trade on elephant tusks around the world. The Tanzania Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism Hon. Lazaro Nyalandu has said that in London, England where he is attending the International Conference on the Illicit Wildlife Trade.

Commenting on the progress being made by Tanzania in the fight against poaching, Minister Nyalandu said that by the end of 2013, some 320 accused convicts from European Union countries, China, Africa and Tanzania were arrested after being implicated in the ivory trade pending legal procedures.

In regards to wildlife conservation, Nyalandu said that National Parks are now becoming more secure for wildlife survival in Africa. He said data indicates that for the past three years the number of elephants killed in the Serengeti National Park decreased from an average of three elephants per month to zero and that it is the country’s place with the highest population of black rhinos.

By Pascal Shelutete, TANAPA

Translation by Laura, WWF-TZ

ANTI POACHING BILLBOARDS BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA DR. JAKAYA MRISHO KIKWETE

A billboards by the president of the United Republic of Tanzania Hon. Dr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete which has the message of anti-poaching campaign as seen in the night outside the Julius Nyerere International Airport Dar es Salaam.

The anti-poaching campaign billboard as seen outside the Julius Nyerere International Airport Dar Es Salaam, this billboard is part of  the president’s of the United Republic of Tanzania Hon. Dr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete initiatives to stop poaching in Tanzania.

A billboards by the president of the United Republic of Tanzania Hon. Dr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete which has the message of anti-poaching campaign outside the Julius Nyerere International Airport Dar es Salaam.

President of the United Republic of Tanzania Hon. Dr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete was click the button marking the launch of a of billboards mobilizing a campaign to fight against the illegal wildlife trade in the poaching of elephant tusks and rhino, 11^th February 2014 at the Julius Nyerere International Airport Dar es Salaam.

Some of the invited guests, The Ministry Natural Resources and Tourism officials and the Press looking on as the president of the United Republic of Tanzania Hon. Dr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete  inaugurates the anti-poaching campaign billboards on the 11^th February 2014.

KIKWETE SUSPENDS IVORY AUCTION BID

News from: http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/index.php?l=64756

The anti-poaching campaign billboard as seen outside the Julius Nyerere International Airport Dar es Salaam, this billboard is part of  the president’s of the United Republic of Tanzania Hon. Dr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete initiatives to stop poaching in Tanzania.

  Mulls destroying the pile to deny illegal dealers loophole to dispose their hoard

  To campaign for total ban of tusk sales

President Jakaya Kikwete has ordered the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism to suspend plans to selling the ivory stockpile, saying it could provide a loophole for illegal dealers to unload their hoard.

 

He said it was better for the stockpile to be destroyed at this time when the country has intensified the war against poaching, to deny poachers loophole to sell their illegal hoard.

 

President Kikwete issued the directive on Tuesday in Dar es Salaam during the launching of anti-poaching billboards to sensitise people to join fight against poaching.

 

The president left for London to attend the Conference on Combating illegal Trade and Trafficking of Elephant, Rhino and Tiger which starts today.

 

He said the government will soon start using new technology to identify those who spot the animals and rangers.

 

“We are going to introduce drones for surveillance in our national parks…we hope that other nations will give us support to completely fight poaching networks”.

 

Kikwete however noted that apart from elephant poaching other animals like lions and leopard have also been killed in the country.

 

“This kind of poaching involves the killing of lions and leopards due to their skins being in high demand by some leaders who use them as their symbols,” Kikwete said, adding however that their numbers are still satisfactory. 

 

Other animals were being killed for their meat, said to be in high demand in various parts of the world.

 

Kikwete said efforts by the government to fight poaching in the country will not be successful unless there is a total ban on ivory trade.

 

He said that during his participation in the meeting in London, his campaign message to western countries and the world at large will be a call for a total ban of Ivory trade.

He said the mass slaughter of elephants in the 1970s and 1980s, led to the global ivory trade ban by the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

 

According to him, Thailand, Bangkok, Vietnam and China are the major ivory markets in the world and if they and the world in general agree to stop buying the trophies, they will boost the campaign against poaching.

 

The president admitted that there are challenges in the fight against poaching, including the parks being too large…Selous national park is more than 200,000 square kilometers.
 

The president said in fact deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) test of ivory seized in Sri Lanka recently showed that the tusks were from Selous and Ruaha national parks, which shows that Tanzania is contributing a lot to the illegal international ivory market. 

   

Earlier welcoming the president, deputy minister for tourism and natural resources, Mahmoud Mgimwa said that inadequate money and working tools are obstacles to fight poaching.