S. Africa hails CITES decision not to uplist all African elephants

South Africa on Tuesday hailed a decision by the 17th Conference of the Parties (CoP17) to the Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) not to include all African elephant populations in Appendix 1.

At the CoP17 being held in Johannesburg, Southern African countries garnered enough support to block an attempt by Western countries to up-list all elephant populations from appendix II to appendix I.

"This decision is a victory for evidence-based decision-making and also a victory for African science," South African Minister of Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa said.

"Delegates at CITES COP17 have also sent a strong message that reinforces the adherence to the founding principles of evidence-based decision-making and compliance to the listing criteria of CITES," added Molewa.

The elephants are currently under appendix II where trade is allowed with the permission of CITES, but ivory trade still remained banned.

Listing the elephant under appendix I would have meant that no one will be allowed to trade in live elephant or their parts.

The proposal to up-list elephant populations of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana was roundly rejected as it could not attract enough number of votes necessary for listing.

A change in appendices for a proposal to be adopted requires a two-thirds majority.

Namibia and Zimbabwe, both of which are African elephant range states with significant elephant populations, argued that their respective countries' elephant populations did not meet the criteria to be included in Appendix 1 of CITES.

In support of the Namibian and Zimbabwean position, South Africa concurred that the listing criteria was not met.

South Africa's elephant population is increasing, and the total population in the country is 27,000 elephants. Enditem