Botswana's meeting to preserve elephants and fight against ivory's illegal trade

Anad this Wednesday on RFI English, I spoke about World's deal against elephant poaching:


 A deal has been reached at the Gabarone Botswana conference on elephant poaching yesterday (Tuesday) including China and Thailand along African partners in order to preserve the species from escalating threats. The agreement was reached at the so-called “African Elephant Summit” co-organised by the Government of Botswana and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
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The deal seals the common will to protect African elephants.
Conservationists from around the world had gathered in Botswana for this African Elephant Summit today in order to tackle the rise of elephant poaching in Africa.

The best news is that the agreement involves key players in the fight against poaching, from major African states including Kenya and Zambia, ivory transit states like Viet Nam, Philippines and Malaysia, and ivory destination states, mainly China and Thailand.

The delegates committed on 14 measures, starting with the classification of wildlife trafficking as a “serious crime”. Other measures reinforce the engagement of local communities living with elephants in their conservation.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) underlined that the commitment of key countries involved in the ivory value chain is a real outcome. The organisation therefore hopes a similar deal will soon be signed regarding rhinos and other wildlife species.

The latest figures show that the illegal trade in ivory could wipe out 20 percent of Africa's elephants in the next ten years. The year 2011 saw the highest level of poaching and illegal ivory trade in more than 15 years, fuelled by poverty in certain African countries and the increasing demand for ivory in Asian booming economies.