Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
10LUSAKA98
2010-02-16 14:01:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Lusaka
Cable title:  

ZAMBIA SETS ITS "CITES" ON EXPORTING IVORY

Tags:  PGOV PREL ZA 
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VZCZCXRO4529
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHLS #0098 0471401
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 161401Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY LUSAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7665
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS LUSAKA 000098 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR OES/ENV RKASTENBERG AND AF/S LAYLWARD

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL ZA
SUBJECT: ZAMBIA SETS ITS "CITES" ON EXPORTING IVORY

UNCLAS LUSAKA 000098

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR OES/ENV RKASTENBERG AND AF/S LAYLWARD

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL ZA
SUBJECT: ZAMBIA SETS ITS "CITES" ON EXPORTING IVORY


1. (U) This is an action request; see paragraph 3. Zambian
Minister of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources
Catherine Namugala told Charge February 10 that the Zambian
government (GRZ) plans to press for resumption of the legal
sale and export of elephant products, including ivory, at the
March 13-25 UN Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species (CITES) meeting in Doha. The GRZ intends
to pursue an amendment to CITES downgrading Zambian elephants
from Appendix I to Appendix II, a GRZ priority, and seeks
U.S. support.


2. (U) Namugala stated that Zambia ought to have the right
to permit the legal, regulated killing of elephants, a
"natural resource" the GRZ should use to promote development
and address social needs. Zambia hopes that sustainable,
well managed "consumptive" tourism will help create jobs,
reduce poverty, and fund health and education, Namugala said.
She claimed that Zambia has "too many elephants" that
endanger Zambians and, in some regions, prevent "children
from going to school." Although the GRZ has accumulated a
substantial amount of ivory in locked warehouses, CITES
restrictions prevent it from liquidating ivory stocks to
raise funds for economic development, social welfare
programs, and investments in national infrastructure.


3. (SBU) Comment and action request: Zambia's track record
on wildlife conservation is not stellar. For example, only a
single rhinoceros remains in the country, and the lack of
capacity by the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) to prevent
poaching has impeded the donation of 16 rhinos from
KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Furthermore, local contacts in
the hospitality industry report that they have caught ZAWA
officials red-handed in poaching activities, but their
efforts to get the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to
prosecute the cases were stymied when GRZ higher-ups
apparently told the ACC not to pursue the cases. Lodge
owners and guides in Zambia's famed South Luangwa National
Park reported that President Banda and his entourage feast on
Cape Buffalo and rare Klipspringer antelope during visits to
Eastern Province, and reportedly carry plentiful game meat as
gifts to local chieftains and home to Lusaka. All of this
calls into question the GRZ's motives as well as its
abilities to keep elephant culling under control if the flood
gates were opened. Embassy requests guidance on the USG
position on the sale and export of elephant products in
advance of the CITES meeting.
KOPLOVSKY