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afrol News, 4 October - Nigeria and Congo Kinshasa (DRC) have been singled out as two of the key sources or destinations for large volumes of illegal ivory, along with China and Thailand. - These four countries have some of the largest unregulated ivory markets in the world, demonstrate very poor law enforcement effort and efficiency, and consequently exert the greatest contemporary influence on illegal trade in ivory today, according to the latest reports on ivory trade released in Geneva today by CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). Evidence had indicated that the conflict in Congo Kinshasa, including the engagement of surrounding countries, "stands behind the increasing supply of ivory for international consumption." The civil war had contributed to serious elephant poaching since the mid-1990s, which led to illegal trade in ivory, both within the country and beyond its borders. The law enforcement effort in Congo was "very low," while the domestic ivory market in the capital city of Kinshasa was extensive. Nigeria was especially noted for its "lack of regulation for its domestic ivory market." The study found the domestic ivory trade in Nigeria in 2000 to be comparatively one of the largest within West Africa, and a market that has continued to grow since the mid-1990s. Data also indicate that Nigeria is a major supplier of raw ivory to Asian markets. Cameroon, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Uganda also emerged as "a group of African countries of major concern." These countries also plaid "problematic roles as frequent sources of raw ivory leaving the African continent." In addition, Cameroon and Ethiopia also had the largest unregulated domestic ivory markets in Central and East Africa, respectively. Uganda's trade in ivory appeared to be directly linked to the ongoing conflict in Congo Kinshasa. Similarly, but on a smaller scale and with a greater range of variability, the same characteristics were generally present for Angola, Burundi, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Sudan and several Asian countries. Egypt, Côte d'Ivoire and Sudan all have domestic ivory markets, though some are illegal, while Angola and Burundi appear to function as trade routes. Namibia was the only country highlighted in the CITES report by virtue of its good record, especially its rate of reporting seizure data, which is the best in Africa. There, recent seizures represented a small fraction of what occurred in the earlier period, 1989-1995, law enforcement effort had been consistently high and the domestic ivory market remained very small. While an average of 70 ivory items had been seized in Namibia annually ten years ago, seizures have now dropped to below 20 items. The contrast to Nigeria, with its known ivory market, is striking. Not one single item had been seized since statistics started in 1989. In Congo Kinshasa, the only seizure in this period was of 3 single items in year 2000. Namibian seizures total 545 items. The reports in general find that there is a correlation between the presence of large-scale, unregulated domestic ivory markets in several countries and the illegal trade in ivory. Environmentalists see this as a strengthening of their argumentation that limited trade in ivory should not be re-introduced. Several Southern African countries - where elephants are far from endangered - seek to re-introduce a closely monitored ivory trade. In response to the CITES report, the conservation group WWF today called for "increased funding for enforcement and capacity building, both in the field to combat poaching and at airports and border ports to stop smuggling; increased capacity building; and more efforts from countries with these domestic markets to close loopholes and shut down markets."
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