• Donation
  • About Us
  • Career
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Thursday, May 19, 2022
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
Africa Eco News
18 °c
Nairobi
  • Climate Change
  • Pollution
  • Energy
  • Wildlife
  • Environment
  • Infographic News
    • HEALTH
    • SPORTS
    • GAMES
      • CODEWORD
      • Sudoku
      • Simple Crossword
    • TODAY
      • HOROSCOPE
      • Quote Of The Day
      • Thought Of The Day
      • Today In History
      • TODAY’S BUSINESS TIP
      • Today’s Currency Exchange
      • Today’s Life Lesson
      • Today’s Personal Finance Tip
      • Today’s Prayer
      • Today’s Stock Market
    • NEWS KIOSK
    • PHOTO GALLERIES/SLIDES
  • AFRICA ECO NEWS TV
  • Climate Change
  • Pollution
  • Energy
  • Wildlife
  • Environment
  • Infographic News
    • HEALTH
    • SPORTS
    • GAMES
      • CODEWORD
      • Sudoku
      • Simple Crossword
    • TODAY
      • HOROSCOPE
      • Quote Of The Day
      • Thought Of The Day
      • Today In History
      • TODAY’S BUSINESS TIP
      • Today’s Currency Exchange
      • Today’s Life Lesson
      • Today’s Personal Finance Tip
      • Today’s Prayer
      • Today’s Stock Market
    • NEWS KIOSK
    • PHOTO GALLERIES/SLIDES
  • AFRICA ECO NEWS TV
No Result
View All Result
Africa Eco News
No Result
View All Result
Home Wildlife

Kinshasa’s ivory market still flourishing, finds TRAFFIC study

by patrick
September 13, 2017
in Wildlife
0
0
SHARES
29
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Ivory products on display at the Bikeko Market in the Royal Square in Kinshasa, August 2016. PHOTO/COURTESY
By ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT
Ivory trade in Kinshasa’s notorious ivory markets has gone underground following increased enforcement activity a new TRAFFIC report reveals.
Until quite recently, the market for elephant ivory was flourishing in DRC, despite the illegality of the trade. Some markets – the most famous of which is Bikeko, which sits across from the seat of the government in the city centre – exhibits and sells ivory objects in full view of ordinary citizens and enforcement authorities alike.
The illegal trade in ivory was quietly tolerated for years and the open market would see unscrupulous traders flout their business in broad daylight with little fear of repercussions. This historical tolerance of the open ivory market has slowly been reversed since 2015, however, and seizures and arrests have occurred with increasing frequency.
Enforcement efforts have resulted in the seizure of 590.8 kg of ivory between 2015 and 2016 and the arrest of approximately 50 traffickers and traders.
DRC’s legal framework and the enforcement regime for wildlife crime has strengthened following the enactment of Law No. 14/003 of 11 February 2014 on the Conservation of Nature. The development and implementation of the CITES[1] mandated National Ivory Action Plan (NIAP) between March – April 2015 was an additional impetus to the fight against ivory trafficking in the country.
The NIAP aims to strengthen the fight against elephant poaching and illicit ivory trafficking through co-ordinated collaborative, regulative and enforcement action.
The DRC’s involvement in illicit ivory trafficking extends to an international level also. The report finds that “between 2015 and 2016, seizures that identified the DRC as part of the commercial chain involved 3,745 kg of ivory. The seizures in question involved 14 cases in Angola, Hong Kong SAR, Kenya, Malaysia, Belgium, China, Ethiopia, France and Thailand.”

 Ivory products openly displayed in an open market in Kinshasa, DRC. PHOTO/COURTESY

This study confirms that the ivory market in Kinshasa remains open–given that ivory products are openly displayed from time to time–the overall market tendency seems to indicate the trade is shifting underground in the face of increased law enforcement actions.
Although Kinshasa is not a major centre for domestic ivory consumption, the city does serve as a conduit for the exportation of ivory to major consumption centres elsewhere, especially those in Asian countries.
In April 2017, as part of the overall strategy for the closure of the ivory market, a series of raids by the inspectors of the Kinshasa-Gombe Prosecutor’s Office and elements of the Congolese National Police, were carried out at the Bikeko market.
The raids represented a scaling up of enforcement actions intended to enforce the relevant provisions of Law No. 14/003 of 11 February 2014 on Nature Conservation. These various actions have led to the closure of the Bikeko ivory market in the royal square.
“It is essential that the law enforcement momentum from these significant results should continue as there is much work still to be done. The Government, with the support of its partners, should work to ensure that not one more piece of ivory is sold illegally in the DRC,” said Cléo Mashini Mwatha of TRAFFIC, main author of the report.
This study was carried out by TRAFFIC, in collaboration with WWF DRC and JURISTRALE. Financial support has been provided by the German Government through the BENGO / BMZ facility, and USAID through CAFEC.
 

Help us report stories that expose environmental degradation, deforestation, pollution, poaching and ivory trade, illegal fishing, dumping of toxic waste, e-waste and plastics, illegal mining, climate change and impacts of global warming on different sectors of the economy and communities, not only in Africa, but also across the globe. While traditional news reporting is losing its relevance, serious investigative journalism requires more than basic journalistic skills. To do this we require a lot of resources.
You can either BECOME A SPONSOR or MAKE A CONTRIBUTION


Nelson Mandela once said: “A critical, independent, and investigative press is the lifeblood of any democracy. The press must be free from state interference. It must have the economic strength to stand up to the blandishments of government officials. It must have sufficient independence from vested interests to be bold and inquiring without fear or favor. It must enjoy the protection of the constitution, so that it can protect our rights as citizens.”

If you like our journalism support us to continue bringing you groundbreaking and agenda setting stories.

patrick

patrick

Next Post

Both people and fish love seaweed farming

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

Fear as it emerges two South Florida nuclear power plants lie in Irma’s path

5 years ago
UNESCO set to review status of Lamu as a world heritage site over plans for a coal plant

UNESCO set to review status of Lamu as a world heritage site over plans for a coal plant

3 years ago

Popular News

    Connect with us

    Newsletter








    Recent Posts

    • What to expect at the UN Environment Assembly this week
    • COP26 ends with Glasgow Climate Pact, a “bridge” to transformative climate action
    • PACJA: COP26 will offer nothing to African people
    • COP26: Surprise deal as US-China pledge ambitious climate action
    • OPINION | Green Industrial Revolution required to get the world to zero carbon emissions by 2050

    Like & Follow us :)

    Share

    About Us

    Africa Eco News

    Shinning light on environmental degradation and conservation in Africa

    • Donation
    • About Us
    • Career
    • Advertise
    • Contact

    Copyright 2018. Africa Eco News. All rights reserved.

    No Result
    View All Result
    • Climate Change
    • Pollution
    • Energy
    • Wildlife
    • Environment
    • Infographic News
      • HEALTH
      • SPORTS
      • GAMES
        • CODEWORD
        • Sudoku
        • Simple Crossword
      • TODAY
        • HOROSCOPE
        • Quote Of The Day
        • Thought Of The Day
        • Today In History
        • TODAY’S BUSINESS TIP
        • Today’s Currency Exchange
        • Today’s Life Lesson
        • Today’s Personal Finance Tip
        • Today’s Prayer
        • Today’s Stock Market
      • NEWS KIOSK
      • PHOTO GALLERIES/SLIDES
    • AFRICA ECO NEWS TV

    Copyright 2018. Africa Eco News. All rights reserved.

    Login to your account below

    Forgotten Password?

    Fill the forms bellow to register

    All fields are required. Log In

    Retrieve your password

    Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

    Log In