Namibia is pinning its hopes on the upcoming COP20 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, known as CITES, for approval to legally sell its ivory stockpile, after submitting a formal proposal.
The summit will take place in Uzbekistan from 24 November to 5 December.
According to the proposal, which has been submitted by Namibia, the country currently has just over 92 386 kg of ivory, worth about N$166 million.
The ivory comes from population management and seizures, about half each. Namibia does not destroy its ivory.
“With this proposal, Namibia seeks to trade in an existing stock of 46 268 kg of registered raw ivory (whole tusks and pieces) of Namibian origin, owned by the Government, for commercial purposes,” according to the document.
It said that this ivory stock has accumulated from elephants that died of natural causes and through management practices.
The proposal stated that trade will be done with partners that have been verified by the CITES Secretariat to have sufficient national legislation and domestic trade controls to ensure that ivory imported from Namibia will not be re-exported and will be managed according to all requirements concerning domestic manufacturing and trade.
Namibia conducted legal international trade in ivory since 1985, in 1999 and in 2008, as a highly regulated export of 19,870 kg to Japan and China in total. On both occasions, the CITES Secretariat confirmed that the trade had taken place successfully and that there was full compliance with all precautionary undertakings. The proposal further said that all revenue generated from ivory sales will be paid into the Game Products Trust Fund and used exclusively for elephant conservation—including monitoring, research, law enforcement, and other management expenses—as well as for community conservation and development programmes.
The environment and tourism ministry will provide an annual report to the CITES Secretariat on the use of these funds.
Over the years, the Game Products Trust Fund has funded key components of Namibia’s community-based natural resources management system, including the provision of infrastructure to promote human-elephant co-existence in conservancies, the creation of additional water sources for elephants, and the development of community-run campsites. The document also pointed out that there are high financial and security implications involved with the storing of ivory stocks, and ivory from natural mortalities and management.
It said that controlled ivory trade will directly benefit the conservation of the Namibian elephant populations by making elephants valuable to the communities with which they share resources outside protected areas.
The elephant population in Namibia has grown from an estimated population of 7 000 in 1990 to more than 25 000 elephants at the end of 2024.
“Namibia has not exploited elephants directly for commercial trade or domestic consumption, except through sport hunting and photographic tourism, the document said.
Small numbers of elephants were removed in 1983 and 1985 to achieve specifically targeted population reductions for conservation purposes during drought periods in Etosha National Park. Additionally, over the past years, Namibia experienced a severe drought, and the Cabinet decided to remove a small number of elephants in 2024. All ivory previously traded was accumulated from natural and management-related mortalities and can thus be considered a byproduct of effective long-term management.
It must be emphasized that no elephants have been, or will be, killed specifically to obtain ivory or other products for trade. Ivory is recovered from all recorded natural mortalities, as well as from elephants destroyed as problem animals.
It said that strict national legislation requires the public to surrender any ivory found.
Click this link to watch a video by the World Wildlife Fund on illegal ivory trade. https://q.my.na/YBWQ
The summit will take place in Uzbekistan from 24 November to 5 December.
According to the proposal, which has been submitted by Namibia, the country currently has just over 92 386 kg of ivory, worth about N$166 million.
The ivory comes from population management and seizures, about half each. Namibia does not destroy its ivory.
“With this proposal, Namibia seeks to trade in an existing stock of 46 268 kg of registered raw ivory (whole tusks and pieces) of Namibian origin, owned by the Government, for commercial purposes,” according to the document.
It said that this ivory stock has accumulated from elephants that died of natural causes and through management practices.
The proposal stated that trade will be done with partners that have been verified by the CITES Secretariat to have sufficient national legislation and domestic trade controls to ensure that ivory imported from Namibia will not be re-exported and will be managed according to all requirements concerning domestic manufacturing and trade.
Namibia conducted legal international trade in ivory since 1985, in 1999 and in 2008, as a highly regulated export of 19,870 kg to Japan and China in total. On both occasions, the CITES Secretariat confirmed that the trade had taken place successfully and that there was full compliance with all precautionary undertakings. The proposal further said that all revenue generated from ivory sales will be paid into the Game Products Trust Fund and used exclusively for elephant conservation—including monitoring, research, law enforcement, and other management expenses—as well as for community conservation and development programmes.
The environment and tourism ministry will provide an annual report to the CITES Secretariat on the use of these funds.
Over the years, the Game Products Trust Fund has funded key components of Namibia’s community-based natural resources management system, including the provision of infrastructure to promote human-elephant co-existence in conservancies, the creation of additional water sources for elephants, and the development of community-run campsites. The document also pointed out that there are high financial and security implications involved with the storing of ivory stocks, and ivory from natural mortalities and management.
It said that controlled ivory trade will directly benefit the conservation of the Namibian elephant populations by making elephants valuable to the communities with which they share resources outside protected areas.
The elephant population in Namibia has grown from an estimated population of 7 000 in 1990 to more than 25 000 elephants at the end of 2024.
“Namibia has not exploited elephants directly for commercial trade or domestic consumption, except through sport hunting and photographic tourism, the document said.
Small numbers of elephants were removed in 1983 and 1985 to achieve specifically targeted population reductions for conservation purposes during drought periods in Etosha National Park. Additionally, over the past years, Namibia experienced a severe drought, and the Cabinet decided to remove a small number of elephants in 2024. All ivory previously traded was accumulated from natural and management-related mortalities and can thus be considered a byproduct of effective long-term management.
It must be emphasized that no elephants have been, or will be, killed specifically to obtain ivory or other products for trade. Ivory is recovered from all recorded natural mortalities, as well as from elephants destroyed as problem animals.
It said that strict national legislation requires the public to surrender any ivory found.
Click this link to watch a video by the World Wildlife Fund on illegal ivory trade. https://q.my.na/YBWQ
