Roundup: Challenges facing wildlife protection remain following int'l meeting

As the Kasane Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade concluded Wednesday, challenges remain for the protection on wildlife, despite a statement reached by delegates from 32 countries and more than 20 inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations.

While reviewing the implementation of the London Declaration reached at the 2014 conference, the Kasane Statement specified further actions to be taken by all parties on eradicating the market for illegal wildlife products, ensuring effective legal frameworks and deterrents, strengthening law enforcement, sustainable livelihood and economic development.

While the agreement on wildlife protection has been adopted, challenges still remain, according to officials and experts.

"Despite efforts to date for many species, the illegal trade, and the poaching which fuels it, is an ongoing and growing problem, " read the Kasane Statement released after the conference.

Botswana's Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism Tshekedi Khama said challenges facing the fight against illegal trade of wildlife products include corruption and the lack of political will. "We are going to have an uphill battle to prevent this," he said.

Chinese delegate Meng Xianlin, who is executive director- general of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora Import and Export Management Office, said protecting wildlife should not just be words, it takes cooperation across the world in line with the law.

There are many international meetings and announcements on wildlife conservation, Meng said, adding China is implementing resolutions seriously, and with results.

Tom De Meulenaer, scientific support officer of Secretariat of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), echoed by saying that one of the main challenges in protecting wildlife in Africa is putting words into actions.

"African countries have made a lot of commitments and plans but resources are not there, and sometimes political will," Meulenaer told Xinhua.

The southern Africa is said to be the leading region in Africa for elephant conservation. Nonetheless, according to Jason Bell, program director of Elephants and Regional Director of South Africa Work of International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), waves of poaching are slowly moving from East Africa to the south including Zambia. Potential poaching in the region could be a big problem.

The meeting heard South Africa reporting that rhino poaching increased by 21 percent from 2013 to 2014.

Michael Wamithi, advisor to IFAW's Elephant and Wildlife Trade Programs, said South Africa is said to be protecting well elephants and rhinos. However, when elephant poachers come to the country, it may suffer losses.

Driven by demand, prices for ivories are going up, therefore criminals may be lured and are hard to be stopped, Wamithi warned. Endite