TRAFFIC BULLETIN 22(3) March 2010 (PDF, 2.5
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TRAFFIC 3 BULLETIN TRADE IN WILD MEAT IN CENTRAL AFRICA WEST AFRICA’S MARKET FOR FROG MEAT IVORY IN ETHIOPIA MARCH 2010 VOL. 22 NO. 3 22 NO. VOL. MARCH 2010 The journal of the TRAFFIC network disseminates information on the trade in wild animal and plant resources The TRAFFIC Bulletin is a publication of TRAFFIC, the wild life TRAFFIC trade monitoring net work, which works to ensure that trade in B U L L E T I N wild plants and animals is not a threat to the conser- vation of nature. TRAFFIC is a joint programme of WWF and IUCN. VOL. 22 NO. 3 MARCH 2010 The TRAFFIC Bulletin publishes information and original papers on the subject of trade in wild animals and plants, and strives to be a source of accurate and objective information. The TRAFFIC Bulletin is available free of charge. CONTENTS Quotation of information appearing in the news sections is welcomed without permission, but citation news editorial • technology to age ivory • must be given. Reprod uction of all other material new UK legislation • Saving Plants appearing in the TRAFFIC Bulletin requires written that Save Lives and Livelihoods permission from the publisher. • Alerce • biodiversity indicators • 93 • bushmeat monitoring system • MANAGING EDITOR Steven Broad lemurs hunted for bushmeat • • trade in Clouded Monitors EDITOR AND COMPILER Kim Lochen SUBSCRIPTIONS Susan Vivian (E-mail: [email protected]) feature Application of food balance The designations of geographical entities in this sheets to assess the scale of publication, and the presentation of the material, do the bushmeat trade not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever in Central Africa on the part of TRAFFIC or its supporting 105 organizations con cern ing the legal status of any S. Ziegler country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Any opinions expressed are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect those of TRAFFIC, WWF or IUCN. feature Dried or fried: amphibians in local and regional food markets Published by TRAFFIC International, in West Africa 219a Huntingdon Road, Cambridge, Cambs., CB3 0DL, UK. M. Mohneke, A.B. Onadeko, M. Hirschfeld 117 and M.-O. Rödel © TRAFFIC International 2010 ISSN 0267-4297 UK Registered Charity No. 1076722 Cover illustration: African Tiger Frogs Hoplobatrachus occipitalis being dried for subsequent sale, southern Burkina Faso, January 2008. seizures and A round-up of recent seizures and (© Meike Mohneke) prosecutions prosecutions that have taken place around the world This page, from top: Sumatran Tiger (© David Lawson / WWF-UK) Boy selling bushmeat, Cameroon 129 (© Sandra Mbanefo Obiago / WWF-Canon) Frog market, Lolo, Nigeria (© Abiodun Onadeko) Agarwood seizure, China (© Liu Congxin) Ivory bangles, Addis Ababa (© Lucy Vigne) short The status of the retail ivory communication trade in Addis Ababa in 2009 141 E. Martin and L. Vigne Funding for the printing and distribution of this issue of the TRAFFIC Bulletin is generously provided by The Rufford Maurice Laing Foundation. Printed on recycled paper by Portland Print, Kettering, Northants NN16 8UN. E D I T O R I A L t is ironic that as we enter another Year of the Tiger, Other new partnerships are taking place, particularly Tiger populations in the wild have plummeted from in the area of law enforcement co-operation. Today’s I as many as 100 000 to a mere 3200 over the past 100 illegal trade in Tigers could be markedly reduced, if years. Despite our best efforts, we continue to lose wild concerted efforts were made by everyone in the law Tigers to poaching for the illegal trade, habitat loss, enforcement community. For this reason, CITES is increased conflict between Tigers and people, and intense forging stronger linkages with other enforcement organi- over-hunting of their prey species. zations such as INTERPOL, the World Customs Organi- zation and United Office on Drugs and Crime. Bilateral efforts, such as the India-China protocol on Tiger conservation, and regional enforcement E D I T O R I A L initiatives such as ASEAN-WEN and the South Asia wildlife enforcement network are taking the fight against poachers and illegal traders across Over the years, there has been a huge amount of borders and national boundaries. conservation effort and millions of dollars in resources These efforts are indeed encouraging but they will invested in saving wild Tigers. But forests that Tigers amount to nothing unless they are translated into effective inhabit are still full of snares; criminals kill and smuggle enforcement efforts on the ground. Given the challenges Tiger parts at will; and Tiger parts are still openly displayed already being faced by the enforcement front line today, for sale all over Asia. Why has this been allowed to the rapidly rising rate of poaching and the downward continue? Why are we not boasting healthy, thriving spiral of Tiger numbers in the wild, ground-level populations throughout Asia? Why are the efforts of enforcement action must be the highest priority. national governments and the international community At the same time, a new complication is arising that failing? could undermine these actions. Commercial farms for Certainly, part of the problem is that resources put into Tigers are being proposed by some parties as a potential on-the-ground Tiger conservation are either inadequate, conservation solution. However, commercial farming of or are not being channelled where they are needed the other wildlife in Asia, such as Asiatic Black Bears in most. Those on the frontline of law enforcement regularly China, crocodiles in Thailand, or Yellow-crested deal with age-old inadequacies, ranging from a lack of Cockatoos in Indonesia, has done little, if anything, to equipment to insufficient capacity. Enforcement officers protect the species in the wild. Unless Tigers are in key trade hubs use taxis or buses to carry out their effectively protected in their habitat and illegal markets investigations and raids, often unarmed, while the are shut down, illegal killing and trade of Tigers will poaching syndicates they hope to eliminate move freely continue. Commercial Tiger farms may simply make the in powerful four-wheel drive off-road vehicles, using the situation worse, stimulating demand for Tiger parts and latest satellite navigation technology and packing high- confusing enforcement efforts. With poaching of wild powered automatic weapons. Tigers a much cheaper option than rearing animals in At the very root of these practical problems is captivity, and good evidence of a market preference for insufficient political will to provide the capacity to wild-sourced Tiger products, this would undoubtedly lead implement and enforce adequately the relevant national to an escalation of poaching in the wild, spelling disaster laws and international measures governing illegal Tiger for wild Tigers. trade, such as the Convention on International Trade in Will there be Tigers in twelve years from now, when Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). we enter the next year of the Tiger, or will the Tiger have Those authorities whose commitment and action matters become a creature of myth, like the lunar calendar’s most are frequently disengaged from and even in denial Dragon? It is not too late—Tiger populations can rebound about the plight of the Tiger—mainly because their if the pressures are removed. Adequate habitat still exists political masters are indifferent as well. and prey populations can recover quickly if given the Fortunately, recent developments have shown that chance. But serious protection and enforcement is there could be light at the end of the tunnel. A new inter- essential, and resources are needed more than ever to be national initiative, the Global Tiger Initiative, led by the spent accountably and efficiently, with an urgent need for World Bank, has injected fresh impetus, momentum and better support for enforcement personnel. And most new opportunities to foster increased international co- importantly, support from those with the power to effect operation and co-ordinated action. The initiative hopes real change, and to save Tigers from extinction in the to sound the alarm to the highest level of decision-makers, wild, is imperative, now more than ever. culminating in an International Tiger Summit of Heads of State at Vladivostock, Russia, later this year. The Global Tiger Forum (GTF)—the world’s only inter-governmental organization dedicated solely to Tiger conservation—is in the process of being revitalized and has added a new sense of urgency to its work, plotting a Chris R. Shepherd, Senior Programme Officer, fresh course for Tiger conservation efforts range-wide. TRAFFIC Southeast Asia TRAFFIC Bulletin Vol. 22 No. 3 (2010) 93 N E W S VICKI CROOK has been appointed as Programme Officer with TRAFFIC Europe, based in Cambridge, effective August 2009. Vicki joined TRAFFIC from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, where she ANITA SANCHO worked on the Millennium Seed Bank Project and the Sample Red List Index. Our colleague and dear friend Anita Sancho JILL HEPP left her position as Program Officer at TRAFFIC North passed away after a America in October 2009 after a period of four years to join the Pew tragic accident on 7 Environment Group where she will work on Pew’s Global Shark TRAFFIC Conservation Campaign. From March 2010, the post has been filled by October 2009. Her VALERIE CRAIG, who worked previously for SeaWeb on the Seafood loss is deeply felt by all who knew her, though Choices Alliance since 2006. we have taken strength from remembering her as she was: a committed conservationist and biologist, a wonderful mother and wife, and a happy, enthusiastic and warm friend. b u l l e t i n b o a r d Anita was Research Officer at TRAFFIC South America from 1998–2004, where she was in charge of marine wildlife trade issues: trade in sea cucumbers, Patagonian Toothfish LISA KELLEY, Communications Officer with TRAFFIC Southeast Asia’s Greater Mekong Programme, left in August 2009.