African ministers and experts meet in #Botswana to try to put an end to a spike in #elephant killings due to a growing demand for #ivory in #Asia. #Poaching of elephants and associated ivory #trafficking remain of grave concern, said Richard Thomas, spokesman for the animal conservation group #Traffic. The three-day meeting opening today in Gaborone has been organised by the Botswana government and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Poaching has risen sharply in #Africa in recent years and the illegal ivory trade has tripled since 1998, according to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). Large-scale seizures of ivory destined for Asia have more than doubled since 2009 and reached an all-time high in 2011. The meeting expects to adopt a pact that will commit signatories, including the biggest ivory markets such as #China, to demonstrate political will at the highest level in the fight against poaching and ivory trafficking.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Dec 2013 15:14:30 +0000