A major report revealing details of large-scale ivory smuggling from Tanzania to China was released last week by EIA. The report continues to make headlines, with most stories pegged to an allegation by Tanzanian traders that members of the Chinese president’s delegation had purchased illegal ivory in Tanzania
At the 65th Meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Portorož, Slovenia, EIA arrived with a new report on Iceland’s whaling, documenting its flouting of two international conventions in its pursuit of commercial hunting of the endangered fin whale and its efforts to escalate exports of whale products to Japan
The International Whaling Commission meets in Slovenia to discuss issues including a South Atlantic whale sanctuary, Japan’s request for a ‘relief’ quota of 17 minke whales, action to protect cetaceans on the high seas, Greenland’s application for an Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling quota and the threat of marine debris
The announcement by South Africa Environment Minister Edna Molewa earlier this week that up to 500 rhino could be relocated from the world famous Kruger National Park to protect them from poachers was undermined by the revelation that the bulk of the animals would go to private game reserves
Field studies by EIA in Indonesia, Myanmar, Russia, Laos, Vietnam, Mozambique, Madagascar and China have found China’s demand for timber is driving illegal logging with serious global consequence, irreparably damaging forest ecosystems, pushing down incomes in forest communities and driving corruption and conflict
New Zealand’s legal domestic ivory trade is booming and authorities have confiscated more than 700 pieces of illegal ivory since the 1989 global ivory trade ban. Will the New Zealand Government commit to an ivory crush event, a public awareness campaign and a ban on the ivory trade altogether?