By Singy Hanyona

LUSAKA, Zambia, May 15, 2002 (ENS) - The Zambian government has proposed to lift the international ban on trade in elephant ivory that now exists under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) at the next meeting of Parties to the treaty in November.

The move, if implemented, will allow the African country to sell 17 metric tons of ivory and recapitalize the incapacitated Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA), the country's legal wildlife entity.

Elephants in Zambia (Photo credit unknown)

At the last CITES meeting in 2000, four African countries sought to lift the ban - South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. South Africa has already drafted another proposal to lift the ban in time for the November CITES meeting.

Deputy Minister of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources Clever Silavwe maintains that Zambia is in dire need of financial resources to effectively manage its wildlife.

"I wish to assure you that the revenue realized from this trade will be directed to the core functions of conservation and management agency for wildlife," said Silavwe.

But former Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Officer Gershom Ndhlovu has called on the ministry together with the Zambia Wildlife Authority to guard against the possibility of corrupt activities should the ban be lifted.

"We are courting trouble because the poaching scourge will resurface with an unprecedented ferocity," said Ndhlovu, who worked in the Species Protection Department of ACC.

Elephant in South Africa (Photo credit unknown)

"It was the middlemen who took the trophies to their final destination and gained from the multi-million dollar trade," said Ndhlovu.

In 1991, the Zambian government burned an ivory stockpile at the National Parks and Wildlife Service, to show its commitment to abolishing the trade in ivory.

The Kenyan government made a similar move by burning a large pile of stockpiled tusks.

Today the government of Kenya is still firmly opposed to legalizing the ivory trade. In preparation for the November meeting of CITES, the Kenya Wildlife Service has formed a CITES committee and a functional secretariat is being constituted.

In a statement on its website, the Kenya Wildlife Service says Kenya is likely to take a very strong stand against resumption of the ivory trade "since elephant conservation is a matter of national interest, and we have continued to record illegal ivory trafficking and killing of elephants in most elephant ranges in Kenya."

This position is at variance with that of countries like Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa, which argue that their wildlife management strategies are increasing their elephant populations to the level where ivory can be harvested and sold. These African nations believe the ivory trade can underwrite conservation.