41 spokespeople of the elephants of Africa and Asia
Today, on behalf of 41 international and European Non-Governmental Organizations, Robin des Bois is sending the attached letter to the European commissioner in charge of the environment and to all the UE ministers in charge of the trafficking of species threatened by extinction.
This letter asks the European Union and all the member states to suspend all exportation of raw ivory. It turns out that the unilateral decisions taken by the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden and France are in fact ineffective insofar as elephants tusks sold at auctions can eventually leave the European Union from a country that has not made an analogous decision. The example of Cannes Enchères in France (see the press release “Ivory to China: the Belgian Network” that was published on March 4, 2015) is the sad proof of this.
Panic at Cannes Enchères
Last Friday, custom services visited the Cannes Enchères auction room and found several irregularities with regards to CITES regulations on trade in endangered species of wildlife. We’re far from the image of an establishment beyond reproach supposedly cited as an example by state services. Robin des Bois requests that the Ministry of Ecology and customs make public the exact result of this animal inspection that lasted over 6 hours.
500 kg of ivory stamped as legal will be sold on Saturday afternoon by Cannes Enchères. A colonial heritage with the aura of legality granted to ancient ivory, these tusks taken from homes, attics and garages thanks to the active prospection carried out by Cannes Enchères will, if the buyers succeed in getting them out of France and the European Union, feed the workshops and supermarkets of those who make profit out of the elephants’ extinction.
Cannes: the sale of ivory under police protection
Following the lead of the United States, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Germany, France decided to ban from its soil the exportation of raw and cut ivory.
Cannes Enchères (Cannes Auctions) took the responsibility to circumvent this decision by proposing to future Asian buyers the sale of these tusks on Saturday, March 7. They will do this by shipping the tusks through Belgium and by benefiting from re-exportation certificates delivered by Belgian authorities. Belgium has not yet followed the lead of the four other European countries. Alerted to this prospect, the Belgian Minister of Energy, of the Environment and of Sustainable Development just declared that if this ivory arrives in Belgium for purposes of exportation outside of the European Union, she will halt it for investigation. Ms. Marghem, the minister, is also calling for a global European accord on the ban of the re-exportation of ivory tusks from the European Union.
Ivory to China: the Belgian network
Marie-Christine Marghem, the Belgian Minister for Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development, declared yesterday that she was quite pleased with the action of her department in the struggle against the traffic of endangered species and ensured that her country gave a special attention to the protection of elephants. At the same time, Belgium is preparing to clear on the international market raw ivory tusks imported from France, despite an export ban taken in January by the French Ministry of Ecology and immediately practicable.
Ivory: the Cannes scandal
On 27 January 2015 the French Minister of Ecology gave instructions to services to not further deliver CITES certificates (1) for re-export of raw tusks or ivory tusk sections. She also called upon the European Commission so as for “Member States to no longer encourage demand by exporting legal ivory, being proven that it plays an important role in development of illegal slaughter of elephants.” This decision was applauded by 39 Non-Governmental Organizations around the world who had asked Madam Royal to take such action. (2)
“On the Trail” n°7
“On the Trail” n°7.
Information and analysis bulletin on animal poaching and smuggling
1st October – 31st December 2014.
pdf 132 pages, 7.1 Mo.
Ebola over There
Between 2009 and 2013, US customs officials seized 69,000 pieces of African bushmeat.
Born Free, the English NGO, estimates that close to 8,000 tons of bushmeat are imported into the United Kingdom each year.
At the Roissy-en-France airport, results of a surveillance program of morning flights from western Africa lasting three weeks in June 2008 suggest that at least 3,287 tons of meat, of which 273 tonnes were bushmeat, were imported each year through terminal 2E of Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle.
Fish meat, mutton and lamb, goat, cow beef and bushmeat made up the majority of the tonnage.
“On the Trail” n°6
Wildlife is bubbling
“On the Trail” n°6, 134 pages of beauty and cruelty
Information and Analysis bulletin on animal poaching and smuggling.
Open parcels and find poisonous scorpions, search a shop in Malaysia and stumble on a vial of elephant sperm, find out about the latest trafficker’s tricks, meet the rhino mafia, hunt the MGM lion and discover the Tibetan Wild Ass, or Kiang.
Introduction: Several recent studies suggest that violence on animals and abuse of animal’s weakness show predisposition to violence against humans and that witnessing domestic violence or being submitted to parental harassment leads to a predisposition to violence against animals. Violence is a viral and vicious circle …
“On the Trail” n°5
We are pleased to announce the publication of the 5th edition of « On the Trail », Information and analysis bulletin on animal poaching and smuggling.
1st April – 30th June 2014. 132 pages, 506 events.
English version (pdf 7,2 Mo):
https://robindesbois.org/wp-content/uploads/ON_THE_TRAIL_5.pdf
Numerous messages have been sent to Robin des Bois from Africa, Asia, Europe and the American continent. They come from Custom officers, CITES delegates, governmental institutions, Non-Governmental Organizations and from the general public. They all testify to the usefulness of “A la Trace” and the English version “On the Trail”, », Information and analysis bulletin on animal poaching and smuggling.
“On the Trail” n°4
All dials are in the red. On the endangered species market prices are soaring. China and the world exotic pet trade are weighing heavily. The red-fronted parrot in Congo smuggled by Blue Helmets are sold for 800 US$ on Internet. Rhino horns reach 100,000 US$/kg, leopard skin more than 30,000 US/$. Mumbai golden youth gets high on cobra venom (180,000 US$/l). Isilo, the elephant who became a symbol of South Africa, is dead. His 2 tusks worth 600,000 US$ have disappeared. Poachers were the first to find his body by spotting the vultures. Suspicion lingers. Daytime rangers become night-time poachers. Prices go wild, the violence does also. Animals, thieves and rangers fall. Traffickers kill each other like traffickers of a drug cartel. Gangs rule, gangrene thrives. This is war. Justice is incoherent. From severe punishment to set an example to a mere bail, justice sometimes goes astray. Traffickers are often very young. Poachers ride BMWs. Killing methods are both modern and archaic.
