'Gang of eight' threatened with sanctions
Nations at the heart of the surge in African elephant poaching have been warned that unless they deliver plans to tackle ivory poaching, they will be hit with heavy trade sanctions.
The Cites meeting in Bangkok heard that the eight countries, which include Kenya, Thailand and China, could be banned from all wildlife trade, including the highly lucrative orchid and crocodile skin exports.
The announcement follows a new Cites report which was released on Wednesday, stating that elephant poaching has doubled in a decade, while ivory seizures tripled in 2011. According to the report, 2011 also saw the slaughter of 17,000 elephants.
The so-called "gang of eight" nations includes the source countries Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, the countries through which ivory is smuggled, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Phillipines, and the destination countries, Thailand and China.
Tom Milliken, who runs the official global project tracking illegal ivory, said the eight nations had been identified as the major players in the trade, in every report made by the Elephant Trade Information System since 1998. Despite this, he added, there has been "no discernible impact" from previous Cites measures.
According to senior Cites official Tom de Meulenaer, the body's ruling committee has finally lost patience. Cites is run by a committee of 20 nations, who have demanded that the eight countries produce action plans with concrete goals and timelines for the next 12 months.
If the nations refuse to provide or implement these measures, Cites can ban its 178 member countries from importing wildlife products from the offending nations. This penalty was imposed on Guinea only last week for continual violation of a ban on great ape exports.
