Million Dollars Worth of Illegal Ivory Seized in Africa, 41 Arrested

Environment News Service 20 May 10;

LYONS, France, May 20, 2010 (ENS) - A six-nation wildlife crime crackdown across southern Africa has resulted in the seizure of nearly 400 kilos (882 pounds) of elephant ivory and rhino horn with a market value of more than US$1 million, the location and closure of an illegal ivory factory, and the arrests of 41 people.

Co-ordinated by INTERPOL and codenamed Mogatle, the two-day operation on May 13 and 14 involved agencies across six countries � Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Nearly 200 officers from police, national wildlife, customs and national intelligence agencies carried out inspections and raids on markets and shops.

Checks were made on suspect vehicles at border crossing points. For the first time in a wildlife crime operation, sniffer dogs provided by South African and Swaziland police were used at check points at the Mozambique-Swaziland border.

"The success of Operation Mogatle is not only in relation to the seizures and arrests which have been made, but is a demonstration of the commitment of national and international law enforcement and other involved agencies to working together to combat wildlife crime," said Peter Younger, manager of INTERPOL's Africa wildlife crime program known as OASIS, for Operational Assistance, Services and Infrastructure Support.

"Taking these illegal items off the market is just the first step," said Younger. "Information gathered as part of this operation will also enable law enforcement, both in Africa and abroad, to identify smuggling routes and eventually to further arrests of other individuals involved in these crimes."

"The impact of wildlife crime is wide ranging. People are threatened with violence, law enforcement officers have been killed while carrying out their duties, and there is the wider economic impact on a country and therefore the livelihoods of ordinary people," Younger said.

Supported by INTERPOL's national central bureaus and the regional bureau in Harare, Zimbabwe, Operation Mogatle was co-ordinated by INTERPOL's OASIS Africa initiative, which is funded by the German federal government.

Additional support and funding was provided for the operation by the Humane Society of Canada and the Born Free Foundation.

INTERPOL is the world's largest international police organization, with 187 member nations. Created in 1923, and headquartered in Lyons, France, the agency facilitates cross-border police cooperation, and supports and assists all organizations, authorities and services whose mission is to prevent or combat international crime.

INTERPOL's OASIS program helps countries in Africa develop a global and integrated approach to fighting wildlife crime by building operational capacities for policing in the region and enhancing the ability of INTERPOL member countries to tackle crime threats nationally, regionally and globally.

Operation Mogatle is named in honor of the late Professor Keitirangi Mogatle, assistant director of the Botswana Department of Wildlife and National Parks and principal motivator behind effective wildlife law enforcement in Botswana. It was the third multi-agency wildlife operation coordinated by INTERPOL.

The first, Operation Baba in November 2008, was named to honor the memory of Gilbert Baba, a Ghana Wildlife Department ranger who was murdered by illegal wildlife dealers a decade ago. It resulted in the arrests of nearly 60 people and the seizure of one ton of illegal elephant ivory following coordinated actions in Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and Zambia.

The second, Operation Costa in November 2009, was named in honor of Constantius 'Costa' Aloysius Mlay, the former director of the Wildlife Division of the Tanzania Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism. The operation took place across Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, and led to the arrest of more than 100 people and the recovery of 1.5 tons of ivory and hundreds of other illegal wildlife items.

Japanese vision – the New Strategic Plan, a decade of biodiversity and raising awareness with origami
IUCN 21 May 10;

After the scientific and technical discussions in Nairobi, the eyes of the conservation world will be moving towards Nagoya, Japan, where Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will meet in October this year to make binding decisions on the future of the world’s biodiversity. The Japan Committee for IUCN has been working to make every effort to ensure that this event, which is crucial for the future of our planet, has a high profile in Japan. Professor Masahito Yoshida is the Chair of the Japan Committee for IUCN. Here he answers questions about the Committee’s work, its role in the CBD conference and how the Japan Committee for IUCN uses origami to raise awareness of the need to conserve biodiversity, all life on earth.

During this International Year of Biodiversity, what are the most pressing issues for the Japan Committee for IUCN?

The New Strategic Plan of the Convention on Biological Diversity is the most pressing issue of the International Year of Biodiversity, as it includes the post-2010 biodiversity targets. The Japan Committee for IUCN has held a series of discussions among relevant sectors including national and local governments, business sectors, overseas development aid agencies, scientists and NGOs, focusing on this issue. Together with the Japan Civil Network for CBD, the Japan Committee for IUCN is proposing the adoption of the United Nations Decade of Biodiversity for 2011 – 2020, in order to implement the New Strategic Plan with full participation of relevant sectors.

The eyes of the world will be on Japan in the run-up to the Nagoya conference – does this put added pressure on the Japan Committee?

The Japan Committee for IUCN, together with the Japan Civil Network for CBD, are working together to ensure that there’s a warm welcome for participants at the conference in Nagoya, as they make important decisions on the future of the planet. We expect biodiversity issues to be given a high priority in Japan during this International Year of Biodiversity and leading up to the October conference.

How important is it for the Japan Committee for IUCN to raise general awareness about biodiversity during this International Year of Biodiversity?

A year ago, only 40% of people knew the word "Biodiversity" and there was an urgent need to raise general awareness about conservation. A growing number of newspaper and magazine articles and extensive media coverage of biodiversity issues in the lead up to the conference in Nagoya, have helped to address this alarming problem. The Japan Committee for IUCN has also seen this as an important objective. One of its awareness-raising campaigns has been the "Origami Project", inviting people of all ages and nationalities to recreate the official logo of the CBD conference in Japan - a ‘cartoon’ set of origami animals - using the ‘origami’ paper folding technique, and to write their own 2020 target on it.