THEIR FUTURE IS DARK – THE RHINO HORN TRADE – A LETTER TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES

COPY OF A LETTER ADDRESSED TO:

The Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries

Environment House

473 Steve Biko Road

Arcadia

Pretoria

0083

email:  fshaik@environment.gov.za

           tzikalala@environment.gov.za

15th August 2019

Attention: The Minister of the Environment, Forestry and Fisheries

“Their Future is Dark” THE RHINO HORN TRADE 2019

The history surrounding the demand for African rhino horn is complex.  During the European colonial era trophy hunting was largely responsible for the decimation of the rhino populations, for decades thereafter the uncontrollable illegal rhino horn trade between Africa and Vietnam and China is to blame. 

Traditionally, once removed the horn was polished to a beautiful translucent hue and carved to make magnificent ornaments, or the horn was ground down into a fine powder and used in traditional Asian medicine, but increasingly rhino horn is now being used as a status symbol to display success and wealth.  

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WILDLIFE CRIME IN SOUTH AFRICA

A LETTER WRITTEN TO ADVOCATE SHAMILA BATOHI NATIONAL DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

Dated 9th July 2019

We believe that the need to protect our endangered wildlife species in South Africa should be a national priority. Rampant wildlife crime has led to immense human suffering and financial loss. Weak penalties and poor legal enforcement have made wildlife crime a lucrative and low-risk activity for criminal syndicates.

Nearly 120 000 concerned individuals have signed a petition to the office of the National Prosecuting Authority requesting the re-investigation of suspicious rhino poaching related crimes committed in Northern Kwa-Zulu Natal. These crimes have affected our important rhino populations, but equally have disrupted lives.

https://www.change.org/p/national-prosecuting-authority-of-south-africa-demanding-justice-for-the-people-and-the-rhino-in-kwazulu-natal-south-africa

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WILDLIFE ANIMAL PROTECTION FORUM SOUTH AFRICA – TIPS FOR BARBARA

6TH JULY 2019

Dear Honourable Minister Barbara Creecy,

RE: #TipsForBarbara, Your Budget Policy Speech – 11th July 2019

The undersigned organisations are part of the Wildlife Animal Protection Forum, an alliance of diverse South African NGO’s that share certain values, knowledge and objectives and that collectively comprise a body of expertise from scientific, conservation, legal, welfare, rights, social justice, faith and public advocacy sectors.

We appreciate your #TipsForBarbara initiative and your efforts to engage with the public and NGO’s.

We see the challenges the environment is facing on a global scale and the opportunity that governments have of achieving the Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets, your mandate is of incommensurable importance. It also come with tremendous responsibilities, and we congratulate you for accepting this position.

Please find a copy the document that was prepared at the request of Minister Barbara Creecy.

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS #TipsForBarbara

#TipsForBarbara

The newly appointed Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Ms Barbara Creecy delivered the Department’s budget policy statement in the South African Parliament on the 11th July 2019.

Prior to her speech Minister Creecy asked South Africans for their input. Aptly named #TipsForBarbara South Africans were asked to send emails to DEAMedia@environment.gov.za

“The doors of the Department are open for all South Africans to get involved and share ideas in designing and implementing environmental policies that will shape the future of our country. Your inputs will help us attain the aspirations of the NDP for a climate resilient and lower carbon economy and society. “

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RE-DETERMINATION OF THE 2019 LEOPARD TROPHY HUNTING QUOTA SOUTH AFRICA

SUBMISSION FROM MEMBERS OF THE WILDLIFE ANIMAL PROTECTION FORUM SOUTH AFRICA

TO

MINISTER BARBARA CREECY, THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES

The Wildlife Animal Protection Forum South Africa recommends a zero quota and a cessation of the issuance of leopard trophy hunting based on the available science and deficiencies of the regulatory environmental and consultative process that are in place in the determination of population viability and status of the species.

READ FULL SUBMISSION BY DOWNLOADING THE DOCUMENT

THE SOUTH AFRICAN LION BONE QUOTA

A SUBMISSION FROM TWENTY-FIVE NGO’S REPRESENTED BY THE WILDLIFE ANIMAL PROTECTION FORUM SOUTH AFRICA

TO

MINISTER BARBARA CREECY AND THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES

The establishment of a lion bone export quota cannot be done without examining and understanding the context and major problems with this so-called industry which are untenable, indefensible and unsustainable.

For more in-depth analysis and articulation of these issues please refer to Appendix 2 and Appendix 3 in The Extinction Business: South Africa’s Lion Bone Trade .

It is important to note that the issue of South Africa’s highly controversial lion bone trade is a national policy issue which has enormous local and global opposition. As a country, if we no longer choose to trade in big cat bones, it will have no impact on our commitments to CITES.

South Africa is under no obligation to CITES to trade in lion bones.

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THE EXTINCTION BUSINESS South Africa’s Lion Bone Trade

EXCERPTS FROM THE REPORT COMPILED BY THE EMS FOUNDATION AND THE BAN ANIMAL TRADING ORGANISATION

For more than a decade, South Africa has been actively supporting and growing the international trade in big cat bones, despite local and international outrage and condemnation from conservation and protection organisations, lion scientists and experts.

In 2017, South Africa’s Minister of Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa, controversially, and in the face of vociferous opposition and robust arguments against this trade, set the annual export quota at 800 lion skeletons. Even more alarmingly, Molewa, without stakeholder participation, took the incomprehensible decision to almost double the quota in 2018 to 1,500 skeletons.

On July 11th 2018, the person in charge of the quota at the Department of the Environment told us categorically that no quota had been set for 2018. A few days later the DEA was forced to make a public announcement about the 2018 lion bone quota following a public outcry when a letter from Molewa, dated 7th June 2018, informing the provinces of the new quota allocation, was leaked. The undeclared reasons behind government’s decision to conceal this information from interested and affected parties needs to be brought to light and interrogated.

Two members of the Wild Animal Protection Forum South Africa namely the EMS Foundation and the Ban Animal Trading organisation spent eighteen months gathering information and investigating South Africa’s international lion bone trade.

The data that was gathered forms the basis for this report: The Extinction Business: South Africa’s Lion Bone Trade.

THE UNWILLINGNESS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT TO CHANGE TERMS OF REFERENCE OF THE EXCLUSIONARY WILDLIFE FORUM

Minister Edna Molewa
https://www.dffe.gov.za/speech/molewa_firsthuntingindaba_opening

In 2005 the Minister and Department of Environment established a ‘wildlife forum’ to meet exclusively with pro-hunting and pro-trade organisations and deliberately excluded labour, welfare and civil society, stakeholders. NGOs and conservation groups were denied membership. The ‘wildlife forum’ provided a platform for hunters and those with vested wildlife consumptive interests to shape government wildlife policy.  

No such forum existed for other key interested and affected stakeholders in the wildlife conservation and protection sector despite requests from the wildlife protection sector to be included in such a forum. By refusing to allow access to parties who do not reap a direct benefit from the exploitative industry itself, meant that the forum, by definition was discriminatory.

Given the unwillingness of the Department of Environment to change the Terms of Reference of the existing exclusionary ‘wildlife forum’ to include membership of South African wildlife animal protection and welfare organisations, in February 2018 twenty-three wildlife protection organisations officially requested the Minister for the Environment, Edna Molewa, to establish a wildlife forum with representatives of South African animal protection organisations. The representatives of these organisations organised themselves as the Wildlife Animal Protection Forum South Africa (WAPFSA).   

The purpose of the establishment of WAPFSA was to create a platform for dialogue and to provide the South African government with access to alternative viewpoints and additional information in order to provide the necessary tools to resolve issues of concern and to develop and strengthen policy for the advancement of the protection of wildlife, indigenous minorities and the environment. 

Please find a copy of the letter:

©WAPFSA 2018. All Rights Reserved