Poaching tops Agenda at First UN Environment Meeting in Nairobi

Poaching and other types of illegal trade in wildlife are set to top the agenda at the first ever United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) to be held in Nairobi in June.

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Achim Steiner said they are planning to table a report on the growing trade and the threat it poses at the meeting.

"This is not a small thing. The threat it poses is not to be underestimated," he reiterated, "because we are confronted with a battle that we're not winning."

And while Steiner admitted that there remains an absence of empirical evidence directly linking poaching to terrorism, he maintained that it did not negate the very real possibility that one fed the other.
Kenya's Permanent Representative to UNEP Martin Kimani said "Elephant and rhino poaching are something the government is fighting day and night to eradicate so we're happy to put our heads together with the rest of the world and host this very important conversation,"

Steiner said that the meeting would inject some much needed impetus into the fight. The subject will be raised at the highest levels with over 100 government representatives expected at the UNEA meeting between June 23 and 27.

"We need to address the consumer end because there will be no point to poaching if there is no market for the trophies. And with China being one of the biggest consumers of ivory we're already holding exhibitions there, in train stations and elsewhere, to sensitise the public on the high price there is to pay for that trophy, that mythical cure," he said.

Ethiopa establishes Taskforce to Safeguard Protected Wildlife Areas

A national taskforce has been established by the Ethiopian Wild Life Conservative Authority (EWCA) in collaboration with Population, Health and Environment Ethiopia Consortium (PHEEC), to safeguard protected natural environments and wildlife.

The taskforce will take corrective measures up on receiving reports about violations of conservation and management rules. It will also mobilize technical and financial resources necessary for effective park management and monitor the effectiveness of the regional level taskforces at implementing proposed action plans.

First Elephant Poached in Kruger for 10 years

And so it begins...

It was only a matter of time before poachers would decide to move in on South Africa's large elephant population. This comes only days after Envoronment Minister Edna Molewa said there was no ivory poaching problem in South Africa.

Well there is now.

Poaching in Cameroon

Cameroon said its soldiers have shot and killed five suspected poachers who had been killing elephants in the West Africa country. The military said some of those killed were Janjaweed militiamen from Sudan.
The heavily armed poachers were caught operating in the Waza National Park.

A spokesperson for Cameroon's military, Colonel Didier Badjeck, said soldiers who have been patrolling to protect the wildlife responded, and in the ensuing gun battle, five of the poachers were killed.

He said the rapid intervention battalion of the Cameroon army had been deployed in the park with expert shooters and logistics. To aid them, air and land patrols were organized. Ten horses, more than 2,000 bullets and 88 elephant tusks were seized and handed to the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife.
More than 1,000 elephants live in the park, which located in far northern Cameroon, near borders with Nigeria and Chad.

Last year, 100 elephants were killed in Cameroon, an improvement over 2012 when 300 of the animals were felled by poachers' bullets.

Unbelievable statement by SA Environment Minister

Addressing a crowd at a ceremony to sign an anti-poaching agreement between South Africa and Mozambique in the Kruger National Park earlier this month, Edna Molewa, Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, mentioned in a speech signifying her departments move toward a possible trade in rhino horn, that “we do think that it could (win the war on rhino poaching)… just taking it from the lessons we have learnt from ivory. We did an ivory once-off sale and elephant poaching has not been a problem since.”


Technically this statement isn't a crime but it damn well ought to be.

China pledges $100 million to combat poaching in Africa

China, a notorious source of demand for a massive illegal wildlife trade, is stepping up its game to save wildlife with a massive $100 million donation to combat poaching in Africa. The Chinese Premier, Li Keqiang, has pledged $100 million to combat poaching in Africa during a visit to the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa.

The funds will surely be helpful to curb supply of wildlife products in Africa, but meanwhile campaigns are working to stem demand from Chinese consumers, who value exotic animal products in traditional medicine and ivory ornaments.