Attack on Kenya Conservationist Steps up Conflict in Illegal Ivory Trade

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Attack on Kenya Conservationist Steps up Conflict in Illegal Ivory Trade

 

Submitted by:Elevate

Destinations<http://www.csrwire.com/members/profile/10681-Elevate-Destinations>

 

Categories:CSR - General <http://www.csrwire.com/press/?category=23>, Fair

Trade <http://www.csrwire.com/press/?category=13>

 

Posted:Jul 01, 2009 – 12:01 AM EST

 

 

CSRwire.com <http://www.csrwire.com/> — Cambridge, MA. - July 1, 2009 - We

are distressed to report that on June 14th, conservationist Kuki Gallmann

was attacked by poachers on her property in Lakipia, Northern Kenya:

http://www.gallmannkenya.org/news.html.

 

The illegal ivory and rhino horn trade is a danger to animals and

environmentalists, and is stepping up the stakes of the Conservation Wars

underway around the globe.

 

*Kuki miraculously survived to recount the attack:*

 

" I was attacked in the Conservancy while alone in my car by seven men on a

mission to kill, as a revenge for my involvement in anti-poaching efforts

and attempts to break into the illegal ivory and rhino horn trade. I was hit

several times, first in the neck, and then the left hand I used to shelter

my head was shattered from blows with poles, fence posts and rocks they

threw. Miraculously I at last managed to insert the first gear with the good

hand and drove over a mile before losing consciousness; when I came to I

raised the alarm and help from my security staff and the wonderful and most

efficient Kenya Wildlife Services team stationed on the conservancy came

immediately to my rescue. "

 

A major land steward at the edge of the Great Rift Valley the Ol Ari Nyiro

Conservancy encompasses 100,000 acres in Northern Kenya. The conservancy has

won many awards for its protection and cultivation of Black Rhino and other

species. The conservancy is also a center for community and cultural

projects, and hosts many visitors to Kenya every year.

 

Ms. Gallmann, now recovering, is the author of the best selling book *I

Dreamed of Africa*. She is a dedicated activist and conservationist who has

long fought the ivory trade. In 1989, Ms. Gallmann helped to stage the

burning of 12 tons of ivory in the Nairobi National Park:

 

" Kenya had burnt all its ivory back in 1989. We personally helped. It was

our old Toyota truck which brought the 12 tons of ivory to be burnt in the

Nairobi National Park. This bold and brave message, sent to the world,

stopped the legal trade on ivory ; for 19 years the poaching was enormously

easier to control. All ivory was illegal. Ivory is neither food, medicine

nor fuel. It is not an essential commodity. It is the tooth of a majestic

animal. It is criminal that the great herds are destroyed to just make bad

taste trinkets no one needs, but this is what is happening. "

 

*Conservation Wars*

 

This latest attack highlights growing Conservation Wars that are taking

place around the globe. Population pressures and shrinking resources have

escalated conflicts between environmental and human interests, and while

many conservancies now educate local inhabitants in sustainable land

management, opportunistic groups continue to engage in poaching and illegal

trade.

 

Kenya and Kenya Wildlife Services have been leaders in opposing the illegal

ivory trade, but continue to battle encroachers. Only Kenya and Uganda have

forbidden game hunting since 1976. Hunting and ivory trade issues should be

one of paramount concern to leaders in the responsible travel movement, and

should steer the selections of travelers looking for Fair Travel experiences

concerned with the welfare of native habitat.

 

According to Ms. Gallman, the fight against the ivory market was hurt last

year by a 2008 CITES (*Convention on International Trade in Endangered

Species*) decision to permit South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe to

sell their stockpiled ivory to China, causing a black market revival on

" legal " ivory trade.

 

 

--

http://www.stopelephantpolo.com

http://www.freewebs.com/azamsiddiqui